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Native Brook Trout, Landlocked Salmon and
Lake Trout (Touge) Fishing in Maine
Munsungan Hunting and Fishing Club is located at the outlet of Little Munsungan Lake on the headwaters of the Aroostook River and just east of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. Munsungan Lakes and the surrounding streams and ponds offer outstanding fishing for landlocked salmon, native brook trout and togue (lake trout). This area encompasses the headwater areas of the Aroostook, Allagash and Penobscot watersheds. This headwater country has many ponds and streams along with lakes provide endless opportunities for fly fishing, trolling, or bait fishing in open waters. With the exception of a few of the ponds most of the waters we fish still have never been stocked and contain NATIVE BROOK TROUT. Over 95% of the remaining Native Brook trout populations in the country are in Maine and the area we fish has the largest concentration of this resource.
Our fishing season opens with mostly trolling a few days after ice out after the water warms a bit. I have never been a fan of ice out fishing. Ice out fishing can be fast for a while then as fish feed up on smelt, and then fishing always slows considerably or stops till the water warms a bit.
I have found over the years of being there that the Mother’s Day weekend usually kicks off what I consider good fishing. Then fishing really picks up as water temperatures gets into the high forties and will remain good till way into the summer when water temperature get to hot and drive the fish down in search of colder water. By mid May, as the water warms and recedes, the streams and ponds start to offer more fly fishing opportunities. Spring fishing can be fast at this time of year and many plan yearly trips to the area at this time. And a meal of fresh fish and fiddleheads is a Maine traditional springtime meal. This coupled with the fact that the asparagus patch is now on line continues these great feeds well into June. Munsungan is one of the top fishing lakes in Maine. A few years ago The MAINE SPORTSMAN rated it in the top five for both landlocked salmon and brook trout.
From the mid May period till well into the summer Munsungan Lakes offer some of the best trolling for Landlocked Salmon in Northern Maine. For many of my fishing parties that come to camp-this is the reason for being here. Yes, they also fly fish the Camp Pool and the stream below or take side trips to local ponds, deadwaters and streams. But they come to troll- and when the fish are hitting is provides non stop action. This fishing usually remains real good till increasing water temperatures drive fish deeper in search of cooler water. But about the time this happens we start gets hatches, these normally start sometime in the late afternoon and sometimes last till dark. Thus normally we can get fairly good fishing till into August when most of the action is by fishing live bait, or trolling deep with lead lines. This is the time of year that many fishermen target fishing deep for Lake Trout.
Then as the weather cools in late August the fishing picks up as the water temperature drops. And by the time mid September arrives we are back to fishing in earnest. This is a great time to be in the Maine Woods with arriving fall foliage, cool insect free days and at times great fishing. This is the favorite time for some to visit this area.
For more information about fishing at Munsungan Hunting and Fishing Club please contact me. And remember it’s more than just fishing; it’s also seeing the wildlife and experiencing the natural beauty of this special area. Many an evening I will have fishermen return to camps more excited about what they saw then what they caught.
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