As a steady breeze blew on West Grand Lake on Tuesday, guide Paul Laney steered his Grand Laker canoe between a few lurking rocks, beached it, and prepared for yet another performance.

It was time to eat, and for guides like him, “shore lunch” is much more than just a time to unwind, stretch boat-weary legs, and stand upright for a bit.

“There is some theater to it, I guess,” Laney admitted with a chuckle, after creating a roaring campfire in about the same time it takes many of us to figure out where our matches are hiding.

When visiting sports head afield with their guides, they have a few expectations. Finding fish or game may or may not be among them.

But all of them, Laney have learned, expect to eat well.

“One thing is, the food always tastes better on the open fire. That’s what we all figure, anyway,” he said. “And you’ll find guiding, day-in and day-out, that a lot of your old-time regular clientele, they look forward as much to the lunch as they do to the fishing.”

Laney and I met for the first time on Tuesday, as I began a short stay at Leen’s Lodge as a guest of owner Charles Driza. Laney had been enlisted to show me the lay of the land (or the water), and try to put me on a fish or two.

He succeeded on all counts. But the shore lunch may have been the highlight of our day on the lake.

“Do you like coffee?” Laney asked, just after we hopped out of his 1965-vintage Pop Moore Grand Laker canoe.

I tried to cut down on his workload, and deferred to him. If he was thirsty for coffee, I’d try some. If he wasn’t, I’d do without.

And that wasn’t the answer he was looking for.

“Oh, you’ve got to try this coffee,” he said with a sly grin.

The coffee, I later learned, was another integral part of the shore lunch ritual.

“What will amaze people, and you’ll see in a bit, is the coffee,” he explained. “They’ve never had coffee cooked with an egg in it, and everyone always gets a kick out the coffee.”

That’s right. Coffee with an egg in it.

Laney explained that he and his colleagues call it “guide coffee,” though it’s essentially the same as “cowboy coffee” out west.

Some say the coffee’s good enough to put Starbucks out of business. Only one woman (as far as Laney can remember) didn’t like it.

“She told us, good coffee, you could read a newspaper looking through the pot, or something like that,” he said. “So we had to dilute hers.”

So, how does a guide make coffee with an egg?

“First, we bring water to a boil. Then you’ve got your coffee grounds and a whole egg, and you crush everything up, mix it all together and dump it in [to the pot],” Laney said.

That’s how you do it.

What happens after that is the magical part.

“While the water’s boiling, that egg will cook and it holds all of your grounds together so you get a big clump of grounds,” Laney said.

“And when it’s done, everything sinks to the bottom,” he said.

Nothing to it … if you’re a guide.

Of course, that knowledgeable group of Maine professionals has been practicing their particular brand of “theater” for a long, long time.

Which is good news to the rest of us.

Maine decoys draw top dollar

If you have a few antique hunting decoys stashed in your attic, you may want to pay close attention to the tale that follows. It could (if you’re really lucky) pay off … and pay off big.

On April 27 the former Farmington-based auction firm of Guyette & Schmidt held its annual spring decoy auction in St. Charles, Ill., and a pair of Maine-made decoys sold for (are you ready for this) $298,000.

The decoys are two mergansers carved by Augustus “Gus” Wilson of South Portland in about 1900. Wilson’s decoys typically bring top dollar, but this was the record-price for Wilson decoys. The previous high: $126,500, a record set in 2004.

Wilson worked as a lighthouse keeper in Port Clyde and at Goose Rocks Light, and carved thousands of decoys over a career of about 50 years. He carved eider, scoter, old squaw, black duck, goldeneye and merganser decoys, according to Guyette & Schmidt.

The auction grossed $3.5 million, with 68 lots selling for more than $10,000 and four lots selling for more than $100,000.

Other Maine decoys featured included a merganser hen by Sam Toothaker, which sold for $10,637 and an immature old squaw by Oscar Bibber, which went for $6,325.

So, head to your attic … dust off your decoys … then give Guyette & Schmidt a call. They offer free decoy appraisals to anyone. Send a decoy photo and stamped, self-addressed envelope to Guyette & Schmidt, P.O. Box 1170, St. Michaels, Md., 21663. E-mails can be sent to decoys@guyetteandschmidt.com.

Happy hunting!

Coming up next …

On Saturday I’ll take you back to one of the state’s fabled sporting camps, Leen’s Lodge in Grand Lake Stream.

I had the chance to visit owner Charles Driza and his son Charles, and take a closer look at the place once referred to as “The Waldorf of the Wilderness.”

Driza has honored the traditions inherent in such places, and made a few well-thought-out improvements, as you’ll learn.

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