Illegal Gill Net Found on Maine's Magalloway River...
NFC founding member and National Chair Emily Bastian with a wild native brook trout from Maine’s Magalloway River.
“An angler on Monday discovered an illegal gillnet set up along the banks of the Magalloway River off Route 16 in Lincoln Plantation...”
With the exception of the Rapid River in Rangeley, Maine, the nearby Magalloway River is unmatched in regard to wild native brook trout rivers in the eastern United States and possibly the nation. With nonnative and highly invasive smallmouth bass now found throughout the Rapid River, and a changing climate, the tailwater influenced Magalloway may our best hope in regard to trophy brook trout fishing in the east.
Unfortunately, someone recently placed an illegal and lethal gill net in the Magalloway River. While two dead large wild native brook trout were found in the net, as well as what were likely native fallfish and/or suckers, there is no way of knowing how many more large brook trout have been removed from the river by the perpetrators. While size quality is high in the Magalloway, abundance is not due to the somewhat sterile nature of the river.
Something like this can have a notable negative impact on a fishery like the Magalloway River. What kind of person could convince themselves that doing something like this is OK, or in any way justified. It reminds me of the folks who use live fish as bait in waters where it is prohibited, fully understanding the significant and often permanent damage it can have on the resource. Let’s hope they are caught and receive the harshest penalty the law allows…
“When game wardens arrived to investigate, they found two large brook trout entangled in the net along with several other species of fish...”