Sebago Lake

The lake contains natural populations of land-locked salmon (Salmo salar sebago) and smelt because when the last major glaciers retreated, the entire watershed was under seawater, and populations of these marine animals became established as the land rose and seawaters retreated. Sebago Lake also holds a legendary place in Maine fishing lore as the home of the onetime world record (and still state-record) landlocked salmon — a 22.5-pounder caught Sept. 12, 1907, by Edward Blakeley of Darien, Conn. Another memorable Sebago salmon was caught by Jack Sharkey, a former heavyweight boxing champion who landed a 28-inch fish that weighed 10 pounds, 2 ounces on April 21, 1948. A more recent lunker was recorded on July 25, 1999, when Roger W. Kolterman hooked a salmon that weighed 8.84 pounds and was 27 inches long. Recently, however, some of the biggest fish to come out of Sebago have been Northern pike, which were introduced illegally and first documented in the lake in 2003. Northern pike were put into a number of Maine waters, fisheries biologists believe, by people trying to improve the fishing without regard to the serious consequences for native fish populations. A 17½-pound, 41-inch pike that was caught on Sebago March 16, 2010, had a 13-inch salmon in its stomach. Other game fish found in Sebago lake include lake trout, brook trout, brown trout, smallmouth bass and largemouth bass.