News about stocked fish travels fast

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After dumping 2,500 or so perfectly good brook trout into three Piscataquis River pools on Friday, Scott Roy and Paul Johnson backtracked and parked at the site of the old Lowe’s Covered Bridge in Guilford.

The pair – both longtime Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife fisheries biologists – knew what they’d find long before they pulled into the gravel parking lot.

They weren’t disappointed.

An angler ignored a persistent downpour while tossing a lure into the water a mere 10 feet from where the fish had been pumped not 30 minutes before.

“The fish still have the hatchery smell on them,” Roy said with a chuckle. “But are they biting yet?”

On cue, the angler’s small spinning rod bent toward the water.

“They’re biting,” Johnson said, joining in on the laughter.

On Friday, word of the fish stocking made its way through the community quickly. Volunteers, who had been previously notified, showed up to help move the fish. Johnson said others told him they showed up when they heard the magic words on their home scanners.

Those words: “The hatchery truck is here.”

At each of three sites, more than 800 fish were released into the Piscataquis – a fishery Johnson and Roy said will have to be stocked with more fish in order to provide ample angling opportunities for the Greater Dover-Foxcroft community.

Over the years, methods of stocking have changed. At one site (to avoid being accused of keeping this valuable knowledge to myself, I’ll say that if you fish near the outlet of Salmon Stream in the coming days, you may hook trout on flies that look like hatchery food pellets) a bucket brigade was used. About 10 former members of a now-defunct Trout Unlimited chapter showed up … like they always do … to help with the chore.

At the other two sites (OK, OK … one is at the covered bridge, the other is at the green bridge in Sangerville) a makeshift sluice proved even simpler.

Johnson said the sluice – a series of sections of flexible tubing the former TU members dreamt up – has proven valuable over the years.

“The idea was that we could put fish into more inaccessible places, places that were difficult even to the bucket brigade,” he said. “They were either too long, too steep, or too wooded. It’s pretty easy to snake a pipe through something and over a bank or for a long distance.”

The invention worked great on Friday, as the volunteers and fisheries personnel were able to stock 800 or so fish in less than five minutes.

As of last report, the fish seemed to be perfectly happy in their new digs.

The lone soggy angler can vouch for that.

Jay Robinson of Woodville checked in this week to say local folks have been enjoying a healthy smelt run around Millinocket this year.

Robinson has headed up to the West Branch of the Penobscot near Ambajejus Lake several times in the past week, and says the popular smelting site has been overflowing with fish … and fishermen.

“I think last Friday night was the [busiest] night I saw,” Robinson says. “There were about 1,000 people.”

That’s right. Robinson said one thousand.

Sounds like a fish story to you? Read on.

“I was talking to the warden, Greg Sanborn, and he said he counted 300 vehicles [parked near the river],” Robinson says. “So, if you figure there are three or four people in each vehicle, it was probably close to 1,000.”

Robinson, who is a registered Maine guide as well as one of those mill workers who’ve been affected by the Great Northern shutdown and sale, said he’s never seen as much activity at Ambajejus.

He said the economic problems of the region may have contributed to the increased activity.

“Myself, I never used to go up much,” Robinson says. “Being out of work, you’ve got to put food on the table somehow.”

In addition to putting food on the table, Robinson admits that there is another element at work when big crowds gather to go smelting.

“It’s just a big social thing,” he says.

With turkey season in full swing, plenty of Mainers have pulled out their camouflage gear, honed their calling skills, and headed into the woods to test their luck in what some call the state’s most exciting hunt.

Harold Hatch and his wife, Penny, ended up with a pair of turkey tales on Tuesday, the second day of the season’s first session.

The Hatches, who live in Penobscot, ended up with two birds that weighed a combined 36 pounds in separate hunts.

Harold Hatch said his wife is an accomplished deer hunter who also successfully shot a turkey two years ago. Penny Hatch applied for a permit after Harold’s brother told her how much fun he’d had hunting the wary birds.

“My brother [Jeff] had the first permit in the family,” Harold Hatch said. “When he shot his bird, he told her he thought that was what she ought to get into.”

Penny, who had shot seven or eight deer over the years, took his comment to heart, did her homework, and had a successful hunt of her own the next season.

This year, Harold and Penny each received permits, and split up to hunt – Penny headed to South Penobscot by herself, while Harold went to Orland with Jeff.

“She went alone, but I had to have the guidance of my brother,” Harold Hatch said, explaining that he wanted to utilize Jeff’s skills as a turkey-caller. Penny calls the birds herself.

When the Hatches met up later that day, each found out the other had been successful: Harold shot an 181/2-pounder with an 8-inch beard, while Penny bagged a 171/2-pounder, also sporting an 8-inch beard.

Harold Hatch said the family’s recent success has further bolstered Penny’s enthusiasm for turkey hunting.

“She calls it the ultimate,” Harold Hatch said. “Deer hunting is fun [for her], and she was the subpermittee on my moose hunt two years ago, but she says turkey hunting is the ultimate.”

For years, the Penobscot County Conservation Association has enjoyed a reputation as a place where sportsmen and women meet … where kids go to learn about hunter safety … and as the organization that sponsors the popular Eastern Maine Sportsman’s Show.

There are plenty of students – past and present – who can also tell you that the PCCA helped make their college education affordable.

On Wednesday night, another group of college students found out that they’d be receiving monetary assistance from the PCCA.

In all, 18 University of Maine students studying wildlife ecology received $2,000 scholarships on Wednesday. The PCCA will award 22 scholarships to students at the school, for a total of $44,000.

Nancy Hatch, the treasurer of the PCCA, said the club’s tradition of granting scholarships goes back 32 years.

Unity College and the University of Maine-Machias, as well as Brewer and John Bapst high schools, also benefit from PCCA scholarships each year.

Hatch said association members enjoy meeting the students at a special event each year.

“We have a night at the club when we invite the scholarship recipients of that year,” she said. “It’s very interesting. They all have a story to tell.”

Hatch said several present-day Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s biologists received PCCA scholarships when they were in college.

In 1971, the PCCA’s first scholarship was endowed for $150. Since then, the Association has awarded $535,000 to UMaine students. Another $43,000 has been given to Unity and UMM students. All students will eventually receive degrees in wildlife-oriented fields.

The 18 UMaine scholarship winners announced at the recognition banquet for the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture on Wednesday: Jacquelyn Bertman, Jessie Bishop, Anna-Maria Easley, Rose Graves, Sarah Lemin, Lindsey Fenderson, Sarah Spencer, David Veverka, Cory Stearns, Audi Arbo, Molly Simonson, Sally Gilbert, Allan Roberts, Keri Crean, Samuel Heffner, Caleb McNaughton, Keri Lewis, and David Pert.

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