Fishing made the Moosehead Lake region famous.

But in recent years, anglers haven’t always been happy with the opportunities for quality brook trout fishing in western Maine.

So fisheries biologists are going grassroots and, this week, asking local anglers what they would like to see in coming years.

“We just want to hear from the fishermen – what do they want?,” said state fisheries biologist Paul Johnson.

In the mid-1990s, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, began a Quality Fishing Initiative, which proposed individualized regulations to improve fisheries all over the state.

Nine ponds in the Moosehead Lake region with wild brook trout populations were included in the program, Johnson said.

Anglers hoped a strong population of 18-inch trout could be achieved as a result of management.

“We wanted to improve opportunities to catch more and larger fish,” Johnson said.

Now, nearly a decade after size limits and gear restrictions were instituted, biologists are asking whether the initiative was successful. Each pond has responded differently, but overall, they have not met anglers’ demands.

“We’re finding that, lo and behold, people are catching more trout and larger trout, but they’re not catching the 18-inch fish,” Johnson said.

Biologists have scheduled a public meeting this week to ask local anglers what type of fishing experience they would like to have in the future.

Johnson outlined three options:

. Continue with current regulations and maintain the fishery at its present quality;

. Adjust regulations to offer better protection to large fish;

. Return some ponds to standard fishing regulations, and select others to attempt to nurture a population of large trout.

The public meeting to discuss any changes to fisheries management in Rum, Secret, Brown, Bluff, Big Berry, and Notch ponds, as well as Allagash Lake, will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Greenville Community House.

The possibility of stocking Bean, McClellan and Rocky ponds, newly surveyed waters which currently do not have fisheries, will also be discussed.

To submit comments about fisheries management on any of the waters listed above, or for more information about Tuesday’s public meeting, contact the Greenville fisheries management office at 695-3756, P.O. Box 551, Greenville, Maine, 044441, or paul.johnson@state.me.us.

Jakes Day

The central Maine chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation will celebrate a Jakes Day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, June 8, at the Skowhegan Sportsman’s Club.

Jakes, the term for juvenile wild turkeys, also refers to the name of a turkey hunting organization for youth, an acronym for juniors acquiring knowledge, ethics and sportsmanship.

Anyone under 17 is invited to participate in Jakes Day events, which will include a BB gun shooting competition, a search and rescue dog demonstration, turkey calling, and firearm safety classes.

A barbecue lunch will be provided with a $5 registration fee. The day is free to all current Jakes members.

The deadline for registration is Wednesday, May 15. For more information, contact Elaine Higgins at 382-6394 or Anne-Marie Nadeau at 873-6302.

Misty Edgecomb can be reached at medgecomb@bangordailynews.net.