Fishermen won’t look like April Fools today

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Most years, open-water fishing season arrives in Maine as the punch line to a cruel joke. The lakes and ponds are still iced in. There’s snow on the ground. And sometimes, even our favorite streams and rivers are clogged with enough ice to make fishing impossible (or, at the very least, impractical).

But we opening-day warriors are nothing if not impractical. We go forth and flog the sacred waters anyhow, knowing full well that the only thing we’ll catch is a cold … or a branch or twig.

Not this year.

This year, the year of The-Winter-That-Never-Was, has been different. All week it’s been 60 degrees and sunny. Canoe races are being canceled for lack of water. Green grass is popping up. Reports indicate that industrious lake trollers will be able to practice their craft on opening day at several spots in eastern Maine.

And today, we finally get to celebrate. It’s April 1. Opening Day to those of us the rest of you traditionally consider “April Fools.”

And we’ll be out there, somewhere. Wetting a line. Hoping for the best. Fishing … at last.

Kurt Cressey makes a portion of his living off April Fools like us. He’s the outgoing proprietor of the Pine Tree Store, which sits hard on the banks of one of the state’s legendary fishing spots, Grand Lake Stream.

On Friday, Cressey admitted that he was eager for anglers to arrive after a trying winter.

“We never gassed up a snowsled all winter,” said Cressey, whose informal responsibilities as the storekeeper in a small town include telling jokes, feeding the fishermen, and offering angling advice when asked.

The report from Grand Lake Stream, according to Cressey, is good.

Well, it’s good if you forget the fact that there may or may not be many fish in the stream at this point in the year.

Traditionally, Grand Lake Stream is an opening-day slam dunk for those who want to actually catch a fish or two.

There are salmon in the dam pool. They can be caught. All you have to do is show up, give it a try … and be willing to share your spot with 20 or 30 other eager anglers.

But this year? Who knows?

In December, keepers of the dam dealt with heavy rains by dumping 4,000 cubic feet per second through the gates for days at a time.

That flow altered the composition of the dam pool, and fisheries biologists think the fish in the pool may have been flushed down into Big Lake.

On Friday, conditions were downright fishable, Cressey said. Whether the fish actually think so is a matter yet to be decided.

“The stream is looking good,” Cressey said. “I checked the flow and it’s right around 225 [cfs], 230, something like that.”

Last year, the opening-day flow was about 350 cfs, Cressey said.

“It’s easy wading water. It’s easy to get in,” Cressey said. “Whether there will be fish up in the dam pool is another question.”

Even if they’re not, anglers will be there. You can count on that.

And a few anglers might even want to put a boat in the water and explore a bit.

A boat?

You bet.

“I would guess that by tomorrow, Big Lake will be completely out,” Cressey said. “It’s almost out now.”

And Cressey said when Big Lake loses its ice, West Grand Lake – the lake held back by the dam at Grand Lake Stream – will follow suit about five days later.

“I’m saying about Wednesday, West Grand will go out,” Cressey said.

That’s good news for the area’s lake trollers, who often make a point to spend a day on West Grand as soon after ice-out as possible.

But in the meantime, it’s time to wade. It’s time to try new things at old spots … or old techniques at new ones.

It’s Opening Day.

And it’s time to fish.

Sugarloaf skiing heats up

If you’re like most fair-weather skiers, it’s hard to get revved up to head for the mountains when you look outside the window and see nothing but brown (or green) grass.

I spent four days earlier this week at Sugarloaf/USA, and all I can tell you is, if you’ve already packed your skis in the garage, you’re really missing out.

The conditions for the TD Banknorth U.S. Alpine Championships were fantastic, with sunny skies, temps in the mid-50s at the base of the mountain, and a barely perceptible cooling breeze.

But up at the top of the mountain, it stayed just cool enough to prevent the snow from deteriorating much at all.

At least, that’s what people told me.

Me? I was there to work, and I have assured my boss that I never even took my ski boots out of the truck.

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

According to Bill Swain, the director of communications for Sugarloaf/USA, those who choose to stay away from the mountains late in the season may want to rethink matters a bit.

“This is really the best time of the year to ski, in my opinion, because the snow is soft, the sun’s warm, you don’t have to wear as many clothes,” Swain said. “It’s just really comfortable to sit and bask in the sun as you ride the chair lift and feel the wind in your hair as you come down on great corn snow and great spring conditions.”

Swain said Sugarloaf’s elevation – it’s the state’s second-highest peak at 4,237 feet – helps keep the snow at the top from melting, even on days when the lower slopes may get a little sloppy.

Even the world-class skiers participating in the U.S. Alpine Championships loved the late-season conditions they found in Maine.

Bode Miller, the mainstay of the U.S. team, was asked by a media member whether he was happy that the giant slalom he won at Sugarloaf on Tuesday was his final race after a grueling Olympic year.

His response: Not really.

“If the snow was like this, I’d race all the time,” Miller said. “It’s not tiring when you ski like that, when the snow’s that way. But I’m ready for golf and rest, too.”

There’s still plenty of skiing left at the mountain. Swain said on April 6-9, he expects a sizeable throng to show up and enjoy the resort’s 18th annual reggae festival.

“We get a huge crowd of people that come, but the slopes never get too terribly crowded because a lot of people just come to hang out and kind of celebrate the change of the seasons outdoors,” Swain said.

On tap this year: 10 bands, which will play outside on three stages during the day and inside at night.

If you’re already thinking spring, and are polishing up your casting skills, that’s certainly forgivable. But if you’re up for a few final balmy runs on skis or a snowboard, Sugarloaf/USA may well be the place to be in the coming days.

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