PORTLAND, Maine - Milder temperatures this winter are giving Mainers a chance to get in a little extra fishing. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has announced the 2016 Open Water fishing season officially gets underway tomorrow.
That's two weeks earlier than usual. IF&W spokesman Mark Latti says bodies of water that were slated to be closed to fishing until April 1 will now be open. He says many lakes in southern and central Maine are completely ice free, and there are likely plenty of fish.
"With the short ice-fishing season this year, a lot of lakes and ponds didn't get the amount of fishing pressure that they may normally get," Latti says, "So we stock a lot of ponds in the fall and, without a lot of ice fishermen out there, there's probably quite a few fish still left in these ponds for anglers to catch."
And Latti says that the lower than average snowfall means that rivers and streams are at low springtime flow levels, making for easier fishing.
