Rangeley Lake Fishing Spot
- County: USA
- Elevation: 1517'
- Last Modified By: fish_master_greg on 03/03/11 04:52 PM
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Spring is normally the fastest action with the salmon and trout feeding near the surface. Trolling streamer flies, smelts, crawlers, plus lures seems to bring the best results. Very popular fly patterns are the Grey Ghost, Black Ghost, Mickey Finn, and the Kennebago Smelt plus many others. Lures such as the Mooselook Warbler, Flash King Warbler, Sutton spoons, Rapala's and many more are the lures of choice. Tying smelts (not live) on leaders is also very popular along with trolling worms and crawlers. Weight on your line or the use of downriggers is not normally needed at this time of year as the fish are feeding between 1' and 10' below the surface. Summer fishing in the lakes is different as the fish are in deeper depths seeking cooler temperatures. You would normally use lead core line or downriggers to get your bait down to the fish. The fish still feed on the same bait as in the Spring season, just somewhat deeper, normally 20' to 50' down from the top and in deeper sections of the lakes. Fall fishing in the lakes is a combination of summer and spring fishing depending on whether the water has cooled off to bring the fish back up toward the surface.
Rangeley Lake Description
Principal fisheries Landlocked salmon and Brook trout. Rangeley Lake is one of the major headwater lakes of the Androscoggin River drainage. It has many small small inlets entering all around the lake. Its outlet, the Rangeley River, flows a short distance northeast into Mooselookmegtintic Lake. The water quality of Rangeley Lake is well suited for Coldwater fisheries management. The deep, cool, well oxygenated water in the lake provides good habitat for salmon and brook trout. Salmonld growth rates are good despite the presence of competitor fish species. Landlocked alewife were stocked in the early 1970's in an attempt to provide salmon forage. The attempt failed as none have been seen in recent years. Rangeley Lake tributaries are good spawning and nursery areas for salmon, but their small size limits the numbers produced. Dodge Pond Stream and Greenvale Stream produce mainly salmon, while South Bog Stream is the major producer of brook trout. There are three public boat launch sites on Rangeley Lake. Two are on the north side of the lake off of Rt. 4 and the other is located in the state park off South Shore Drive in Rangeley Plt. Directions: From Rumford via Maine Route 17 or from Farmington via Maine Route 4. In addition to watersports, visitors enjoy hiking, picnicking, camping, wildlife watching, and photography.
Rangeley Lake is located in Franklin County, Maine in the United States. It is fed by several streams. Its waters flow out from the lake's northwestern end into the short Rangeley River, then into Mooselookmeguntic Lake, and ultimately into the Androscoggin River, Merrymeeting Bay, the lower Kennebec River, the Gulf of Maine and the Atlantic Ocean.