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Hardy Anglers Brave Gloomy Opening Day of Fishing Season

April 09, 2008 - BELGRADE LAKES -- Tuesday wasn't 2-year-old Michael Swan III's first day of fishing.

But it was the first time he had ever been out for fishing season's opening day, joining his mom and dad, Christine Rice and Michael Swan Jr. of Waterville.

"He's been looking forward to this for weeks now," said Swan. "He's been practicing casting in the living room. He's all excited... He was up at 6 o'clock this morning, it was like Christmas at our house."

The young family were by the rushing water of Belgrade Lakes' village-dam spillway.

Young Michael sometimes needed help casting beyond the crescent of rocks poking through the surface of the water. But he reeled in his line and hook himself, looking for that first bite of the season.

Swan said the popular downtown Belgrade Lakes fishing spot was a good location because it provided easy access to the white water that attracts a variety of species of fish and a place for his son to play when he needed a break from fishing.

Gloomy cold, misty weather and icy lakes seemed to keep down the number of anglers for this year's first day, observed Fred Nassar of Winslow. He was sitting alone on the Castle Island causeway at the Belgrade-Rome boundary, trailing out his fishing line in the current.

"I was just ice fishing last week on Salmon Lake," he said. "We had two-and-a-half-feet of ice on Thursday," he said.

He said the churning spillway tends to suck in insects and small fish, creating an underwater smorgasbord that attracts larger fish to feed.

Until Swan and his family showed up at the Belgrade Lakes' spillway, Parker Johnson who lives nearby had the place to himself.

For him the weather was a plus.

"I think it's a good day for fishing because of all the precipitation coming down. You catch good fish in the rain," Johnson said.

"I've been fishing here probably 28 years and it's always been a pretty good spot."

The number of people hunting and fishing nationwide has dropped, but the numbers are stable to rising slightly in Maine, according to Bill Swan, director of licensing for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

"Maine is bucking that trend," said Swan, who is no relation to Michael Swan. "We're seeing a slight increase or flat."

In 1996, Maine sold more than 273,000 fishing licenses. In 2006, the last year tabulated, that number had grown to more than 282,000, according to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

During that same decade, the number of hunting licenses sold in Maine declined by less than 1 percent, Swan said.

Fishing in Maine is regulated by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

"You have to know the county and body of water you want to fish and look up that body of water," said state Fisheries Specialist Scott Davis.

"There can be exceptions for tackle, there can be length limits, and there can be exceptions for bag limits and species."

Starting this year, a few locations throughout the state offer year-round open-water fishing, he said, particularly in areas where biologists have determined fishing during the fall will not adversely affect spawning fish, including designated sections of the Kennebec River.

by Gary Remal, this article first appeared in the Kennebec Journal, 04/02/2008.


Lakes: Great Pond, Long Pond, Salmon (Ellis) Pond
Regions: Belgrade


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