Weather is making for fine fishing

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After a season dominated by wetter-than-normal, cooler-than-normal, gloomier-than-normal weather, summer apparently arrived this week, just in time for … well, fall.

That fact, of course, has left some of us grumpier-than-normal.

Not Dan Legere.

Legere, a Registered Maine Guide from Greenville, checked in earlier this week – before our recent spate of (nearly) hot weather – to say that the odd weather patterns have provided a boon for Maine anglers.

All fishermen have to do is ignore their calendars, head to the Moosehead region, and wet a line.

Though conditions may have changed a bit since Legere’s report arrived on Monday, the message he sent is still crystal clear: Fall fishing is upon us … if only we can stop crying about our nonexistent summer long enough to enjoy it.

Here’s some of what Legere, owner of the Maine Guide Fly Shop, had to say:

“I always wish for a good hurricane to blow through in the fall, and I got my wish,” Legere mentioned, several paragraphs into an informative e-mail. The reason: “This could probably be one of those fall fishing seasons we talk about for a while.”

Legere pointed out that the rainy weather that hit us 10 to 14 days ago provided fish – and anglers – exactly what they needed: Water.

“All the rain we received last week pretty much filled the lakes in this region,” Legere wrote. “There is more water now than in the spring. The good news is there was enough room in the lakes to hold the water, so the rivers aren’t raging. [The rivers] did go up a bit, which did two things. The increased water flows and the drop in water temperatures sparked a lot of life in the fishing. [And] because flows doubled it pulled fish in from the lakes, beginning the spawning run well before the regular time.”

Legere said water flows on the East Outlet of the Kennebec River doubled, and he expected the Roach River to also see increased flows after Labor Day.

And that’s not all.

“Folks have been in all weekend saying the Moose River is as good as it gets,” Legere said. “With the increase in flows fish have come in from Moosehead, plus baitfish are coming through the turbine at the Brassua Dam, causing feeding frenzies. Folks have been having great success ripping streamers at the Dam Pool.”

Legere said that as temperatures continue to drop, and as water continues to be released from Moosehead-area dams, fishing will do nothing but improve.

“This all adds up to the potential for a great fall fishing season,” Legere said. “There is enough water in [Moosehead Lake] so when they start to run water [through the dams] after Labor Day, there will be plenty for the remainder of the season. The water has cooled considerably, so the beautiful weather predicted for this week shouldn’t warm things that much.”

Fishing reports, of course, are a lot like weather reports: What you hear and expect and what you actually get are often very different.

I have learned, however, that when it comes to fishing in the Moosehead region, Legere knows far more than most.

A trip to Maine’s largest lake – especially for those who enjoy flinging flies in flowing water – might be just the thing to solve those (theoretical) end-of-summer blues.

For the past several months, people across the state have been arguing about the future of the state’s bear hunt as an impending referendum threatens to ban trapping bruins or hunting them over bait or with hounds.

Five years ago, most folks would have been hard-pressed to even tell you when Maine’s bear season took place, let alone what methods were being used.

Not any more.

Now, we’ve got plenty of experts. And most of those experts can tell you that bear season officially begins on Monday.

What they may not tell you is this: The unofficial festivities of what some towns call, simply, “the first week of bear,” begin today, and offer a much-needed cash infusion in some of the state’s most remote areas.

I’ll be heading north to the town of Allagash today, and will spend the next several days with guide Wade Kelly and his family.

Over the coming days, I’ll introduce you to some interesting people. Some are Mainers. Some aren’t. Some will be making their first trip to Maine. Others plan all year for their annual pilgrimage to bear camp.

I’ve never been bear hunting before, and I expect the experience to be enlightening.

I’ll take you to the sporting camps, and into the tree stands. I’ll sit silently over bait … and sit less silently around Two Rivers Lunch, trading tales with hunters and guides.

By the time I return, I know I’ll know a lot more about Maine’s bear season, and I won’t learn about it from TV commercials, nor from the well-crafted arguments of one PR firm or other.

I’ll live it.

Then I’ll share it with you. Stay tuned.

Any seasoned hunter can tell you that one of the best parts about getting away from home and heading to the woods is the food.

Rare is the hunter who goes to a sporting camp (or a pal’s hunting retreat, for that matter) and pushes away from the table hungry.

In Aroostook County this weekend, a pair of feasts are planned. Hunting season may not officially begin until Monday, but hunting camp season begins today. It’s time to eat.

If you’re interested in getting a good meal – and helping defeat the bear-hunting referendum – you can do so at two places in The County today.

First, retired game warden Gary Pelletier will open his Cross Lake home to all comers for a pig roast beginning at 3 p.m.

Pelletier, who says most of the area folks know where he lives “because I chased after many of them for 35 years,” has joined forces with the Presque Isle Fish & Game Club, Friends of the Allagash, and the northern Maine bear coalition to host the event.

The meal will cost $15 a head, and he’ll roast a pair of pigs. In addition, Pelletier said Bushmaster has contributed a .223 rifle to auction off, Dead River Co. has contributed fuel, and fishing rods, a canoe pole, and a number of other prizes will be up for grabs.

Pelletier doesn’t expect folks to begin showing up en masse until 4 or 5 p.m., but anyone can stop by after 3 to get some grub and celebrate the beginning of bear season.

Pelletier’s home is 12 miles south of Fort Kent – or 25 miles north of Caribou – on Route 161.

And if you leave Pelletier’s place hungry for more, consider stopping down in the town of Allagash, where a similar spread is planned.

Darlene Kelly Dumond says the town’s fifth annual pig roast will be held at Allagash Wildlife Sporting Camps, beginning at 4:30 p.m. and lasting most of the night.

Food and entertainment will be available all night, and the meal is free. Anyone wishing to make a donation to fight the bear referendum, however, will be encouraged to do so.

Me? It may seem a bit gluttonous, but I’ll be heading to both. I’ll be starting at Pelletier’s, then heading back to Allagash later in the evening.

On Tuesday, I’ll tell you all about it … if, that is, I can still fit behind a computer.

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