CALAIS – A 4th District Court judge Thursday found that a Maine guide had not violated the law when an undercover agent, who was posing as a sports fisherman, claimed he had caught and kept three smallmouth bass from Big Lake with the guide’s knowledge, when state law allows for keeping only two.

During the past two years, Maine Guide Randy Spencer, 57, of Grand Lake Stream has denied any wrongdoing either criminally or civilly because he has maintained that it was his fishing line and not his client’s that caught the disputed third bass and on Thursday Judge John Romei agreed.

Attorney James Nixon of Bangor represented Spencer.

On Aug. 16, 2004, the Maine Warden Service summoned Spencer and charged him with the criminal offense of helping a client keep one fish more than the legal limit, which last year resulted in a hung jury. He also was charged with a civil infraction of failure to report a violation by his client, which was heard in 4th District Court on Thursday.

Spencer, who was the subject of a “sting” operation by the Maine Warden Service, said after the trial he felt vindicated by Romei’s ruling.

In June 2004, Spencer received several telephone calls from a man who identified himself as Al Begin of Waitsfield, Vt. The caller said he would be traveling to Maine on business and wanted to hire Spencer for two days of fishing. Begin later turned out to be undercover investigator Albert St. Saviour, who has since retired from the Maine Warden Service.

On July 16, St. Saviour arrived at the General Store in Grand Lake Stream without fishing gear. He told Spencer he wanted to do some bass fishing and would like to have bass for lunch. Spencer outfitted the man, and the two left in Spencer’s Grand Lake Stream canoe for a day of fishing.

On Thursday, St. Saviour testified that they fished all morning. “I caught a bass. Mr. Spencer said it was a good fish to eat,” he said. He said they continued to fish and he caught two more bass. They later went to an island where Spencer filleted and then cooked the fish.

Under cross-examination by Spencer’s attorney, St. Saviour admitted that there was no tangible evidence that the fish were caught. He said he had left his camera at home, nor had he made a videotape of the trip.

When Spencer took the stand during the afternoon session, he agreed there were three small-mouth bass on the stringer and that he filleted and grilled them for his client as an hors d’oeuvre. He said St. Saviour caught two of the fish. He said he caught the third that morning as insurance to make certain that St. Saviour would have fish for lunch.

During closing arguments, 1st District Attorney Paul Cavanaugh argued that only one person was landing the bass that day and it was St. Saviour.

Nixon noted that the state had failed to produce any hard evidence that his client had violated the law because the fish in question had been eaten.

During his review of the case, Romei was short and to the point. He said one piece of evidence convinced him of Spencer’s innocence. He said St. Saviour had testified that on the afternoon of the first day of fishing he had asked Spencer if he would allow a fisherman to keep more than the legal limit and Spencer had said he wouldn’t.

“An honest guide would say ‘I won’t,'” Romei said. “I make a finding that this offense was not committed.”