Fisheries & Water Quality Research

PIERCE POND WATERSHED

FISHERIES & WATER QUALITY Research

Thank you to everyone who submitted Angler's Logs! The co-Winners of the drawing for the L.L.Bean Fly-Rod Outfit are Mike and Robin Peluso!

Pierce Pond Watershed Trust (PPWT) is researching the health of the Pierce Pond watershed’s fisheries, beginning with why Mayfly hatches seem to have declined. Anglers’ observations have given rise to questions such as the following: Are these phenomena being seen elsewhere? Are they just temporary, or cyclic, or likely to be long-lasting? Are the fisheries being affected? Are the changes the result of global warming or other factors? To begin to answer some of these questions, PPWT’s Board of Directors created a Fisheries & Water Quality Committee.

We are working with Cobb's Camps, the Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife (ME IF&W), the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and the Lake Stewards of Maine (LSM) to gather information about Pierce Pond by embarking upon the following initiatives:

Pierce Pond has been added to the list of lakes that Maine DEP regularly monitors for temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, and clarity.

PPWT has become part of the statewide lake monitoring program known as the Lake Stewards of Maine (LSM). On July 2, 2024, LSM representatives came to Pierce Pond to train PPWT Stewardship Coordinator Rachel Cheatham-McFadden, PPWT Summer Intern Sam Foye, Advisory Committee member Gene McKenna, and PPWT member-volunteers how to collect data on water-quality parameters. They were trained to use a Secchi disc for transparency readings, and how to use Dissolved-Oxygen meters to obtain and interpret dissolved oxygen and thermal profiles. These measurements will be taken throughout the rest of the season to better understand trends that may be affecting insect hatches and fisheries.
We are enlisting Pierce Pond anglers to complete angler logs in which they record observed hatches, successful fishing methods (flies or lures), and species caught. Please download the log or pick up logs at Cobb's Camps to record your daily fishing. Logs can be returned to Cobb’s or mailed to PPWT at PO Box 5660, Augusta, ME 04332. Anglers who submit logs will be entered into a drawing for an L.L.Bean fly-rod outfit.

Win an L.L.Bean 9-foot, 6-weight fly-rod outfit!

All anglers who submit anglers logs will be entered in a drawing for an L.L. Bean fly-rod outfit! The outfit will be raffled off on 9/30/24. Download the log to to print and bring with you.

Telemetry Study Planned for 2025

Next spring, we plan to partner with ME IF&W to perform a radio telemetry study on brook trout migration in Pierce Pond, which will provide valuable information regarding movements of fish during the year, including the warm summer months and the fall spawning period.