Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife

01/15/2025

Get outside, learn new skills, make new friends! Registration is now open for our Women's Winter Skills Weekend.

📅 February 7 – 9, 2025
🗺 UMaine 4-H Camp & Learning Center at Bryant Pond

This extensive, hands-on, weekend long program is just what you need to feel excited about winter again! You'll have so much fun learning new things that the only cold you'll notice is your teeth from smiling! Our top-notch instructors will provide all the gear and guidance you need, regardless of your background or experience level.

Visit the link below to learn more about lodging, meals, fees, program schedule, and to find full descriptions of each workshop offered throughout the weekend. No matter which sessions you choose, register soon before while their are still spots open!

https://lnks.gd/2/2zDhnzr

Women's Winter Skills Weekend Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife sent this bulletin at 01/15/2025 10:17 AM EST mefishwildlife.com Get outside, learn new skills, make new friends! Registration is now open for our Women's Winter Skills Weekend! This extensive, hands-on, weekend long pro...

01/15/2025

2024 NatureQuest participants paddled, hiked, camped, went birding, learned new skills, explored new places, and exercised their sense of adventure in all four seasons! Become a NatureQuester in 2025 and you might be the next Mainer to say something like...

😎 I paddled the Allagash!
🥰 My kid pointed out moose sign!
🦃 Every hunter remembers their first hunt, and today was mine!
🐟 Flag!

NatureQuest is your 2025 guide to recreation, exploration, sustainability, and conservation. Sign up for FREE today at mefishwildlife.com/naturequest and we'll curate personalized suggestions each season, and give you a chance to win gear along the way!

Don't forget to share your adventures with your NatureQuest community on social media with !

01/14/2025

Face the facts. Fiction fosters fear of fisher.

Rarely seen other than on trail camera footage, the secretive life of fisher has surrounded them in mystery, creating space for unsubstantiated stories to shape a haunting portrayal of an important predator. But do they actually live up to their formidable and fearless reputation?

Fisher are efficient predators capable of killing porcupines and even Canada lynx, but they aren’t dangerous to people, and their shyness leaves little to no evidence that fisher pose a noteworthy risk to your feline companions. And that eerie cry you sometimes hear at night in the woods? That’s probably a red fox.

Read our blog at the link below to learn about more fisher, other Maine predators, and their irreplaceable role in ecological health.

www.maine.gov/ifw/blogs/mdifw-blog/not-fear-predators-are-here

01/12/2025

Take a closer look at your catch 👀

In certain Maine water bodies both landlocked salmon and brown trout are present. In general the two closely related species are easy to identify, but in some circumstances, it takes a closer look, especially since spotting and coloration are variable. Here are a few identification tips:

🗺Know which species are present in the water you are fishing
🦷Look at the vomerine teeth. Is there a single row (salmon) or a zig-sag row (brown trout)?
🐟Take a look at the tail. Is it slightly forked (salmon) or squared off (brown trout)?
🧐Check the upper jaw. Is it about even with the eye (salmon) or extend past it (brown trout)?

Find more tips and side by side comparison photos in our blog at the link below:

www.maine.gov/ifw/blogs/mdifw-blog/landlocked-salmon-and-brown-trout-tips-identifying-your-catch

When you picture a landlocked salmon and then a brown trout, I’m sure the two species are clearly distinguishable. In certain Maine water bodies both species are present and on occasion the two species can be tough to quickly identify. Which, to be fair, is not that much of a surprise. Landlocked ...

01/11/2025

Maine’s Mustelids… who’s who?

Members of the weasel family are all long, slender, short-legged, and agile hunters that are abundant and managed as furbearers in Maine. Although their silhouettes are remarkably similar, Maine’s mustelids are diverse in size, coloration, diet, hunting strategies, habitat, range, and behavior. Here are a few identification tips:

⚖️ Size: River otters are the largest, tipping the scales at up to 30 pounds. Ten pounds is an average size for an adult male fisher which are larger than females. Both marten and mink weigh in between one and four pounds. At just a few ounces, short and long-tailed weasels are the smallest of the bunch.

⚪️ Color: Short and long-tailed weasels switch from a brown to white coat in winter, but otters, mink, marten, and fisher all stay the same color year-round. Fisher and mink both look dark from nose to tail from a distance, but mink have a distinctive white chin patch and some fisher have small white markings on their underside that are unique to each individual. Marten are the most colorful with brown bodies, lighter faces, and a cream-colored bib.

🌲 Habitat: River otters and mink are semi-aquatic, living in and along rivers, streams, ponds, and lakes statewide. Fisher use a wide variety of forested habitats statewide while marten live in mature coniferous and mixed forests of northern and western Maine. Weasels use the widest variety of habitat across the state including open woods, meadows, and suburban areas.

01/10/2025

Grab a bucket and get some bait! Follow the link below for a list of licensed live baitfish and smelt retailers in Maine.

https://www.maine.gov/ifw/fishing-boating/fishing/bait-fish-smelt-retailer.html

Remember to check Maine's Inland Fishing Laws to verify that live baitfish/smelts are allowed in the water you plan to fish.

Find a bait fish or smelt retailer near you.

01/10/2025

A winter filled with flags and fish starts with tips from the pros!

👀"Sight fishing for trout can be some of the most fun you'll have on the ice"
🎣"Dust off the jig rod and stay active"
🐟"Fish shallow for brook trout"
🏃"If targeting lake trout, don't be afraid to move around to find the fish."
🧊"As always, be safe and check the ice thickness as you venture further from shore; especially during this early time of the season"

These are just a few notes from our fisheries biologists to steer you toward a rewarding season. Learn more about ice fishing opportunities in each region of Maine in our monthly fishing report at mefishwildlife.com/fishingreport.

01/09/2025

This long stretch of cold weather is good for two things- building up ice for fishing, and giving you a good excuse to stay in, stay warm, and check off your rec safety course requirements before next season!

✅Hunter Safety
✅Trapper Education
✅ATV Safety
✅Boating Safety
✅Snowmobile Safety

We will continue to update each list of courses as they become available across the state at mefishwildlife.com/safetycourses.

Did you know that students 16 and older can complete the fi****ms safety course online or in person? An in-person skills and exam session is required for students ages 10-15 who take fi****ms and archery hunter safety courses online. Learn more: mefishwildlife.com/safetycourses.

01/08/2025

New to ice fishing? Use our beginner's guide to get started! It includes:

🎣 A gear list
🗺 Tips for finding a fishing spot
⚠️ Safety tips
📃 Fishing law resources
🐟 A step by step guide from drilling your hole to cooking your catch

Find the guide at mefishwildlife.com/icefishing.

Already an experienced angler? Consider becoming a mentor to someone who is just starting out. It's a rewarding experience to share the thrill of the flag with someone new!

01/07/2025

We have four different community science projects in action this winter. Choose the one that's right for you!

📷Maine Golden Eagle Study
Use your trail cam skills to document golden eagle distribution, habitat use, and movements in Maine.
mefishwildlife.com/goldeneaglestudy

🦉Maine Owl Pellet Project
Collect owl pellets to learn about owl diets and their prey. You might even uncover the location of rare northern bog lemmings!
mefishwildlife.com/owlproject

🐰Rabbit Sightings
Help us keep tabs on an Endangered species by reporting sightings of New England cottontails.
mefishwildlife.com/rabbits

🌲Northern Maine Wintering Deer Survey
Help inform deer wintering area protection efforts by reporting where you see deer this winter.
mefishwildlife.com/winteringdeer

📷Golden eagle photo by Don Dunbar
📷 New England Cottontail photo by Wells Reserve at Laudholm

01/06/2025

These boots are made for walking through deep snow!

Snowshoe hares and Canada lynx practically float across the surface of deep snow thanks to their huge fluffy feet, but they aren’t the only ones with adaptations for moving through piles of powder.

Ruffed grouse take a seasonal approach to winter footwear, growing comb-like projections of cartilage along the edges of each toe. Function and fashion! The look is completed with feathered leg warmers.

Too heavy for surface walking, moose use their huge hooves, long legs and robust build to power through the snow like a plow. Deer, less mobile in deep snow, follow in each other’s hoof-steps for easier walking, and seek out wintering areas with more cover and less snow depth.

With webbed feet built for swimming, river otters move with ease on the snow, but why bother when you have a furry taboggan for a belly? They slide on the snow to leave scent marks, to get around, and just for fun!

Though light enough to float on top, small rodents like voles tunnel through the snow to stay out of view from predators. That doesn’t stop ermines! They are slender and agile enough to actively hunt in their prey’s snow tunnels.

01/05/2025

🏆 And the award for best mammal in a supporting role goes to… the meadow vole! 🐭

Though their furry face is fit for film, the meadow vole (often confused with mice, shrews, moles, and other voles) does its best work behind the scenes. Hidden in grassy runways or tunnels under snow, this round rodent is active day and night throughout the year, but their positive role in our ecosystem often goes unnoticed.

For meadow voles, the key to succeeding is breeding and feeding! They are wildly prolific, producing an average of five pups per litter and up to eight litters per year. That’s a lot of litters for one little critter, but efficient reproduction is critical because meadow voles are an all you can eat buffet for much of Maine’s wildlife. An epicenter in the food web, meadow voles support predator populations, including owls, hawks, weasels, bobcats, foxes, snakes, and more!

To keep up with the high energy demand of reproduction, meadow voles feed voraciously on grasses, sedges, and other greens such as dandelions and goldenrod in damp meadows and marshes. As they nibble away, they contribute to soil aeration, seed dispersal, and nutrient cycling.

In winter when greens are scarce, their increased appetite for tree bark beneath the snow can become a challenge for growers, but habitat modification and exclusion with tree guards have proven to be effective methods to prevent conflict.

01/04/2025

Ice fishing with live baitfish? Help protect Maine's fisheries from the spread of unwanted species with the following steps. Your actions are one of the last lines of defense.

🧐 Before baiting your hook, always check fishing regulations to ensure live baitfish are allowed in the water you intend to fish.

🐟 Dispose of used or leftover baitfish on land or in the trash, never in or near the water. Dispose of unused worms in the trash, not in the water or on land.

⛔️ Leave your bait bucket at home if visiting from out of state to prevent introduction of new species and invasive hitchhikers to Maine's waters. Bringing baitfish into Maine is illegal.

Follow the link below to learn more about identifying, purchasing, harvesting, selling, and fishing responsibly with live baitfish and smelts.

www.maine.gov/ifw/fishing-boating/fishing/laws-rules/baitfish.html

01/03/2025

Carry Maine's fishing laws in your pocket with FLOAT! 🎣

📲 Maine’s Fishing Laws Online Angling Tool (FLOAT) is an online map-based display of Maine's special fishing laws you can access from your computer or your smartphone. It’s a quick and easy way to locate or identify a body of water, determine if it is regulated with General and/or Special Fishing Laws, and download Special Fishing laws to print or view later.

🔴 If a water body is shown in red, it is regulated with Special Fishing Laws which can be viewed by clicking on the water body.
🔵 If a water body is shown in blue, it is regulated under General Fishing Law. Use the map to determine if the water body is in the North or South Zone, and find the corresponding General Fishing Laws in the Resources Tab.

Give FLOAT a try at mefishwildlife.com/float

01/02/2025

Ring in the new year by going all in for Maine's deer!

We're kicking off the new year with a new community science project! The Northern Maine Wintering Deer Survey needs Maine's winter adventurers to help us identity where northern Maine deer spend their winters. Snowmobilers, snowshoers, cross-country skiers, and wildlife watchers, can we count on you?

Deer in northern Maine exist near the northern extent of their range, and seek out specific habitat that provides food and protection from the elements to persist through tough winters. Identifying where deer naturally winter may inform land acquisition, conservation, and management efforts.

To participate, visit mefishwildlife.com/winteringdeer to report all white-tailed deer sightings in the survey area (see map) from January 1 to March 31, 2025 including:

🗺 Location
📅 Date and time
🦌 Number of deer (alive and deceased)
👀 Whether or not you have seen deer at this location before

It's as easy as that!

01/01/2025

If you can sparrow minute, we'd like to wish you a happy New Year! We hope that 2025 tweets you right, but if things don't go as planned, we hope you still have fun just winging it in the Maine outdoors!

Birding on Wildlife Management Areas is a ton of fun! Find a WMA to visit at mefishwildlife.com/wma.

01/01/2025

It's January, but that doesn't mean the ice is safe. Ice conditions vary across the state, and even across a single water body. Don't rely on why you've heard from others. The only way to know if the ice is safe is to check it yourself.

Here are some important reminders from the Maine Warden Service about checking ice conditions:

🧊 Always check ice conditions for yourself before stepping out using a chisel or auger to test ice thickness in several places.
💧 Ice conditions can change quickly and vary greatly from one location to the next. Ice that forms over flowing water and currents, especially near streams, bridges, and culverts, can be particularly dangerous.
❄️ Know that a fresh coat of snow can hide potentially hazardous areas – use caution.
🥶 Always have a pair of ice safety picks in an easy to grab spot should you break through.
🎣 Use caution, but have fun! Winter is a wonderful time to recreate outside in Maine.
🧊 It's always best to go with a buddy, not alone. Always tell someone where you are going and when you plan to return.

Learn more at mefishwildlife.com/icesafety

There are many factors to consider when determining whether the ice conditions are safe.

01/01/2025

The 2025 Maine Inland Fishing Law Book is now available!

Maine’s 6,000 lakes and ponds and more than 32,000 miles of rivers and streams are an angler’s dream come true, and we all have a role in protecting the Maine fishing experience for future generations.

📈 Our fisheries biologists monitor fish populations and provide the science behind our stocking program and fishing regulations.
🐟Our hatcheries produce quality fish and stock waters to support native fish populations and provide angling opportunities.
😎Our game wardens protect our fisheries through law enforcement and education, and help keep anglers safe on the water.
🎣Your job is to be the best steward of Maine’s natural resources that you can be by staying informed of and complying with current laws and rules. Access the 2025 Maine Inland Fishing Law Book

https://lnks.gd/2/2z6WmNH

Maine's 2025 Fishing Laws now available online - download a copy today! Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife sent this bulletin at 12/31/2024 09:59 PM EST mefishwildlife.com Being a responsible user of the Maine outdoors means staying informed of, and complying with, the current laws an...