For the past two years, sportsmen have been waiting eagerly for the day when 18 percent of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife budget would come from the state’s general fund coffers.

The legislature approved that formula, after all … but budget woes caused that money to be spent elsewhere.

Sportsmen, ever optimistic, kept waiting … and waiting … and waiting.

Those who attended Friday’s 10th annual Sportsmen’s Congress received a very blunt message: Stop waiting. The money ain’t coming.

Instead of $4 million, the DIF&W will get $700,000 per year in general fund money, and will generate more by making a “temporary” $3 hike on licenses permanent. Allowing Sunday hunting and eliminating the so-called “Maine Day” on the first Saturday of deer season may also add some cash. So, too, would raising boat registrations to an across-the-board fee of $23, instead of the $9 to $25 it costs now.

The bottom line, however, is that Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine’s Executive Director George Smith, DIF&W Commissioner Danny Martin, and Gov. John Baldacci are on the same page and are working to find inventive solutions.

The money ain’t coming. Everybody’s finally willing to admit it. And it’s time to start looking at other options.

Among other options floated on Friday were a registration fee for canoes, kayaks, and sailboats, and a possible bond issue or endowment.

Baldacci said the DIF&W is in a tough spot when it comes to receiving general fund money, because it competes for that money with other very deserving departments.

“They don’t want to be competing with human services and mental health and mental retardation issues, either,” Baldacci said. “That’s not right.”

Baldacci was encouraged by the spirit of cooperation showed between SAM, the DIF&W, and his office.

“I think this is a huge step,” Baldacci said. “This [requirement] was put on the books before we got here. We don’t have the general fund appropriation, but I made a good-faith attempt. There’s $1.4 million in general fund [appropriations] in this that was maybe put on when things were better.”

Smith echoed those sentiments, and said the time had come to let go of expectations to get the entire 18 percent funding.

“We’ve never got [18 percent from the general fund] since it was in the statute, and we can see that unless the state is really flush, we’re never going to get it,” Smith said. “We can’t compete with the health needs and the education needs of the people of Maine. So let’s get them a revenue stream that’s reliable.”

Smith says getting Sunday hunting passed now will be less difficult than it has been in the past, as it’s being included as a provision in Baldacci’s Part 1 budget.

But one quote from Friday’s event rang particularly true … even though it wasn’t offered in the context of Sunday hunting, nor any other specific DIF&W issue.

“Right now, it’s [Gov. Baldacci’s] bill,” Sen. Bruce Bryant told the sizeable crowd a couple of hours before the governor’s arrival. “After today, it’s ours.”

Yes, the legislature will still be heard on this budget.

With November’s bear referendum illustrating a deep north-south divide on hunting issues, it’s hard to say what will happen from here.

Ice fine up north

One of the most tenacious ice fishermen I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet fired off an e-mail this week to apprise me of the ice conditions on Long Lake in St. Agatha.

I met Rich Rossignol, who spends a lot of time on Long Lake, mere hours after he had lopped off the tip of his finger during a mishap while putting a snowmobile on a trailer.

It was opening day for salmon on Long Lake – Jan. 15, 2003 – and a little blood and a lot of pain wasn’t enough to keep Rossignol off the ice.

Here’s what Rossignol had to say earlier this week:

“Just thought I’d give you a line on the ice thickness of Long Lake. For the most part we’ve got 12 inches, with some parts over 16,” Rossignol wrote. “It’s a very good ice this year – nice and blue. The smelts are in full swing up here, except for under my cabin. Oh, well. I guess that’s part of the deal. I don’t want to get my arms too tired to pull up those huge salmon next week.”

Rossignol reminded me of how we’d met – “I’m the guy that cut the end of my finger off the night before and was still there for opening day,” – but that wasn’t entirely necessary.

Believe this: When you hear a fishing story like Rossignol’s, you’re more likely than not to remember it. And when you go from the emergency room, catch a few winks, then head directly to the lake just so you can fish on opening day, you’re nearly a legend, as far as I’m concerned.

Another e-mail passed along good news from another of the state’s landlocked salmon hotspots.

Ron Ingalls of Hermon spent last weekend at East Grand Lake with his father, longtime local hoop coach Jeff Ingalls, and several friends.

“All will attest that the ice depth is fine for fishing at six to eight inches, but the fish were not exactly accommodating,” Ingalls said. “Two days, 10 traps, two flags, and one fish (a fat 18-incher taken on a smelt).”

Early this week, Ingalls went fishing on his “home water” and made a family day of it.

“On Monday, my five-year-old daughter, three-year-old son, and my thirty-somethingish wife drilled holes in front of our house on Hermon Pond,” he wrote.

“The company here was a bit less rowdy than the crew that inhabited camp over the weekend. Plus, we had more flags in 15 minutes at home than in two days at camp. Fifty feet off shore there was over 10 inches of ice to test the auger.

“There have been a few transient shacks on the pond for the past two weeks, but nobody has ‘drilled anchor’ as of yet. I would expect to see them soon, though, with the recent cold strengthening the ice.”

Thanks for the reports, guys. If anyone else has other reports to pass along, I’ll share as many as we have space for.

East Grand Derby approaches

Speaking of East Grand, it’s not too soon to start planning for that region’s seventh annual ice fishing contest.

The East Grand Area Ice Fishing Derby is set for the weekend of Jan. 29-30, according to organizer Buck Plummer of Brookton, and plans are well under way for another smoothly run event.

“We’ll basically have the same categories this year,” Plummer said. “The biggest prize is a grand prize of a thousand dollars cash, and that part is raffle only. As long as you buy a ticket, you’re entered for that prize. You can sit at home in a rocking chair and still win it.”

The derby covers East Grand, Brackett, Deering, and North lakes, and cash prizes will be awarded for salmon, togue, pickerel, cusk, brook trout, white perch, and whitefish.

A supper starts at 5 p.m. at the Danforth-Weston Grange, and awards will follow. Tickets are available for $5 apiece, or three for $10. Eight anglers will have their names drawn to receive a prize, just for registering a fish in the derby.

Junior ice anglers 15 years old and younger will be eligible for a pair of $50 savings bonds – one for a girl and one for a boy.

Last year, Plummer said, the same girl walked away with three nice prizes: One for a registered fish drawing, one for the largest fish for a junior girl … and the one everyone wanted – the $1,000 grand prize.

“You never saw a smile like this kid had,” Plummer said. “She was walking on air.”

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