Maine's Rapid River to Get New Bass Signs

A wild native brook trout from the Rapid River in Maine. (Pond in the River Guide Service)

The Rapid River in Maine is the premier wild native brook trout river in the United States, and one of the finest wild native trout rivers in the nation. Nowhere do you have a better chance of catching a wild native brook trout measured in pounds not inches in moving water than the Rapid River.

Unfortunately, nonnative and highly invasive smallmouth bass have been illegally introduced to the Rapid River, putting the rivers wild native brook trout at risk. To be clear, no brook trout river in Maine has escaped a bass introduction unscathed. The Rapid will unfortunately be no different.

While bass can never be eradicated from a river the size of the Rapid, their populations can be controlled to various degrees, depending on how much you are willing and able to put into it. One thing we can do, and the law allows it, is to remove any bass we encounter while angling. It can’t hurt, and it can help.

The Maine chapter of NFC worked with Rangeley Guide’s and Sportsman’s Association (RGSA), and Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW), to develop an information sign regarding smallmouth bass to be posted at fisherman access points along the Rapid River and Pond in the River. Posting will begin early summer 2020.

Special thanks to Maine NFC Chair Emily Bastian, NFC Technologist Ben Brunt, RGSA President Gary Langille, MDIFW Director of Fisheries Francis Brautigam, and Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust Deputy Director Shelby Rousseau. Without their cooperation and hard work this could not have happened.

Tentative locations for posting signs.