One Very Important Law this Time of Year #75

Many of you folks that fish and live in Maine have undoubtedly heard that the State opened fishing season two weeks early this year due to the winter weather conditions being better than normal. So, if you are like me, you began scheming on how to get that rod and reel out and take advantage of the extra time. You say its easy right, just get it out, climb in the truck and find some water. I say in response, not so fast. Let’s digress a moment and see what happened. On the day the early season opened, we got, yes you are right, SNOW! Then, the cold temps came in and poof, the early two weeks were in the rear view mirror. Fast forward to today as I write this, the temps are in the teens and the forecast for today is yes, snow turning to rain. So, although there were good intentions when they opened the season early, we, up north, well maybe me, have not been able to take advantage of early fishing.

Now, there is one rule you need to be cognizant of at this time of year if you are going to go fishing. I made sure I was right yesterday when I attended the Presque Isle Fish and Game Clubs Sportsman’s show and stopped in at the Maine Warden Service booth. In Maine, you are not allowed to fish in open water while standing on ice. So, you might ask, where can you fish at this time of year in Northern Maine. The answer is elementary my dear Watson, you may fish if you stand in the water. Not advisable right now because of the cold water temperatures. You may stand on a snow bank and cast into the water or you could stand on a bridge, without ice on it, and cast, but you are not allowed to stand on any sort of ice and cast into the water. As the warden told me, the law was really implemented to protect your safety. Just think about it, cold water plus slippery ice does not mix with a warm body temperature. So, you slip or fall into the water and you may very well not recover. Makes sense to me.

Adding this all up, I guess I will just continue to work on my fly tying with TC and wait a little longer. The weather is bound to change and the temps have to go up, right?

Oh, one more thing, remember my last blog where I wrote about TC and her fly tying and I think my last word was, BUT? Well, a few of you wrote me asking what the but was. My response is that TC is doing really good, has just finished a fly tying class she took and is hard at work making flies for our season. I have to say that she has really done a good job and has worked hard on flies that have wings. She continues to learn how to use duck quills for wings and from the looks of the ones she has made, she is off to a good start. But, here is a sample, you be the judge.