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Crooked River

The Crooked River originates at the southern end of Songo Pond in Bethel and meanders southward for approximately 38 miles to its junction with the Songo River near the State Park in Naples, Maine. The two rivers then wind two more miles to their outlet in the northernmost part of Sebago Lake.

Fishing

The Crooked River is a good bet for quality landlocked salmon in a riverine setting, but be prepared to have some fishless days. The Crooked is nearly 60 miles long and the salmon can quickly disperse in this large river system, which can make for some spotty fishing. On the other hand, there's an opportunity to catch some large salmon in the river as well as native brook trout. The Crooked provides virtually all of the spawning habitat for wild landlocked salmon in Sebago Lake. Each spring, smelts run into the lower section of this river and fishing activity is brisk from the Route 302 bridge down to the lake.

Water Quality: Stable

The Crooked River is monitored by the Portland Water District on a quarterly basis from the Sebago Lake State Park in Naples to a bridge on Rt. 35 in Albany. The total phosphorus levels for 2010 remained in line with expectations with no readings above the action level of 35 ppb. Overall, the Crooked River appears to have generally stable water quality. While no samples taken in 2010 were above the action limit, continued monitoring of the river is necessary. The Crooked River contributes more surface inflow to Sebago Lake than any other tributary and a reduction in water quality in the Crooked River could reduce water quality in the lake.

Crooked River Watershed Survey

This water­shed sur­vey began in the spring of 2011 and fin­ished March 2012.  Like many of the sur­veys that LEA has par­tic­i­pated in, this project involved iden­ti­fy­ing and doc­u­ment­ing ero­sion sites within the water­shed.  How­ever, unlike past sur­veys, a ripar­ian (shore­line) cor­ri­dor sur­vey was also under­taken because of the impor­tance this area plays in pro­tect­ing the Crooked River’s high value land-locked salmon and brook trout fish­eries.   More than a dozen orga­ni­za­tions part­nered together to com­plete a sur­vey of the water­shed which stretches from south­ern Bethel in the north to Naples in the South.  From the land-based sur­vey, 164 sites were iden­ti­fied as prob­lems.   The ripar­ian sur­vey iden­ti­fied 20 prob­lem sites.  To read more about this project please check out the full Crooked River Survey Report and the Crooked River Riparian Cooridor Survey.

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