After perusing social media this morning I noted much discussion of crowding on certain easily accessed, well known waters. It seems the pandemic god(s) has (have) brought the weekend crowds to the midweek pool.

Thoughts on crowding seem to vary between ‘not a problem‘ to majorly overcrowded. More than a few are grumbling about a declining fishery. One thing that is clear (well, as clear as crowd sourced data can be) is that angler numbers are way up, at least in some locations.

Is it time to start thinking about hoot owl regs in Maine, or perhaps shutting down rivers/brooks/streams to trout angling in July & August? Honestly- neither would bother me much as I don’t target trout In moving water during that timeframe. I’m sure there are those that do (including a few guides) whom would be affected.

On a somewhat positive front- drought conditions were nearly corrected over much of southern Maine yesterday. Unfortunately- it did not rain much over the northern and Downeast region- which is bound to result in a doubling-down on anglers heading to more popular western Maine waters once the rivers drop a bit. Here’s a shot of the 24-hr rainfall totals with more rain on the way today:

According to our weather station rain gauge- the precip map seems amazingly accurate, though it’s only one validation point.