BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 30, 2025
On Monday, under gray skies, rain and a “salmon chop,” fisheries resource biologist Jeff Bagley and his assistants tended trapnets and tagged lake trout on Moosehead Lake as part of the second year of a research project aimed at understanding the species’ population and its impact on the lake’s ecosystem. The project builds on a pilot study launched in the fall of 2024, when biologists successfully netted and tagged more than 200 mature lake trout, some up to 31 inches long, on a known spawning shoal in the 75,000-acre lake. Lake trout are native to Moosehead and prized by anglers, but when their numbers rise too high, they can outcompete other coldwater gamefish, particularly salmon and brook trout, for food. Understanding lake trout abundance and adjusting management accordingly is key to maintaining the health and balance of the entire fishery.