The Roach River is a river in Piscataquis County,

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. From the outlet of Third Roach Pond () in Shawtown (Maine

Township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

A, Range 12, WELS), the river runs west, through a chain of ponds.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed June 30, 2011 The Flow sequence through the ponds is from the Fourth Roach Pond through the Third Roach Pond, Second Roach Pond, and First Roach Pond to empty into

Moosehead Lake Moosehead Lake is a deep, coldwater lake located in Piscataquis County in Northwestern Maine. It is the largest lake in Maine and the largest lake wholly within New England, the second-largest lake in New England after Lake Champlain, and the l ...

, the source of the

Kennebec River The Kennebec River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Kinəpékʷihtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 natural river within the U.S. state of Ma ...

, in Spencer Bay (T1, R14, WELS). The Seventh Roach Pond drains through the Sixth Roach Pond in a separate tributary to the Third Roach Pond. No fifth Roach Pond is shown on modern maps. The headwaters of the Roach River, as well as Second Roach Pond, Third Roach Pond, and Fourth Roach Pond, lie on land purchased by the

Appalachian Mountain Club Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) is the oldest outdoor group in the United States. Created in 1876 to explore and preserve the White Mountains (New Hampshire), White Mountains in New Hampshire, it has expanded throughout the northeastern U.S., wit ...

in 2009. In 2014, a section of Roach River, which was viewed as essential nursery habitat for young fish, was temporarily dewatered during dam reconstruction on land owned by the Club.

First Roach Pond

First Roach Pond is the largest of the Roach Ponds and extends across the north part of Frenchtown Township. Roach River enters the north side of the pond downstream of Second Roach Pond, and overflows a dam at the west end of First Roach Pond upstream of Moosehead Lake. Spawning tributaries Inlet Brook enters the east end of the pond, and Lagoon Brook enters the south shore of the pond near the dam. The pond offers good habitat for

lake trout The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater Salvelinus, char living mainly in lakes in Northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, laker, and grey trout. In Lake Sup ...

and land-locked

Atlantic salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Hucho taimen, Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlan ...

Lake whitefish The lake whitefish (''Coregonus clupeaformis'') is a species of freshwater whitefish from North America. Lake whitefish are found throughout much of Canada and parts of the northern United States, including all of the Great Lakes. The lake white ...

disappeared from the pond in the 1970s, and

brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada. Two ecological forms of brook trout h ...

populations have been declining since

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samuel Latham Mitchill fr ...

became established in the 1990s. The outlet dam is intended to provide a barrier against migration of

white perch The white perch (''Morone americana'') is not a true Percidae, perch but is a fish of the temperate bass family, Moronidae, notable as a food and game fish in eastern North America. In some places it is referred to as "Silver Bass". The common ...

and

smallmouth bass The smallmouth bass (''Micropterus dolomieu'') is a species of freshwater fish in the Centrarchidae, sunfish family (biology), family (Centrarchidae) of the order (biology), order Centrarchiformes. It is the type species of its genus ''Micropterus ...

from Moosehead Lake.

Second Roach Pond

Second Roach Pond extends along the southern edge of Maine township 1, range 12, reaching across the northern border of Shawtown township. Roach River enters the east end of the pond, and overflows through remains of a dam at the west end of the pond. The dam was built for early 20th-century

log driving Log driving is a means of moving logs (sawn tree trunks) from a forest to sawmills and pulp mills downstream using the current of a river. It was the main transportation method of the early logging industry in Europe and North America. History ...

, but use of the dam ceased in 1969, and the remains were washed out in 1983. Summer temperatures in the pond are unfavorable for trout and salmon, and survival of stocked salmon has been poor since whitefish disappeared from the pond in the 1970s. Native

rainbow smelt The rainbow smelt (''Osmerus mordax'') is a North American species of fish of the family (biology), family Osmeridae. Walleye, trout, and other larger fish prey on these smelt. The rainbow smelt prefer juvenile cisco (fish), ciscoes, zooplankton ...

may fare poorly in competition with yellow perch which reached the pond after the dam was abandoned.

Third Roach Pond

Third Roach Pond is in eastern Shawtown township. Roach River overflows the northwest end of the pond upstream of Second Roach Pond. Summer water temperatures are unfavorable for native trout which do poorly in competition with introduced yellow perch; but the Maine Department of inland Fisheries and Wildlife has stocked the pond with salmon, and a few

splake The splake or slake (''Salvelinus namaycush × Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a hybrid of two fish species resulting from the crossing of a male brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') and a female lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush''). The name its ...

may reach the pond from the adjacent Fourth Roach Pond.

Fourth Roach Pond

Fourth Roach Pond is west of and adjacent to Third Roach Pond in eastern Shawtown township. The two ponds are connected by a short narrows and maintain similar water elevation. Summer water temperatures are unfavorable for native trout which do poorly in competition with introduced yellow perch; but the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife stocks the pond with splake.

Sixth and Seventh Roach Ponds

The Sixth Roach Pond is only deep and provides marginal trout habitat in comparison to thriving

hornpout The brown bullhead (''Ameiurus nebulosus'') is a fish of the family Ictaluridae that is widely distributed in North America. It is a species of bullhead catfish and is similar to the black bullhead (''Ameiurus melas'') and yellow bullhead ('' ...

and

white sucker The white sucker (''Catostomus commersonii'') is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, but it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico. The fish is common ...

. Sixth Roach Pond overflows into Third Roach Pond to the south, and receives drainage from Seventh Roach Pond to the east in Maine township A, range 11. The Seventh Roach Pond is deep and white sucker keep the pond turbid by feeding on the muddy bottom. Summer temperatures are unfavorable for brook trout, but a few move into the pond from tributaries.

References