The Veazie Salmon Club’s parking lot was empty on Monday afternoon, not an angler in sight.

Nor a cribbage player.

Since the Penobscot River was closed to Atlantic salmon fishing back in 1999, there has been no spring season on this fabled stretch of water.

Some veteran club members have continued gathering at their riverside retreat most mornings. They’ve sat and had a cup of coffee or two, and huddled around the well-worn cribbage board. And they’ve surely taken plenty of good-natured potshots at fellow fishermen they’ve known for years.

But fish for salmon?

They haven’t done that at all.

With the exception of the largely ignored fall seasons that were staged in 2006 and 2007, there has been little cause for celebration at places like Veazie Salmon Club lately.

In two days, all that will change … for now.

Beginning on Thursday morning, the Penobscot will be open for catch-and-release fishing for Atlantic salmon. During the spring. Just like the anglers wanted.

After that, it’s anyone’s guess how long the season will last … or when we’ll get to enjoy another one.

According to the rules that have been established for this spring’s season, anglers are required to register any salmon that they catch and release. Catch one, and you’re done for the day.

And after a total of 50 fish are caught and released, the season’s over.

Period.

On Monday, the Penobscot River below the Veazie Dam – site of most of the pools that will be opening – looked like a good spot to begin a white-water rafting trip.

A premier spot to try wading for salmon? Not even close.

The water roared over the top of the dam, and massive standing waves churned up the middle of the river.

Those runs that were so good to so many anglers for so long – Guerin Pool, and Wringer Pool and Beach Pool – were full of cold, fast water.

The rock jetty that juts out toward Eddington, and provided a casting platform for a few anglers during last fall’s catch-and-release season, was invisible. The only proof it existed: a bulge of waves and frothy water, and one dead tree that had floated down river and fetched up on the underwater obstacle.

Over in Eddington, the scene was the same.

Last fall, anglers had to carefully pick their way down the rocky bank, working their way toward the river from the anglers’ lean-to, and eventually wading into a slowly moving river.

On Monday, an eager angler could have wet a line from inside the lean-to … or hopped right into the furious Penobscot after taking just five giant steps from the makeshift shelter.

Yes, Atlantic salmon season opens on Thursday … river willing … or not.

After that, who knows?

Many biologists, including those at the federal level, are understandably concerned about allowing any fishing on Maine’s salmon rivers, where adult salmon haven’t been returning to spawn nearly often enough.

Many feel that a federal listing of the Penobscot is just a matter of time. The big question for them isn’t whether the river’s salmon will become federally protected, but what protection will be offered.

Will the fish be called endangered? Or will they be deemed threatened?

There are plenty of anglers who argue that the Penobscot’s fishery is so dependent on hatchery efforts, there would be virtually no fish returning if the stocking stopped.

Therefore, some say, anglers should have the right to fish for what they consider a stocked population of fish.

That argument won’t likely hold water with the federal agencies tasked with protecting those endangered and threatened species.

And if salmon are listed in some fashion, this spring’s season may not be repeated again soon.

Yes, on Thursday the Penobscot will open for Atlantic salmon fishing again.

And on Saturday, anglers and others will gather at the venerable Penobscot Salmon Club for the traditional opening breakfast that has been such a solemn occasion for nearly a decade.

Tales will be swapped, and antique equipment will be shown off. If the weather’s good and the water’s not too high, you may even be able to find someone who will take you out on the river for a bit.

It promises to be a great day, and the culmination of years of hard work by anglers who are passionate about their home river, their sport, and the memories that both have provided.

Then, after the tales are told, and the breakfast is enjoyed, some of us will fish. Maybe for a week. Maybe for the entire month. It’s hard telling.

It will be a day worth celebrating, on a river worth cherishing.

Do yourself a favor: Celebrate with us. Because it’s impossible to tell when you’ll get this chance again.

jholyoke@bangordailynews.net

990-8214