Each year, right about the time that mud begins to stick to my boots, and the breeze begins to lose a bit of its odorless antiseptic chill, I make a call to Dale Cross, chat for awhile, and ask him the same question.

How high’s the water?

Each year, Cross laughs and tells me things will be fine … and usually, they are.

Cross, you see, is the guy who directs the first two local canoe races of the season for the Waldo County YMCA in Belfast.

He’s a paddler. He’s an organizer. He’s the man who doesn’t worry when there’s 30 inches of ice on your local lake … as long as there’s open water on the St. George River in Searsmont.

Cross says there is. Again. Just like always.

“It looks really good,” Cross said Wednesday, just three days before Saturday’s 25th annual St. George River Canoe Race. “I think with the amount of snow we had and the late spring we had, it’s all kind of coming together.”

The St. George race kicks off the local season in earnest and is the first race on the Maine Canoe and Kayak Racing Organization’s Downriver Series.

It will be followed, in successive weeks, by the Passagassawakeag River Canoe Race (April 5), the Souadabscook Stream Canoe Race (April 12) and the popular Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race (April 19).

Though winter sometimes lingers (like this year), and open, accessible paddling water is sometimes a rare commodity, Cross isn’t concerned about that this week.

Not a bit.

“[The water has] been open since last week,” he said of the St. George, which sometimes has ice-free spots all the way through the winter. “The St. George goes out very, very early for some reason.”

In fact, many paddlers have already begun on-the-water preparations for Saturday’s 61/2-mile race, which begins at the Searsmont Town Hall on Route 131 at 11 a.m.

Race registration begins at 8:30 a.m. and runs until 10:30.

“[The St. George] waited awhile this year, but now [ice is] out and we’ve had canoeists go down through several times,” Cross said. “The water’s at a decent level right now, and if it continues to go up, it’ll be fun. It’ll certainly be a challenge.”

Of course, after this weekend, Cross will have to start looking ahead … to the Passagassawakeag … and to uncertain conditions.

If the St. George is Old Dependable, “The Passy,” as paddlers call it, could be Pot Luck. You never know what kind of conditions you’re going to get come race day.

“I’m always concerned [about the Passagassawakeag],” Cross said. “That river is not like the St. George. People [could have] set [ice-fishing] tip-ups on that river last weekend.”

Luckily, he’s got 10 more days to worry about that. For now, he’s just watching the weather forecasts and looking forward to a paddler’s dream Saturday at the St. George.

“If we get a half-inch of rain tonight, we’ll have a wild river on Saturday,” he said with a chuckle.

That’s not a complaint, mind you.

For the wet suit and paddle crowd, “wild” is good. And if it turns out to be sunny and 65 degrees Saturday?

Well, they’ll take that, too.

Don Corey of the Penobscot Fly Fishers has informed me that there are still a few openings in the club’s youth fly tying class, which begins Saturday.

The class is a joint effort of PFF and the Bangor Parks and Recreation Department, and is held at the Bangor Community Center (formerly the armory) on Main Street.

Now, a short testimonial: In November, I decided to learn how to tie, and in January I began attending a beginners course offered by the PFF.

I loved it. And if the Penobscot Fly Fishers can teach me to tie, they can teach your kids. Though members may not admit they had anything to do with me, believe it when I tell you that the PFF provides a top-notch, easy-to-understand experience that any kid would love.

Maybe your child doesn’t even fish (yet). Maybe they do, but don’t fly fish (yet). No matter. Fly-tying is a bit of an art … and this program can be viewed as an outdoors-oriented arts-and-crafts class that both boys and girls will enjoy equally.

My future stepdaughters (whose fishing experience involves making a bunch of worms rather soggy, and giggling hysterically whenever a bass or sunfish flops about in the bottom of the canoe) have taken to tying easily and eagerly (even though their teacher is much worse than mine was). Sarah and Molly tell me they want to put their very own flies to use this summer, and Molly already thinks waders look pretty cool.

If you’re sick of watching your own child sit in front of the TV or play video games for hours, here’s an alternative that they may just grow to love.

The cost is $10 for the four-week class, which will be held from 9-11 a.m. The price includes materials and equipment, which will be provided.

Corey said an adult must accompany each student (though one adult could bring two or three neighborhood kids), and the student-to-teacher ratio will be no more than 2-to-1.

The only catch: You’ve got to preregister, so that a flood of prospective tiers don’t catch club members off guard.

Call Don Corey at 843-5634 or email him at don@annika.us for more information.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.