In Maine, popular opinion on smelt management varies depending on the pastimes we prefer – and the services we provide.

Ice fishermen want to use smelts as bait, or want to be able to hook them and haul them up through the ice.

Commercial dealers want to catch and sell to anglers.

Recreational fishermen want to be able to dip their two-quart limit and enjoy a feed or two.

Landlocked salmon and lake trout, of course, love the tasty little critters. Without smelts, those two species lack their primary forage base.

And the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife? That’s the agency charged with keeping a balance between the consumptive natures of man and the natural needs of fish.

In the year ahead, many smelt-management options will be suggested, hashed out, and either adopted or dismissed.

Arguments will erupt during the upcoming hearings, and many Mainers will take sides on the issue. On one side will be the conservationists. On the other will be a large, vocal group that views smelting – in any form – as nothing short of a Mainer’s birthright.

Here are a few of the proposals being considered by state officials, according to Jim Pellerin, the state’s smelt species coordinator:

. Establishing a statewide midnight closure for dip-netters.

. Allowing smelt dealers to dip only two quarts of smelts during the spring spawning season, instead of the eight quarts they are allowed to dip now.

. Targeting illegal sale of live smelts for bait by requiring hook-and-line and dip-net smelt anglers who lack a commercial license to kill all smelts in excess of five dozen.

. Investigating the causes of commercial and retail smelt mortalities.

. Requiring commercial anglers to report smelt-catch data to the DIF&W.

. Establishing a 24-inch diameter maximum hoop size for dip nets.

. Conducting a comprehensive review of statewide smelt waters.

If you have opinions on those proposals, feel free to share them with me, and I may share some in a future column.

If you want to play a more concrete role in the upcoming debate, contact Jim Pellerin at the DIF&W’s Gray office.

Ice forming … slowly

When ice fishing season approaches, it seems that I often find excuses to take roundabout routes on everyday tasks.

It’s not that I actually like driving around in circles. It’s just that if I travel to Bangor from Holden by way of Ellsworth (I know, I know … it’s a bit like going from Presque Isle to Allagash by way of Boston), I get to visit Green Lake.

And come ice fishing season, Green Lake is one of my favorite places to sit, ponder life, shove half-frozen smelts into holes in the ice, and (theoretically, at least) catch fish.

On Wednesday I headed to the Ellsworth end of Green Lake and checked out the ice conditions at the town landing.

First, the good news: There is ice, and it stretches all the way across the lake away from the landing. In fact, as far as I could see, in every direction, the lake was iced over.

Now, the bad news: The opening day of the season on Green Lake is Jan. 1, and the lake isn’t really iced over. Not by a long shot.

When it comes to checking ice thickness, I tend to use one of two unscientific (and not very safe) methods.

First is the Throw-a-Rock method. I toss a baseball-sized rock onto the ice near shore, then toss another farther out, then another as far as I can.

According to the Throw-a-Rock method, there is somewhat solid ice close to shore; my baseball-sized rock bounced, skittered and skidded across the lake. However, even when I downgraded to a golf ball-sized rock, I found that the ice about 100 feet from shore was very, very thin, and the rock disappeared with a (gulp) crack and a splash.

The other ice-testing method I use is a bit more scientific, and can be somewhat safer: It’s called the Don’t-Be-First method.

Simply put, when ice fishing season comes, I will not, under any circumstances, be the first man on the lake.

To tell the truth, over the years (in order to avoid following one foolhardy angler onto the ice and ending up with a chilly surprise) I have altered that technique a bit. Now, I use the Don’t-Be-Second, Third, Fourth, or Fifth, Either method. To make this method really work for me, I wait until there is so much ice, trucks are driving across the lake. At that point, I’m reasonably sure that there’s enough ice to support me and my gear … and my truck always stays ashore.

In all seriousness, stopping every few feet to drill a test hole is the only real way to tell how safe the ice is, and it’s the method we should all use.

Just realize that on most of the larger lakes in the Bangor area, it might not be safe to assume we’ll be fishing come Jan. 1.

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