Sheepscot River Fishing Spot

• Elevation: 76'
• Last Modified By: vinny60 on 09/12/09 04:34 PM
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The fifty-eight mile long Sheepscot River rises in the hills of West Montville, widens into Sheepscot Pond in Palermo, then falls swiftly over rocks and gravel through the rural Whitefield countryside to the picturesque village of Coopers Mills, where spars for the U.S.S. Constitution were cut. Farther downstream it drops over the Head Tide Dam to mix with the incoming tide, flowing by the delightful antique houses of Alna. After meandering through Sheepscot Village, with its reversing falls, the river slides through Newcastle and bustling Wiscasset, once one of the busiest ports in North America. Now a broad river, it passes Westport, Southport, Hendricks Head Light and Boothbay on its way to the sea. The 228-square mile watershed contains more than 30 lakes and ponds and about 55 miles of streams. The West Branch, which enters in Whitefield, is approximately 15 miles long and holds Branch Pond in its headwaters. From the head of tide in Alna down to Wiscasset is a five-mile long upper estuary with extensive mud flats and salt marshes. Major streams enter the river here, the Dyer River in Sheepscot Village and the Marsh River and Deer Meadow Brook just above Wiscasset. The Marsh River/Deer Meadow Marsh complex is a highly productive brackish marsh system (rare in Maine) that harbors many threatened and endangered species. The Sheepscot is one of the last remaining rivers with remnant populations of the nearly extinct native Atlantic salmon. These and other anadromous fish such as striped bass, shad, alewife and eel, return from the sea to spawn in the river’s clean gravel bottom before migrating back to the ocean. In the spring, canoes and kayaks blossom with the first wildflowers. As the river races to the ocean, full with the melting snow, excellent rapids appear, especially between King’s Mills and Alna’s Head Tide Dam. As the seasons change, residents and visitors use the river and its banks for bass and trout fishing or turkey and deer hunting.