For many Maine anglers, a trip to northern Aroostook County is an annual event, and a variety of lakes offer plenty of fishing options.

The Fish River chain of lakes tempts anglers of all stripes, and those seeking togue, salmon, trout or smelts can do so at one of those linked waters.

Over the weekend I received an e-mail from Dave Basley, the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife biologist who oversees the lakes of the Fish River chain.

Basley said new regulations have been proposed on those lakes, and anglers who want to comment on those prospective should do so before Oct. 20.

In a nutshell, the proposal would allow fishing for all species in all open waters in the chain from Jan. 1 through March 31, which amounts to as much as a month of extra fishing, during years when the ice is solid.

Basley explained that on Aug. 14, a public hearing was held in St. Agatha on a petition to open Long Lake to the taking of smelts from the time ice forms until Jan. 14 at night only, and then to open the lake to all fishing from Jan. 15 through March 14.

Basley said that ice fishing for smelts at first ice was permitted for most of the years between 1962 and 1980, but closed at first ice since 1981.

Since 1983, the lake has been opened to smelt fishing at night from Jan. 1 through Jan. 14 as a compromise to allow early fishing prior to the regular season for all fish, which ran from Jan. 15 through March 15.

“At the public hearing, fisheries staff from the Ashland office expressed reservations about opening the lake to the taking of smelts at first ice due to the concerns on hooking mortality and illegal harvest of salmon prior to the regular fishing season for all species,” Basley wrote. “At the time the current regulation on Long Lake was implemented, we were experiencing a significant increase in the popularity of ice fishing and thus the reason for the two-month season, Jan. 15 through March 15. Ice fishing participation has since leveled off to numbers that are less than we were seeing at the peak of this interest in the late 1980s and early 1990s.”

And although Long Lake remains a popular hotspot because of its reputation as a place anglers have a chance to catch large landlocked salmon, Basley said that biologists have noticed that fishing pressure on the lake diminish substantially after the opening two or three weeks of the season, no matter when that opening date is.

“We continue to receive angler interest in returning to a three-month ice fishing season for all fish from anglers fishing Long, Cross, Square and Eagle lakes,” Basley wrote. “In 2004, Commissioner Martin received a petition requesting his consideration to open Long, Cross and Square lakes to all fishing from January 1 through March 31. We have since liberalized the bag and length limit on salmon in Square and Eagle lakes and the togue bag and length limit at Eagle Lake.”

Basley said fisheries staffers examined the proposal offered their feedback.

“It is our opinion that returning to a three-month ice fishing season Jan. 1 through March 31 for all fish is the most appropriate proposal for all of the lakes now open in the Fish River Chain, given the amount of angler participation, current bag and length limits and an expressed interest by the public,” Basley wrote. “We feel this extra month of fishing would offer an increase in ice fishing opportunity for a greater number of anglers as well as be of benefit for the local economy.”

In addition, he said that having all of the lakes open on the traditional opening day in much of the rest of the state – Jan. 1 – would remove the need for a special regulation on Long, Cross, Square Eagle lakes, and would increase the opportunity to harvest smelts both day and night from Jan. 1 through Jan. 14 and from March 16 through March 31.

“Commissioner Martin favored our proposal for the three-month ice fishing season for all fish and forwarded this recommendation to the Advisory Council for their consideration at the Sept. 21 meeting in Ashland. It is included in the IF&W rule making proposals that were advertised on September 17 and for which comments may be received until October 20,” Basley wrote. “Should the Advisory Council accept this proposal, it is my understanding that the three-month season for Long, Cross, Square and Eagle Lakes will be effective Jan. 1, 2009.”

There you have it.

If you’re interested in sharing your five cents worth, let the DIF&W know by sending comments to Andrea L. Erskine, DIF&W, 41 SHS, Augusta, 04333-0041, or by sending e-mail to andrea.erskine@maine.gov.

Grueling day at Sugarloaf

How was your weekend? Grueling, you say?

Perhaps you raked some leaves, or split some wood, or went for a hike. You worked up a good sweat, woke up sore, and felt like you deserved a holiday today (whether your boss agreed or not).

Chances are good you worked a lot harder than I did.

And chances are, you didn’t work nearly as hard as a group of 140 runners who headed to Sugarloaf/USA on Sunday.

You’ll sometimes read about Sugarloaf in this space, as the outdoor pursuits of our readers are varied, and skiing is certainly a popular one worth mentioning.

Most of the Sugarloaf goings-on you’ll read about, however, deal with those heading downhill, at least some of the time.

Only once a year do I get to write about another group with whom I have little in common: A hardy bunch of runners who actually run up the state’s second-highest mountain.

For fun.

On Sunday, Ryan Kelly of Colby College covered a course that’s more than 21/2 miles long in 28 minutes, 16 seconds, topping a competitive field in the Sugarloaf Uphill Climb.

Having spent a lot of time around runners in the past (and having actually been one, years and years ago) I can tell you that most couch potatoes would be hard-pressed to cover 21/2 miles in the same time on a flat course … or a downhill one, for that matter.

Kelly climbed 2,500 vertical feet to reach the 4,237-foot summit.

He topped Colby’s Wyatt Fereday (28:41) and Judson Cake of Bar Harbor (28:42) to earn the title.

Kathleen Maynard of Colby won the women’s race in 35:17 while Lucy Carrec (also of Colby) finished second in 37:20. Ann-Marie Davee of South Freeport, a 52-year-old who has been a top competitor in Maine road races for years, took third in 38:58.

All of a sudden, my leisurely Sunday trek around Bangor’s scenic bog walk doesn’t seem nearly as impressive.

Congratulations to all 140 competitors who completed this year’s race.

jholyoke@bangordailynews.net

990-8214