General Fishing Seasons & Limits

Seasons

Lakes & Ponds		Rivers, Streams, Brooks
North Zone (See Map Below)	From April 1 to September 30: Open to open water fishing. From October 1 to March 31: Closed to all fishing.	North and South Zones	From April 1 to August 15: Open to open water fishing. From August 16 to September 30: Open to open water fishing using artificial lures or flies only. General law length and bag limits apply, except daily bag limit one landlocked salmon and one brook trout. From October 1 to March 31: Closed to all fishing.
South Zone (See Map Below)	January 1 to December 31: Open to ice and open water fishing

General Law Daily Bag, Possession and Length Limits

The daily bag, possession and minimum length limits in the table below apply to all inland waters open to fishing.

Species	Daily Bag & Possession Limits		Length Limit
	Lakes/Ponds	Rivers, Streams, Brooks	Lakes/Ponds	Rivers, Streams, Brooks
Brook Trout (incudes Splake & Arctic charr)	North Zone: 5 fish South Zone: 2 fish	5 fish	6 inches minimum	6 inches minimum
Brown Trout	2 fish	2 fish	14 inches minimum	6" min & 25" max
Rainbow Trout	2 fish	2 fish	12 inches minimum	6 inches minimum
Landlocked Salmon	2 fish	2 fish	14 inches minimum	14" min & 25" max
Togue (Lake Trout)	2 fish	2 fish	18 inches minimum	18 inches minimum
Species	Daily Bag & Possession Limits		Length Limit
Bass (Largemouth & Smallmouth)	North Zone: Unlimited		None
	South Zone: 2 fish		No minimum length. Only 1 may exceed 14 inches.
Whitefish	3 fish		None
Smelts	2 quarts		None
Sea-run Atlantic Salmon	Federally Endangered Species - No Fishing Permitted for this Species
Inland Species not listed above	Unlimited		None
Striped Bass, Shad, River Herring, American Eel, Sturgeon	See Recreational Angling for Migratory Fish
Inland species not listed above	Unlimited		None

NORTH ZONE COUNTIES

1. Aroostook

2. Penobscot north of Route 11 & 157

3. Piscataquis

4. Somerset

5. Franklin

6. Oxford north of the Androscoggin River

SOUTH ZONE COUNTIES

7. Oxford south of the Androscoggin River

8. York

9. Cumberland

10. Androscoggin

11. Kennebec

12. Sagadahoc

13. Lincoln

14. Waldo

15. Knox

16. Penobscot south of Route 11 & 157

17. Hancock

18. Washington

WHY HAVE TWO GENERAL FISHING LAW ZONES?

There are different General Law Season dates, Brook Trout Bag Limits, Terminal Gear Restrictions, and Bass Bag and Length Limits depending on zone, North or South, illustrated to the left.

The North Zone contains an abundance of wild and native coldwater fish populations, while the South Zone contains predominately stocked and/or warmwater fisheries. The difference in General Fishing Laws reflect the management needs for the two zones, and typically offer additional protection to wild and native resources in the North and more angling opportunity (i.e., fall or year round fishing) in the South.