March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Can anyone say if white perch have entered Phillips?

Out and About: The gracious invitations that Ken Lynch, “Maxie” McPherson, and I extended to the finned aristocrats of Phillips Lake on Saturday were snubbed, to say the least. With the exception of one hit-and-run strike, our morning tour of the lake was uninterrupted.

It was nice to be on the water, though, with a cool northwest wind working a “chop” and the sun spilling from a sky strewn with clouds. While my fishing partners’ lures and my sewed-on smelt followed the boat, our conversations were directed toward fishing and hunting and dogs and boats and motors and such.

During that diatribe, it was mentioned that a fisherman friend of ours claimed that Phillips Lake was populated with white perch. “Did you ever hear of white perch in this lake?” Ken asked me. I allowed I never had, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t possible.

I got to thinking about the perch question while driving home later in the day. Green Lake has a healthy population of white perch, and Green is connected to Phillips by Mann Brook. To answer the question and satisfy my curiosity, has anyone around this neck of the woods ever snagged a white perch in Phillips Lake? —

At a recent Joint Committee on Legal Affairs hearing held in Augusta, representatives from 22 sportsmen’s clubs and organizations opposed L.D. 1171, a bill proposing a 15-day waiting period between purchase and delivery of a handgun in Maine.

Records show that waiting periods in regard to purchases of handguns have been ineffective in reducing violent crime rates. The majority of guns used in committing such crimes were either stolen, borrowed, or acquired on the black market. Crime rates, in fact, have risen in several states where handgun waiting periods have been implemented. Conversely, 26 states have rejected waiting period proposals as an unrealistic means of controlling crime. Obviously, gun control is being confused with crime control.

L.D. 1171 is nothing more than an anti-gun “foot-in-the-door” proposal. If enacted, it surely would lead to legislation that eventually would remove all guns from responsible and law-abiding citizens. Make no mistake about it, the anti-gun groups will not be satisfied with only the regulation of handguns.

If you value your constitutional rights, your heritage, and your sporting firearms, don’t waste any time in contacting your state representatives and senators. Express your opposition to L.D. 1171 and other unwarranted anti-gun proposals that are ineffective in keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.

When Wednesday’s dawn first hints at daylight, a fraternity of fishermen will cast their flies into fog-shrouded flows as Maine’s Atlantic salmon fishing season opens statewide. In keeping with its long-standing tradition, the Penobscot Salmon Club will hold its opening-day breakfast at the clubhouse on the Brewer shore of the Bangor Salmon Pool.

The breakfast committee will begin serving ham and eggs, beans and biscuits, doughnuts, muffins, and coffee at 5 a.m. The grill will be shut off at 9 o’clock. Each spring the event, which is open to the public, draws a crowd of members, guests, and other early risers. While waiting for the cry, “Fish on!” to echo above the rush of the river, they enjoy the spirit and camaraderie that flows through the clubhouse. Where else can you find that and all you can eat for $3.50?

Special Delivery: A letter from Lou Tardiff of Hampden relates to using a wire smelt net for cleaning fiddleheads: “After harvesting a few gallons of fiddleheads it came to time to clean them. Providence intervened and suggested I put the wire smelt net to work.

“Where the Sebec River runs through Milo there’s a small spillway at the dam and at the end of it the water drops about 3 feet to the pool below. After filling the wire net with fiddleheads I held it under the spillway and found that I had stumbled onto a great way to clean the greens.”

When it comes to improvising, outdoorsmen are masters.

From Holden, Harold MacRae wrote: “If Commissioner Bill Vail wants the deer population to reach 300,000, there is one thing he should do – pass a law which prohibits shooting fawns (yearlings). How much meat is there on a fawn? I wouldn’t shoot one if I saw one. You take 3,800 fawns shot by hunters in 1990, plus those hit by cars and the ones taken by coyotes and that adds up to a lot of deer that didn’t get a chance to grow up.”

A letter from “Buddy” Mills of Jonesport made a cast toward more fly-fishing-only waters in Washington County: “I love to fly-fish and my complaint is that we have one fly-fishing-only pond in Washington County – Pineo Pond. This pond is located on the Cherryfield barrens in an out-of-the-way location that can’t be seen from any roadway. Because of that fact, this pond is fished illegally year round.

“We have some other ponds close by that would be better suited for fly-fishing-only. Both Pike Brook East and Horseshoe Pond are highly visible from the roadway. With all the ponds we have in Washington County, I think the Department of Fish and Game could do better for us than one out-of-sight, over-fished pond.

“Let’s not put all of our emphasis on Atlantic salmon for fly-fishermen, some of us also like to fish for trout.”

A well-presented cast, wouldn’t you say?


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