April 1st fishermen who braved chilly weather to venture forth proved not to be fools at all, as many hooked a trout or two from regional brooks and rivers. Favorite opening day pools on the Prestile, Meduxnekeag and Fish Rivers provided a modicum of action for worm anglers and sparse but acceptable cold water results for lure and streamer fly casters. Considering the bitterly cold water and quick flow of most local streams, any feeding interest by lethargic trout and salmon offers an appreciated bonus to just getting out on open water again.
Once the month progresses, weather will warm, as will water temperatures, and fish will gain energy and desire to eat regularly. Streamers, wet flies and nymphs will all garner more strikes to the enjoyment of fly casters. Small streamers that imitate bait fish, such as a black nose dace, gray ghost, nine-three, black and white bucktail and Herb Johnson special continue to work well on most moving creeks, especially when the water clarity is good.
April brooks tend to be a bit tea-colored, even murky and often display a fair bit of floating debris, under these conditions a colorful fly stands out starkly and draws more attention. I experience great luck with a red and white bucktail, Mickey Finn, red-gray ghost, Colonel Bates, blue devil or Miss Sharon. Some are feather-wing patterns while others are hair wing, oddly on some days one style will out fish the other, so be sure to try both wing styles.
Currently, the Aroostook River is two to three weeks ahead of normal spring conditions and at near perfect trolling levels. While all the fly patterns I’ve mentioned previously guarantee trout strikes when trolled on floating or sinking-tip fly lines, lures seem to produce faster action and larger brookies.
Silver Sutton spoons in size eight, and size 44 bi-sided silver/bronze spoons are sure bets. An Al’s goldfish, two-inch red and white Daredevil, silver Super Duper or a bronze mooselook wobbler produce steady strikes each spring as well. Some Aroostook River regulars swear by a silver Mepp’s spinner with a small earthworm extending from the single tandem hook.
Just as the river trolling cools down and the Aroostook River can be fished by wading anglers, regional ponds deserve some concentrated attention. Annual late April ponds and small lakes that free of ice early, and deserve attention as soon as open water appears include Conroy and Carry in Littleton and Monticello, Monson in Fort Fairfield, Echo in Presque Isle, Hanson in Mapleton and Durpo and Trafton in Limestone.
Tenacity is crucial for early season success, likely ponds must be checked regularly and as soon as ice pulls away from the shoreline, casting bait from the bank should begin. Once half or more of the waterway clears of ice launch a canoe or small boat and begin trolling. Sinking tip fly lines and slow trolling speeds with leech patterns and colorful size 6- to 8-long shank streamers usually produce steady action.
Many of the small ponds in our general area receive large numbers of stocked trout late each Fall. These 12-to 17-inch brookies grow a bit during the winter and provide great fights on lightweight spinning and fly rods. Fishing pressure is fairly light this month due to wet, cold weather and a lot of anglers just don’t have their gear and boats ready this early. Larger lakes will shed their coats of ice in early May and offer a vast array of locations and species, but for now it’s brook and pond fishing that offers regular action.
