The Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission will hear public comments this Thursday on a proposal to open a stretch of the Penobscot River near Bangor to Atlantic salmon fishing for one month this fall.

The experimental catch-and-release fishing season would open on Sept. 15 and close on Oct. 15. Anglers could fish for salmon – using only flies with single-pointed, barbless hooks – from 150 feet below the Veazie Dam fishway downriver to the former site of the Bangor Dam.

The pool below the former dam site would not be open to fishing.

The commission would retain the authority to close the fishery at any time to protect the salmon population.

Patrick Keliher, the commission’s executive director, said that while many fishermen would likely prefer a spring fishery, the commission is taking a “very precautionary approach to make sure we don’t jeopardize the recovery” of the salmon.

The Penobscot was closed to Atlantic salmon fishing in 1999 in response to declining wild salmon populations.

The public hearing will begin at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Holden Elementary School on Route 1A. The comment period will remain open until June 5.

(Kevin Miller, BDN)