When Tom Nichols entered our “Win a Drift Boat Trip” contest, he probably didn’t expect to wait until after the unofficial end of summer to cash in on his winnings.

Unfortunately, that’s what happened.

The Penobscot resident won the contest we run in conjunction with the Eastern Maine Sportsman’s Show back in March, and the original plan called for a fantastic, fish-filled day on the East Outlet of the Kennebec River in mid-June.

You know what they say about the best-laid plans.

A day or two before our planned excursion, Nichols became ill, and we had to cancel.

That, I figured, might be that.

Our perfect string of trips – three over a three-year span that were won by Doug Saunders of Rockland, Jason McCubbin of Orrington, and Mike Horvers of Milford – was over.

Not that I was a pessimist, mind you. Nothing of the sort.

But I was realistic enough to know that booking another weekend trip with Dan Legere – the proprietor of Greenville’s Maine Guide Fly Shop and one of the most knowledgeable and sought-after guides in the state – might be a bit of a chore.

Legere didn’t flinch, and didn’t want to take us fishing on a day we might not consider “peak season.”

Instead, he pencilled us in for a September trip, during a time he figured the water on the East Outlet would have cooled, and the fish would have become receptive again.

And on Saturday, Nichols and I are going fishing. Finally.

If you’ve never had the good fortune of fishing one of Maine’s rivers from a drift boat, I suggest you save a few pennies and give it a try. The water you cover, and the attention a guide can give you, is well worth the price.

And if you get a guide like Legere, you’re in for a true treat. Legere is a born teacher who makes learning fun. He doesn’t tell you what you’re doing wrong … he tells you how you can improve. He doesn’t tell you that you missed a fish … he tells you that you almost caught it.

And come lunchtime, stand back: The guy’s a fantastic cook as well.

Earlier this week I received an informative e-mail from Legere that he sends to a few interested anglers periodically.

And having spent a few glorious days in his drift boat (and many more fantastic sessions wading his home water), the contents of that e-mail message were encouraging, to say the least.

Don’t hang up your waders for the winter yet, folks. The fishing’s just getting good … again.

The crowd has dispersed. And it’s time to hit the water.

Here’s some of what Legere had to say:

“Water temps have managed to go down nearly 10 degrees in the last two weeks,” he wrote. “Nights in the 40s and days only in the high 60s have allowed the 70-plus bath water conditions to change with river temps these days in the mid-60s. Cool enough to spark some life in the fish.

“Another plus comes with lots of water in the lakes from the hard rains that accompanied the summer thunderstorms that hounded the state all summer. Usually the [dam-tending] folks make some calculations around Labor Day and start to run some water around now. With all the water around the water crowd all decided it would be appropriate to open some gates a week earlier.”

That, of course, is good news. Plenty of cool water flowing into the rivers, along with cooling temperatures overall, is a fine recipe for good fishing. And that’s exactly what Legere’s expecting.

“East Outlet is flowing at around 2,300 [cubic feet per second] and will stay there the remainder of the season unless we have lots of rain,” he wrote. “[These are] great flows that have already brought in a run of fish. There have already been some beautiful fresh from Indian Pond, chrome-sided salmon landed.”

In closing, Legere offered the words a true angler loves to hear.

“The bottom line is the fishing has already started to improve and it’s only going to get better,” he said. “It’s my favorite time of the season. LIFE IS GOOD.”

I couldn’t agree more. And I can’t wait to again share a boat on a beautiful river with one of the state’s top guides.

Anglers get an extra day

In other fishing news, anglers who like to fish as long as possible will get an extra day of legal fishing this fall, as the state has extended the open-water season until Oct. 1.

According to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, the season typically runs from April 1 until Sept. 30, but when the last day of September falls on a Saturday, state law allows the DIF&W commissioner to extend the season by one day.

That’s the case this year.

Of course, if you’re a true diehard, there are plenty of other options: After Oct. 1 there are more specific laws in effect that can offer restrictive fishing on several other bodies of water.

In the state fishing law book, those bodies of water are listed with an S-23 code (closes Oct. 31) or an S-24 (Nov. 30) designation.

And if you look carefully (and talk to your local fly fishing club), you’ll find that there are some places you can fish year-round … if you’re willing to brave the elements to do so.

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