Announcements

2024-09-02

This is part 2 of the fall flows information. 

We are sitting pretty at First Roach Pd with 6.5 ft of storage, so we are increasing flows from 80 cfs to 230 cfs today.

Also, we spoke with Brookfield last week to sort out flows for the month of September to discuss flows on the West Branch of the Penobscot below Seboomook, East Outlet, and Moose River.

Flows were bumped up to 750 cfs on the West Branch below Seboomook Dam over Labor Day weekend.  We will maintain this flow for now and reassess the water storage around the middle of the month.  If we have some surplus water, then we can increase the flows for the last two weeks of the season.  You may or may not know that Seboomook Lake is limited to a 17 ft drawdown under the current hydro license and DEP water quality certification.  In the past the lake could be drawn down as much as 33 ft.  There is also a 3.5 ft drawdown limit on Canada Fall Lake which is upstream of Seboomook Lake and can contribute to the water storage.  In the past Canada Falls Lake could be drawn down 26 ft.  So, we are working with much less water these days.

The flows at the Moose River below Brassua Dam will stay around 500 cfs for a few more weeks as maintenance is underway at the dam with divers in the water.  We anticipate an increase in flows around the middle of the month. Of course, flows in the Moose River above Brassua Lake are totally unregulated and will only offer fishing opportunities if we get rain.

The East Outlet will remain around 1800 cfs for September, depending on rain.  This is a flow that works for both wading and drift boats. We may ask for a few pulses in flow to help draw fish in periodically this fall, if the rain cooperates.

The temperatures are cooling this week. This should help stir the fish up.

2024-08-31

Greetings from the Board of Directors of the Sebec Lake Association.  As summer comes to a close after this Labor Day weekend, we hope you have been able to enjoy the lake as much as we have this summer!  Fall is just around the corner and your Board is already talking about the focus of our advocacy efforts for next year as we work with you to ‘Protect and Preserve’ our corner of Maine.  

We want to bring to your attention to a topic that has received a significant amount press lately — that being ‘Floating Camps’:

It has recently been observed that 'Floating Camps', essentially a shack on an old pontoon boat base, are being found more frequently on Maine Lakes.  For an overview, please see the Floating Camps article from the Bangor Daily News .  This article talks about the current state—that there are no regulations which apply to these structures and thus, right now, Maine can’t control them.  These structures are unregulated, have no registration requirement, no legal sanitation facilities, and anchor pretty much anywhere on any lake they choose.  For example, they could anchor for the entire summer twenty-five feet off your shore. 

The Sebec Lake Association Board of Directors believes these structures need to be made illegal on all Maine lakes, as they represent a very real threat to lake health, water quality, fisheries, local economies and property values.   

The Association is developing an action plan and asks for your involvement.  We hope to convince our local legislators in the 132nd Maine Legislature, which convenes in January 2025, to enact legislation banning Floating Camps on all Maine lakes.  We will be posting the plan on our website, along with template letters for you to send to your state legislators (including the Governor), with their mail and email addresses. Even if you don't vote in Maine, we encourage you to let your voice be heard.  Let’s encourage the Legislature to help change that headline to “Maine did do something to stop the floating camps”!

Please check back (to the Sebec Lake Association website) shortly after the November election to find these tools and to take the next step of advocating for the preservation and protection of our lake.  

We appreciate all those who have remained active members of the Sebec Lake Association.  Our Mission has always been “To Protect and Preserve" Sebec Lake.  Never have we seen as many threats to the lake as we see now in 2024.  Please take a look at all of our information, education, and advocacy efforts at our website.  If you have not yet renewed your membership for 2024, are not a member, or have neighbors who are not association members:  direct them to the web site and encourage them to join.  If you are not sure if you have paid your 2024 dues you can do that online; if you have already paid we’ll credit this fall payment to your 2025 dues!  

2024-08-29

Every fall, the IFW in Greenville coordinates with hydro companies to maximize fishing opportunities in the region on rivers with dams. We hope to meet with Brookfield in the coming days regarding the Moose River, East Outlet, and the West Branch of the Penobscot, but until then I wanted to pass along some info related to the Roach River/First Roach Pd and Wilson Stream/Lower Wilson Pd because changes are coming soon.

IFW requests a release of around 100 cfs from the dam on Lower Wilson Pd each September.  Wilson Stream is the primary salmon spawning and nursery habitat for native salmon in Sebec Lake about 20 miles downstream.  The fall flow is essential to attract fish into the mouth of the stream and to the base of Earley’s Falls.  The salmon have difficulty passing over these ~4-foot falls, so we try to help by attracting the salmon in early then reducing the flow to a level where they can pass upstream.  We repeat this process later in the month if possible.  We start in early September because a heavy rain can stop all upstream passage for many days, even weeks, and this month can be wet.  We’ve documented nearly complete year class failures in the past due to poor upstream passage conditions. So, we want to get fish over the falls while the weather is still dry.  This means the campowners on Wilson Pd will see the lake level drop as water is released soon after Labor Day.  The rate will depend on the amount of rain.  Recently IFW made some improvements to the boat ramp to assist boaters during low water but be prepared.

IFW operates the dam on First Roach Pd which is the source of water for the Roach River.  Of course, September is the best time of the year to fish this river.  We attempt to hold the lake as full as possible for the campowners during the summer recreational season.  Then after Labor Day, we begin the fall flows in the Roach.  This year we plan to open the gates to around 200 cfs on September 3rd. You can check the flow on the Roach River by calling our flow line at 207-695-4143. Similar to Wilson Pd, campowners on First Roach Pd need to be prepared.  The pond will drop roughly 1.0 to 1.2 inches per day depending on any rain. So, plan accordingly if you must remove a boat or dock this fall. Also, the Roach River- South Rd has been repaired and is passable.  

Here are a couple videos of the salmon at Earley’s Falls from 2015 and 2020:

Sebec Salmon Video 1 

Sebec Salmon Video 2 

Tim Obrey, Fisheries Supervisor, Moosehead Lake Region ME IFW

2024-03-25

On June 11 2024, The Town of Dover-Foxcroft has an important decision to make about the future of the Mayo Mill Dam due to longstanding safety, legal, and state/federal compliance issues with the dam.

At the beginning of 2023, the Town of Dover-Foxcroft set out to complete a feasibility and alternatives study in partnership with the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) and The Nature Conservancy in Maine (TNC). That study is now finished. After reviewing the available options, costs, and benefits, a steering committee of residents and elected officials convened by the Town to oversee the study report voted unanimously in support of removing the Mayo Mill Dam as the best option for Dover-Foxcroft. The committee presented their recommendation to the Select Board on February 26, 2024. At this same meeting, the Select Board voted 6-1 to accept the committee's recommendation for dam removal, and also voted 7-0 to bring the final decision to a town vote.

Removing the Mayo Mill dam would significantly reduce flood risk and eliminate safety, liability, and long-term operations and maintenance concerns for the Town. Dam removal would also restore a free-flowing Piscataquis River and restore natural wetland and riparian areas. This will result in improved ecosystem health, including restored in-river and shoreline habitats for a wide variety of native fish and wildlife species, improved water quality, and enhanced shoreline stabilization.

While a portion of Sebec Lake shorefront is in Dover-Foxcroft, the lake drains past the outlet dam into Sebec River and enters the Piscataquis River below both Piscataquis River dams in Dover-Foxcroft: the upper Mayo Mill Dam and the lower Brown.s Mills Dam. Whatever happens at Mayo Mill will not impact the Milo Dam on Sebec River nor the Sebec Dam at the outlet of Sebec Lake.

Invasive fish species management continues to be a state priority. Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in 2009 by Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (ME DIFW) and the Maine Department of Marine Resources (ME DMR), existing barriers designed to allow passage of Atlantic salmon but prevent passage of northern pike will be maintained at Sebec Dam, Milo Dam, and Brown's Mills. The MOU was just recently updated to further strengthen the agencies' joint commitment to preventing the spread of invasive fish in the Piscataquis River and ensuring barriers are maintained at the dams listed above. LD1049, An Act to Protect Maine's Inland Fisheries from Invasive Fish, was amended to a MOU, described above, between ME DMR and ME DIFW, and given final approval by the Legislature in March.

Ways to Learn More:  Visit Mayo Mill Dam Feasibility Study to see all information considered by the steering committee over the past 14 months.

- Contact Alsina Brenenstuhl, Project Coordinator, with questions and ask to stay up to date with events.

- Follow along on the -Town of Dover-Foxcroft, Maine- Facebook page.

- Keep an eye out for a series of -Coffee Conversations- this spring where steering committee members will be available to answer your questions about this process.

2024-03-19

April 
April 13 - 57th Annual Kenduskeag River Race
April 27 - 50th Annual Kiwanis Piscataquis River Race - Guilford to Dover-Foxcroft
April 28 - Charlie Chaplin's silent film Gold Rush with Live Accompaniment 2:00 PM EDT Center Theater
May 
May 4 - Annual Kiwanis Bike Rodeo, YMCA/Kiwanis Park - D-F
May 4 - PCSWCD's 8th Annual Bird Walk, 8am, register at: https://piscataquisswcd.org/
May 18 - Sebec-Bean Supper with hot dogs - 4:00-6:00 pm
June 
June 8 - Molly Hatchet at the Piscataquis County Ice Arena, 7:00 pm 
June 21? (TBD) - Dinner Dance & Auction @YMCA/Kiwanis Park, Dover-Foxcroft
June 22 - Maine Whoopie Pie Festival, Dover-Foxcroft
June 27 - Some Reel People, country dance band. Thompson Library Pavilion, 6pm 
July 
July 3 - Sebec - Food - 6:00 pm, Fireworks at Dusk
July 4 - Sebec - All Day Activities - 8:00 am - Breakfast at Sebec Community Church, 9:00 am, Parade, 10:30am - Chicken BBQ - until sold out, 11:00 am - Canoe Race  
July 13, 9:30 am Sebec Lake Association Annual Meeting, Central Hall Commons, 152 East Main Street, D-F 
July 12, 13, 14 - Annual Guilford Town Wide Yard Sale
July 16. 17& 18 - Teen Wilderness Expedition 8am - 5pm (https://piscataquisswcd.org/)
July 20 -  Sebec - Ice Cream Social and Pie Sale 6:00-8:00 pm
July 26-28 - 74th Annual Dover-Foxcroft Kiwanis Auction at Piscataquis Valley Fairgrounds
July 27 - Guilford - Piscataquis River Festival
August 
August 3 - Dover-Foxcroft Homecoming Celebration
August 3 - Steel Drum Concert by Pan Storm 6PM Thompson Library Pavilion
August 6 - SLA Plant Paddle (requires registration); location and time to be announced later
August 9, 10, 11 - Bowerbank Days Event schedule: 
                             Friday evening August 9, 7-10 pm. Dancing & hanging out with live music, raffles, silent                                     auction; Food trucks will be on-site.
                             Saturday, August 10, 8:00 am-5:00 pm. 8:00 am - Gary Wakeland 5K road race - arrive                                     early to register. 9:30 am - Parade
August 22-25 - 137th Annual Piscataquis Valley Fair, Dover-Foxcroft
August 24 - Sebec - Silent Auction & Pancake Breakfast 8:00-10:00 am 
September 
September 21 - Sebec - Whoopie Pie Sale - 8:00 am
September 28 - Guilford - Annual Harvest Fair
October 
October 19 - Sebec - Bean Supper with Pulled Pork - 4:00-6:00 pm
November 
November 2 - Sebec - Chicken & Biscuits - 4:00-6:00 pm
December 
December 2 - Hometown Holiday Events
December date to be determined - Sebec - Christmas Partying Room.
Check for updates on these websites and Facebook:
Kiwanis Club of Dover-Foxcroft; Town of Dover-Foxcroft
Guilford Historical Society; Town of Guilford; Piscataquis Chamber of 
Commerce, Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District, 
Thompson Free Public Library, and/or Center Theater.

Most Sebec Events are being held at the Sebec Reading Room.

2024-01-10

Tim Obrey, Maine Inland Fish and Wildlife biologist updated the Fisheries Management work for the trout population of Sebec Lake.  Check out his interesting report and underwater drone footage on our Fisheries Management Plan.  Thanks Tim!