Large (34 inch) Atlantic salmon jumping at impassable dam on Cobbosseecontee Stream, Gardiner, Maine in November, 1997. This and other salmon were later observed spawning in the stream one half mile below this dam. Several precocious male Atlantic salmon parr were observed on the spawning redds as well.


Post-spawned, 29-inch long female Atlantic salmon, Cobbosseecontee Stream, Gardiner, Maine, Nov. 1996. The salmon's nose was severely cut and abraded, presumably from attempting to jump the dam in the photo above.

This female salmon was rescued from a poacher who had just caught her and had buried her alive in a sand bar next to the stream to avoid being caught by game wardens. Once placed back in the stream and held in the current she regained her strength and swam away. The poacher told FKS that he "thought it was a big trout."

Photos by Douglas Watts, Friends of the Kennebec Salmon.