Today’s Op-ed page has been cleared of its usual offerings to make room for an introduction to the health of Maine’s inland fishing. It’s a topic of high interest to fishermen, and its affect on natural areas and state finances and tourism may surprise nonfishermen.

On today’s page and over the next several months, we will present commentary on a variety of issues related to fishing, from the water quality in Maine lakes and rivers to the effects of ice fishing, stocking and development pressures to the results of the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s program called the Quality Fishing Initiative. Readers are heartily encouraged to join in this discussion, and may submit opinions of 500 to 800 words to the address listed at the top of the page.

Dennis Smith, a fishing aficionado for decades, highlights in his commentary just how difficult it can be to manage this natural resource. He uses the example of Jo-Mary Pond, which was closed to fishing and studied for four years with the hope of increasing the size of the trout there. By all accounts, the project was a success — the pond regained a healthy stock of large trout — but it was a success short-lived. In addition to growing larger fish, Maine learned that there is no more powerful lure for fishermen than to reopen a pond well-stocked with big fish. Two days after fishing was again permitted at Jo-Mary, all of the legal-sized fish were taken.

Balancing fishing tradition, science, economy and public policy and wrapping it all up in the happy thought of “The Way Life Should Be” is not easy. Inland fishing, according to IF&W, is worth at least $300 million to Maine — larger than hunting, trapping and newer, nonconsumptive uses of Maine’s wildlife combined. The pressure on state agenices to keep lakes and streams both productive and open to all is enormous.

The inspiration for this series was the late NEWS columnist Bud Leavitt, who loved the sport of fishing but also worried about its future in Maine. Bud wrote regularly about who was catching what, the best place to catch trout or bass and techniques for catching fish when no one else could. He admired fishing so much that he even risked the wrath of anglers by advocating for those who fish with worms.

Here’s a snapshot of Bud from a 1980 column on the defense of worms: “Much has been said about the poor sportsmanship of worm fishing. Nonsense. A man can be just as poor a sport with the artificial fly if he’s that type of fisherman. The worst fish-hog I think I have ever seen was a streamer fly fisherman and a good one — knocking the living hell out of a school of striking landlocked salmon one fall at East Grand Lake. …

“You want a trout this weekend?

“Then shake your false pride and gather up a dozen angleworms. After this last rain, trout will be looking into their food chain and a squirming earthworm to a brook trout looks exactly like a two-pound lobster to a visitor from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, seeing the Atlantic Ocean and Maine coast for the first time.”

Bud knew something about fishing and had strong opinions about what worked on Maine’s lakes and what did not. Readers with similar traits are invited to write in and give their thoughts on the health of the sport.