Thanksgiving is over, the grill’s put away, and half the guys you know are already talking about ice augers and tip-ups. Most boats are shrink-wrapped, rods are leaning in the corner of the garage, and the only thing getting wet is the driveway when the snow melts. But here’s the truth a lot of fishermen never figure out: in Maine, the real season is just getting interesting.
Ask Kevin McKay. The man has been chasing fish in this state for decades, and he’ll tell you straight, some of his best days ever happened after the calendar flipped past October. One Halloween, when his boy Jax was seven years old, that kid stuck a 20-inch landlocked salmon on the Kennebec River. A few years back Kevin blew off turkey dinner altogether, headed to the same river, and boated several salmon while the rest of us were carving birds. His youngest son Tait has the pictures to prove late fall still produces fat fish. Jax has them too. Point is, these aren’t flukes; they’re the rule if you’re willing to zip up the jacket and go.
Most out-of-state plates are long gone by now, the campgrounds are empty, and you can park anywhere you want. The fish haven’t left; they’ve just quit jumping for every yahoo in a bass boat. Water temperatures drop, metabolism slows, but trout, salmon, bass, pike, and pickerel still have to eat. When a warm front nudges the thermometer into the mid-30s or higher, the feeding window opens wide and stays that way a lot longer than you’d think.
Where to Go When the Crowd Goes Home
Start with the big rivers that never close.
The Kennebec around Augusta and Waterville stays open all year. Summer striper fishermen know it, but fall and early winter belong to the holdover stripers, brown trout, and landlocked salmon working the current below the dams. McKay likes the stretch near Shawmut Dam; he and his boys have been pounding it into November for years.
The Androscoggin keeps several sections open year-round. Smallmouth fishing stays surprisingly good right up until ice forms, and there are trout water sections if you read the rule book.
The Penobscot gives you until the end of November in a lot of places. Good access, big water, and a mix of everything from smallmouth to salmon depending on the stretch you pick.
Head south a little and the Presumpscot below Sebago Lake is a late-season gold mine. Tailwater fishing means stable flows and cold water that keeps landlocked salmon and brook trout active when everything else is slowing down. McKay and his buddy were sight-fishing both species last November and brought plenty to the net.
The Saco, the St. George, the Royal near Yarmouth, the Mousam, the Sebasticook; each has year-round pieces. Even the East Outlet of the Kennebec up by Moosehead stays open after October 31 in the upper section. Bring streamers or nymphs; the salmon and big brookies didn’t get the memo that the season ended.
A guy could drive himself crazy trying to fish every month of the year in Maine; some actually do. McKay says it’s hard once real winter hits, but possible. Pick a day when the sun is out and the air temp cracks freezing, and you might have an entire famous river to yourself.
The Quiet You Can’t Buy
There’s something about standing knee-deep in a Maine river in November that hits different. The leaves are down, you can see twice as far, and every riffle looks fishy. A flock of ducks cups overhead, a bald eagle works the far bank, and the only other sound is the river doing what it’s done for thousands of years. You cast a streamer or a woolly bugger, strip it slow, and when that rod loads up it feels like you stole something priceless.
McKay remembers guiding the St. George in mid-November and watching clients take brown trout on dry flies; actual honest-to-God dry flies, when most guys are already shopping for new auger blades. Another day he and Jax went looking for northern pike, didn’t connect, but hooked a pile of chain pickerel instead. Good fighters, toothy, and nobody else around to see you grin like a kid when one slams the fly.
Rules, Regs, and Not Screwing It Up
Every one of these rivers has sections with special rules. Some close to protect spawning fish, some go artificials-only, some have different bag limits after October. Do yourself a favor and check the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife website before you drive two hours and find out you’re in the wrong stretch. The fish stocking report is worth a look too; plenty of these waters still get fresh trout dumped in them right through fall.
Final Word
The woods might be quiet and the calendar might say winter is coming, but the rivers are still talking if you’re willing to listen. Grab the heavier rods, throw an extra pair of wool socks in the truck, and go find out what you’ve been missing while everyone else is inside watching football.
Maine didn’t shut the door on fishing just because the pumpkin pie is gone. For the guys who know, the door never closes at all.
