Skip to Main Content Skip to Main Navigation

Boundary Waters Between Maine and New Brunswick

Facebook

Twitter Email More Print

Brought to you by:

Licensing Requirements On Boundary Waters:

Either a Maine or New Brunswick License will be honored while fishing on the main body of the waters listed below, or on boundary river waters, including the main stem of the St. Croix River. Fishing on these waters in any area or cove where jurisdiction can be determined by a straight line drawn between two points of land, or fishing while positioned on shore or tied up to shore requires the appropriate agency license.

ICE FISHING

Waters Affected By This Section Are As Follows:

In Aroostook County

Glazier Lake (1), North Lake, The Thoroughfare between North Lake and East Grand Lake, and East Grand Lake (2), St. John River, from the International Bridge in Van Buren downstream to Maine/New Brunswick border at the easternmost border of the Town of Hamlin.(4)

In Washington County

Mud Lake, East Grand Lake (2), Spednic Lake (3), Grand Falls Flowage (5) east of a line between red markers on McAlister Point and Abbot’s Point, and St. Croix River Flowage (Woodland Flowage)

The Following Regulations Apply On Above Waters:

Open season

January 1 – March 31.

Daily bag limits

On landlocked salmon, trout, togue, and black bass: three fish in the aggregate not to include more than 2 landlocked salmon, 2 togue;
On whitefish – three (3), no size or weight limit;
On smelts – sixty (60), no size or weight limit;
On Cusk – ten (10), no size or weight limit;
On pickerel – ten (10), no size or weight limit;
All other species (except Atlantic sea run salmon) – NO limits.

Minimum length limits

Landlocked salmon: 14 inches (35 cm)
Black bass: 10 inches (25 cm)
Togue: 18 inches (45 cm)
Trout: 6 inches (15 cm)

Equipment

On all waters open to ice fishing – five (5) lines per person.

Bait

Use or possession of spiny-finned fish as bait is prohibited.

Legal hours

From 2 hours before sunrise until 2 hours after sunset. (No night fishing.)

Exceptions

Glazier Lake is open to the taking of cusk in the nighttime with 5 lines.
East Grand Lake: Daily bag limit on landlocked salmon, trout, togue, and bass: 5 fish in the aggregate, not to include more than 2 landlocked salmon, 1 togue, 1 bass, and all 5 may be brook trout. S-28.
Spednic Lake: Closed to the taking of smallmouth bass. No size or bag limit on largemouth bass. S-28.
St. John River, Van Buren to Hamlin: Total weight of landlocked salmon, trout, togue, and black bass is not to exceed 7½ pounds (3.5 kg).
Grand Falls Flowage: All smallmouth bass caught must be released alive at once. S-28. No size or bag limit on largemouth bass.

OPEN WATER FISHING

Waters Affected By This Section Are As Follows:

In Aroostook County

In Aroostook County St. Francis River (8), Glazier Lake (8), St. John River (downstream from the confluence with the St. Francis River)(8), Monument Brook, North Lake (6), The Thoroughfare between North Lake and East Grand Lake, and East Grand Lake (4,5).

In Washington County

In Washington County East Grand Lake (4,5), Mud Lake, St. Croix River (1,2,3), Spednic Lake (3,4), Woodland Flowage (St. Croix River Flowage) (2,7), and Grand Falls Flowage east of a line between red markers on McAllister’s Point and Abbott’s Point (9).

The Following Regulations Apply On Above Waters:

Open season

April 1 through September 30.

Equipment

Not more than 1 line per person.

Daily bag limits

On landlocked salmon, trout and togue (lake trout): Five (5) fish, not to include more than 2 landlocked salmon and 2 togue (lake trout), all 5 may be trout. Total weight of these fish not to exceed 7-1/2 pounds (3.5 kg.).
On black bass: April 15 – June 30: 1 fish; July 1-September 30: 3 fish.
On smelts: sixty (60), no size or weight limit.
On whitefish: three (3), no size or weight limit.
On Cusk – ten (10), no size or weight limit.
On Pickerel – ten (10), no size or weight limit.
All other species (except Atlantic salmon): NO LIMITS.

Minimum length limits

Landlocked salmon: 14 inches (35 cm)
Black bass: 10 inches (25 cm)
Togue: 18 inches (45 cm)
Trout: 6 inches (15 cm)

Bait

Use or possession of spiny-finned fish for bait is prohibited.

Legal hours

From 2 hours before sunrise to 2 hours after sunset. Legal fishing hours and open season herein do not apply to the taking of smelts from waters or portions thereof naturally free of ice.

Exceptions

St. Croix River from Milltown Dam to the Unionville bridge line (located at the end of Todd St. in Calais): S-5.
St. Croix River from Grand Falls Dam down to Milltown Dam, including the Woodland Flowage: Remains open to fishing through October. From October 1 – October 31: artificial lures only; all fish caught must be released alive at once. Except no size or bag limit on largemouth bass.
Spednic Lake and the St. Croix River from Mud Lake to Spednic Lake: Closed to the taking of smallmouth bass. No size or bag limit on largemouth bass.

East Grand and Spednic Lakes:

S-2, S-3, S-28.

East Grand: Daily bag limit on landlocked salmon, trout, and togue: 5 fish in the aggregate, not to include more than 2 landlocked salmon, 1 togue, and all 5 may be brook trout. Daily limit on white perch: 25 fish. The 7 1/2 pound weight limit does not apply. Not more than 2 lines per person.
North Lake, Orient: S-2, S-3.
Woodland Flowage, S-28. No size or bag limit on largemouth bass. Remains open to fishing through October. From October 1 – October 31: artificial lures only; all fish must be released alive at once (except no size or bag limit on largemouth bass).
Glazier Lake, St. Francis River, St. John River: S-13. From October 1 – November 30: S-6, S-13. Open to taking of bass and muskellunge only.
Grand Falls Flowage: S-28. All smallmouth bass caught must be released alive at once. No size or bag limit on largemouth bass.

Harvesting Fish

Maine’s Fisheries Biologists ask anglers to view these liberal harvest regulations as opportunities to assist fishery management efforts to grow larger fish and to protect native fish populations.

One Method Toward Improving a Water’s Fishery

Catch and release angling is widely practiced by Maine anglers, especially with freshwater sport-fish species such as trout, salmon, and bass. By releasing fish, anglers hope that they will grow to larger sizes and be available for other anglers. This practice does produce the intended results in many waters, but that is not always the case. In the Maine Fishing Lawbook a number of regulations are designed to improve the quality of fisheries by providing liberal harvest opportunities. These regulations can be separated into two broad categories: 1) liberal bag limits for trout, salmon and togue, and 2) no minimum length limits and unlimited bag limits for non-native and illegally introduced fish species.

In the first category are regulations like S-20, S-24, S-27 and the liberal togue regulations for Moosehead Lake and for several other waters. The intent is to reduce the number of young fish that compete for forage and to remove juvenile fish prior to their first spawning (especially females). Reducing numbers of competitors for food resources allows surviving fish to grow larger.

In the second category are regulations like S-13 and no size limits or bag limits on non-native species such as northern pike and muskellunge. By allowing unrestricted harvest of these species fisheries biologists are attempting to slow the growth of these populations and decrease their direct and indirect impacts on native or naturalized species.

Regulations in red are new this year.

Purple text indicates an important note.