Hunters, fishermen to pay tribute to ‘Wiggie’ Robinson, 85

Hunters and fishermen are gathering in Millinocket today to pay final respects to a registered guide renowned in Maine’s sporting community for his knowledge of the outdoors, vibrant personality and seemingly endless energy.

Wilmot “Wiggie” Robinson became a master Maine guide in 1950, but the Millinocket resident began helping people in the Maine woods decades earlier while spending boyhood summers in Baxter State Park.

An avid gardener, writer, storyteller and co-founder of such groups as the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, the 85-year-old was still guiding and hiking miles to his many secret fishing holes until his death last week.

He died Friday while working in his garden at his camp overlooking the West Branch of the Penobscot River and Mount Katahdin.

“He was a role model to me and he was an inspiration,” said V. Paul Reynolds, editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal and co-host with Robinson of a weekly radio program. “He never stopped going. Eighty-five years old and he would still walk three miles to a trout pond.”

In fact, in a conversation with Robinson the day before he died, Reynolds compared notes with his old friend about a remote walk-in pond both of them had fished recently.

Reynolds, who gave Robinson the nickname “Baron of the West Branch,” said that Robinson had a motto of “Stay active, live healthy and never stop doing what you love.”

“And that’s what he did,” Reynolds said.

A World War II veteran, Robinson worked for more than 30 years for Great Northern Paper Co. Aside from work and guiding, Robinson helped start or held key positions in many of the groups and advisory boards that shape Maine’s policies on outdoor recreation.

He helped found the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine – the state’s most influential organization of hunters and anglers – and served as SAM’s executive director.

He was a founding and life member of the Millinocket Fin and Feather Club, started the Maine Bird Dog Club and was an active member of many other sporting organizations.

Robinson served as chairman of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s Advisory Council for years. Former DIF&W Commissioner Ray “Bucky” Owen described him as “the consummate sportsman right to the end.”

“He was just a great individual,” Owen said Monday. “I don’t know anybody who disliked him. He had, I think, everybody’s concerns at heart and foremost just loved to hunt and fish.”

Nor did older age seem to keep Robinson from doing the things he loved. In addition to trekking miles to remote ponds, where he often had a canoe stashed, Robinson hiked up Mount Katahdin at 81 and was reportedly planning another ascent when he turned 90, friends said.

In recent years, Robinson became a radio personality of sorts, dishing out advice and tips on the weekly radio show, “Maine Outdoors,” that he co-hosted with Reynolds on WVOM.

He also wrote for the Northwoods Sporting Journal, the Maine Sportsman and several other publications and was honored with a prestigious award from the Outdoor Writers Association of America.

Acquaintances marveled at the fact that Robinson still found time to keep a masterful garden at the West Branch camp he and his wife adored.

“The things he knew, he was a complete outdoorsman,” said Ray Campbell, president of the Millinocket Fin and Feather Club. “He could do it all.”

Robinson is survived by his wife of 61 years, Joyce, his son Jay, who is also a registered guide, and two daughters, Judy Robinson and Patsy Huston.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. today at Millinocket Baptist Church. Robinson will be buried with military honors Friday in Millinocket Cemetery.