Tracewski book hooks fishermen

loading...

Every now and then, a book comes along that makes other writers pay attention … shake their heads … and say something that they (or we, as the case may be) don’t like to say.

I wish I had written that book.

Most of the time, we conveniently convince ourselves that if we had written the book, we would have done it differently. And (we’d only admit in our most private moments) we’d have done it better.

In Monday’s mail, I received a review copy of Kevin Tracewski’s book, A Fisherman’s Guide to Maine. After 20 pages, I was hooked. After 40, I was entranced. And long before I finished its 160 pages, I had thought I wish I had written that book about a thousand times.

Never, however, did I come across anything I would have changed … or done better.

That’s not modesty, nor puffery. That’s just the truth.

If you read one fishing book this year, I’d highly recommend Tracewski’s.

Tracewski is a biology professor at the University of Maine, lives in Old Town, and researched and wrote the book over a seven-year period.

His research paid off, and readers will reap the rewards.

Tracewski’s book does exactly what a fishing guidebook should do: It educates. Entertains. Informs. It tosses in a healthy dose of history, introduces you to some interesting local characters, and (you knew this part was coming) it tells you how to be a more effective angler, no matter which part of Maine you’re visiting.

In a genre dominated by self-published books that are unfortunately often self-edited as well, Tracewski’s is neither.

He wrote it. CountrySport Press in Camden published it. And the editing (or, perhaps, Tracewski’s writing) is virtually flawless.

Typographical errors are extremely rare. Glaring factual blunders don’t exist. And that leaves the reader with nothing to do but sit back, open the book, and enjoy the experience.

While A Fisherman’s Guide to Maine has plenty of how-to and where-to information, its real strength is its painstakingly compiled historical accounts of some of the state’s most popular fishing destinations.

That was intentional, Tracewski said.

“The thing that kicked off the book was all this historical stuff,” Tracewski said. “Because I go Down East or to Rangeley or Moosehead and really enjoy thinking that people have been standing on this cribworks for 150 years, casting to landlocked salmon.”

The history comes to life thanks to a variety of photos that date back to the 1800s.

Tracewski tells readers how fishing used to be, and why it isn’t that way any more. He tells where fishing is good. Where it’s not. And, as much as possible, he tells you what kinds of bait or flies are likely to work at different times of year.

There are exceptions, of course. Tracewski delicately works his way around the issue of giving away the location of productive, but little-known, ponds.

“I can’t really write and give directions to remote ponds,” he said. “The fisheries are just too fragile.”

With that said, an angler who reads Tracewski’s book and doesn’t walk away with 10 years’ worth of potential new fishing trips either has done a great deal of fishing or hasn’t paid attention to the book.

The book is divided into eight sections that cover a specific part of Maine. Covered are Southern Maine, the Rangeley Lakes Region, the Kennebec River Drainage, the Moosehead Lake Region, Down East, the Penobscot River Drainage, the North Woods, and Aroostook County.

Each section contains a detail map that shows the area that is described, and a prominent guide or expert from each region is profiled. Salt water fishing is mentioned frequently.

Tracewski said that he had already invested plenty of time in the book before he even explored having it published.

“I was going to [write it] anyway,” he said. “I didn’t even write a query letter to [Down East Enterprises, the publisher’s parent company] until like four years into it.”

After one query letter, he had a publisher, and he continued to research, fish, and write.

The fact that his work schedule revolves around a university’s academic schedule made the project possible, he said.

“I sort of had to expand my range [from Greater Bangor] to do a statewide [book],” he said. “That’s the beauty of having my university job. I’m pretty flexible during the time of year that the fish are pretty available.”

Tracewski said the project never became a burden.

“It’s just something that’s been running in the background of my life. It was fun,” he said. “I don’t know what I’ll do now. I’m stuck. I’ve got to work on the second edition or something.”

Tracewski will hold a book launching and signing from 11 a.m.- 2 p.m. on June 19 at the Old Town Canoe Factory Outlet. A Fisherman’s Guide to Maine will retail for $19.95.

Talk to those who spend a lot of time in the woods (or even those who’ve had to do some overdue yard work) and you’re likely to hear a few gripes about insects.

Mosquitoes and black flies are the main culprits, of course, and it doesn’t take very long for an unwitting (and unprotected) person to donate a pint of blood to the tenacious critters.

Welcome relief arrived on Wednesday as the thermometer topped 90 degrees outside our new Holden home.

The breeze blew steadily. There were no mosquitoes or black flies in sight. And in their place, there was a veritable squadron of dragonflies.

We hadn’t seen a single dragonfly all season until then, but we saw plenty that day.

Hundreds of them darted back and forth, apparently feeding on the bloodthirsty bugs that had been holding us captive in our own home.

I remember days on the lake as a kid, when the mere sight of a big, ugly dragonfly made me squirm. I wanted to swat them … splash them … kill them.

Back then, I didn’t worry about insect repellent and didn’t care if I came back inside after a busy day with clotted blood and bug bites all over me.

Now, I’ve decided I’ll take the dragonflies … and the Ben’s.

About 20 years ago, smallmouth bass were illegally introduced into Umbagog Lake in western Maine.

As might be expected, the bass migrated … and ended up in one of the top brook trout waters in the state: the Rapid River.

This weekend, a coalition of sportsmen’s and conservation groups will join with the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in an effort to raise awareness about disastrous illegal stockings.

The groups will attempt to remove as many bass as possible from the Rapid. The event is part of an annual conclave held by Fly Fishing in Maine, an Internet site devoted to promoting the state’s fly fishing interests.

More than 30 anglers have volunteered to attempt to catch and kill spawning bass in the unconventional “derby.”

“Bass don’t belong in the Rapid, and we are trying to get them out of here,” Jeff Reardon, the New England conservation director for Trout Unlimited, said in a news release.

In the same release, Jeff Levesque of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, who did much of the work on the bass derby, said the rich tradition of the region needs to be protected.

“We’ve had sporting camps whose guests came to fish for brook trout on the Rapid River for over 150 years,” Levesque said. “I’d hate to see the end of that tradition and this amazing fishery in my lifetime, so we are all here to do what we can.”

For years, selfish amateur “bucket biologists” have illegally stocked our state’s waters, with some devastating results.

This time, anglers have banded together and are fighting back.

Good for them.

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