A fake letter claiming to be from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and proposing false changes to pike fishing regulations went viral this week.
The backlash highlights a broader debate in Maine, according to Christian Carlson, owner of Northeast Troller in Thorndike.
Carlson said the original post, which has since been deleted, appeared Monday in several Maine ice fishing groups.
Under current regulations, anglers may kill pike upon catching them because of their aggressive, invasive nature and the threat they pose to native salmon and trout.
The fake release claimed the department was reclassifying pike from an unregulated invasive species to one that would be actively protected and managed.
”The state wants the fish removed from the waters as soon as they are caught. And this fake post basically does a 180 of that and says … we’ve moved from a model of eradication to management,” Carlson said.
To be clear, state officials said there is no change in pike regulations this ice fishing season. Reached by email, Mark Latti, communications director for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, said the post was “phony from the get‑go.”
Latti said people should rely on the department’s law book or website for regulatory announcements, or contact the agency directly.
“The flier is false, and was not authored or distributed by the department,” he said.
Though false, the proclamation reached a wide and opinionated audience. Carlson said the post was likely intended to provoke fishermen and take a jab at what some see as the state’s lack of management of invasive species, such as pike and walleye.
“This one, I think, got away like wildfire in a way that they weren’t expecting,” Latti said. “As far as I know, there was like one or two places that it was originally posted in the big ice fishing groups, and then it just went berserk from there.”
Carlson said the post he made on the Northeast Troller Facebook page about the fake letter has drawn about 120,000 views. His phone was flooded with calls from friends and customers asking about the supposed change, and fishermen as far away as Massachusetts were sharing screenshots.
The viral spread was not fueled only by enthusiasm for fishing, but also by the heated debate over targeting invasive species in Maine waters.
“I think that there was a political suggestion being made here,” Carlson said. “The issue of pike and invasive species at large is a super hot button issue in Maine.”
Carlson said that, in broad strokes, Maine manages its waters for trout.
The state primarily protects and manages brook trout, with brown and rainbow trout receiving more limited attention. Pike, however, pose a direct threat to native trout populations. Carlson said most anglers do not want to see pike in pristine trout waters.
“Most people aren’t going to disagree with that, right?” Carlson said. “It would be a sad, sad day to see pike in Moosehead Lake or something like that. But still, there are many anglers who love fishing for pike. They’re big, they put up vicious fights, and there are some Maine waters that have the potential to be renowned pike fisheries.
“You have these other waters, like the Belgrade Lakes, that have incredible pike populations — to the point where we could make Midwestern states jealous of the type of pike we’re producing.”
And there are some anglers who would like to believe the kinds of fake changes are true — the same anglers who would like to see Maine foster waters renowned for pike fishing.
“And so there is kind of a cohort of people saying, ‘Why aren’t these (pike) managed as game fish as well? Clearly we can grow them with minimal effort. They’re, quote-unquote, trash fish. Why don’t we manage them a little bit and make a great fishery out of it?’” Carlson said.
For now, Maine’s pike fishing regulations are not changing — and any future changes will be announced officially.
“These types of hoaxes often appear around April Fool’s Day,” Latti said, “but someone got an early start this year.”
