When you mention Phillips Lake to many Eastern Maine anglers, the reaction – like the fishing, some will tell you – is lukewarm.

Nearby Green Lake is immensely popular. Branch Lake, just a few miles to the east, is, or was, a hotspot before public access was eliminated.

Beech Hill Pond boasts the state-record togue, and many fishermen go there, hoping another lunker is lurking. Tunk Lake also boasts big fish, and is a convenient commute for most.

But Phillips – “Lucerne” to many locals – is sometimes excluded from the conversation … and some camp-owners on the lake are content to leave it that way.

Here’s a secret for you. Don’t tell anybody. The fishing at Phillips has improved … kind of.

If you don’t mind catching a lot of small togue … and having a very slim chance to hook a large laker … Phillips Lake has bounced back. The conditions that prompted the implementation of a two-trap ice-fishing limit several years ago have changed.

Then, there were few fish. Now … there are way too many.

And the state’s fisheries experts are concerned. Very concerned.

Ron Brokaw, the regional fisheries biologist for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, shared that news with the Lucerne Village Corporation on Tuesday night.

He also explained four new regulations that the DIF&W has implemented, and which will take effect Jan. 1.

One regulation state biologists didn’t get approved – due largely to a petition drive mounted by Lucerne-in-Maine residents – was a return to the traditional five-trap limit during ice fishing season.

Brokaw, who attended the meeting with fellow Down East biologists Rick Jordan and Greg Burr, said the residents’ reluctance was unfortunate, and would hinder the state’s effort to cull as many small fish as possible from the lake.

Brokaw’s data shows that fish – salmon and togue alike – are growing very slowly. It also shows that when fish were gill-netted and their stomach contents studied, biologists learned that only 5 percent of the fish had been dining on their primary feed: smelts.

“A lot of you folks were adamant that you did not want to go along with [the five-trap limit],” Brokaw said. “We’re being very honest with you tonight, so I’m going to tell you that we strongly believe that a five-trap limit is essential, essential, to help clean out these togue sooner rather than later, and we will resubmit a five-trap proposal next spring.”

Reaction was polite, but predictable. Some residents complained about the trash left by “outsiders.” Others complained about the lake turning into a “shanty town” during ice-fishing season. Still others spoke about excessive traffic on the lake.

Unspoken, but obvious: If anglers can drop five lines in a lake five miles away, they’re very unlikely to head to Phillips Lake, where they’re limited to just two.

And that’s exactly what has happened over the past several years (undoubtedly to the delight of some camp-owners). Ice anglers go to Green … or Beech Hill … or Tunk.

Phillips is fished much more lightly. And the togue population grows like crazy.

The new regulations that will go into effect will help restore the Phillips Lake fishery … some. The daily bag limit on togue will be three fish instead of two. The minimum length on those fish will be 14 inches instead of 18.

Salmon fishing in January will be catch-and-release, which biologists hope will encourage anglers to target lake trout.

And the daily bag limit on salmon will also increase, from one to two fish.

But as Burr pointed out, biologists have a limited number of tools available to them when it comes to managing fish populations.

One of those tools: how many ice-fishing traps anglers can use.

In this case, that tool has been removed from their management tool box, not because of disagreements about the fishery … but because some don’t really care if others choose to fish “their” lake at all.

The DIF&W biologists are working hard to restore a fishery that everyone – Phillips Lake camp-owners and “outsiders” alike – can be proud of.

Only time will tell if they can do that – and cull the necessary amount of fish from the population – without first making Phillips Lake a bit more popular to local anglers.

Mornings have been getting a bit nippier in these parts lately, but a press release I received Wednesday was still a bit of a surprise.

They’re making snow at Sugarloaf.

That’s right. Snow.

OK. Let’s be serious here: It’s not officially time to pull out your long underwear and dust off your goggles. Not yet.

Wednesday’s snow-making effort was a trial run, Sugarloaf officials said, in order to make sure newly installed lines were ready to go.

They were.

The snow guns ran for eight hours at full pressure and covered The Landing trail with a nice wintry blanket.

“There’s nothing like a little snow to get you excited about the winter season, Sugarloaf’s Scott McQuade said in the release.

If you’re curious, Sugarloaf will be open (weather permitting) on Friday, Nov. 19. Full-scale snow-making operations will begin any time the weather is favorable after Nov. 1.

At least we’ve got a few weeks left before winter unofficially arrives.

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