A native brook trout from the North Maine Woods. Image: Charles Hildick-Smith
A couple weeks back, we published a story about some standard anglers in Maine who are taking legal action against to get to waters that have actually been off-limits to them. In an essay in The Piscataquis Observer, popular Maine fly fisher Al Raychard argues that such guidelines are important tools for securing native fish, particularly brook trout:
Among [the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s] main obligations is to secure Maine’s fish and wildlife resources. That is precisely what the department is making with heritage trout waters while still permitting anglers to fish them.
The very same holds true for fly-fishing-only waters, which seem at the heart of this suit. Research study after research study has actually revealed trout captured on flies and synthetic lures typically have greater survival rates than fish captured on bait. Synthetic lures are less most likely to be swallowed deeply and trigger less tissue damage.
