At lakes and ponds, rivers and streams across Maine, spring has typically meant one thing to a certain part of the population: Fishing season.

For another, smaller group, it has meant something else: Work. Hard, frantic, gotta-get-it-done work.

Those folks are the state’s hatchery personnel and fisheries biologists, who scramble to complete their spring stocking so that others can catch more fish and have more fun.

On Wednesday, a group of fisheries staffers, along with volunteers from various Trout Unlimited chapters and more than a few media-types, gathered on the banks of the Kennebec River in Solon to take part in a new form of stocking that’s slowly taking hold in Maine.

The practice, called float stocking, is pretty simple. Rather than dump 1,000 or 2,000 or 3,000 fish in one or two spots on a given river, workers load floating pens or boxes full of fish, attach each apparatus to a canoe or drift boat or raft, then drift downstream, releasing a few fish at a time.

“This is the third year we’ve done it,” said Jack Gibson, the float-stocking coordinator for the Somerset Chapter of TU. “Three hundred fish the first year, 10- to 12-inch brown trout. They gave us all 2,000 fish last year.”

And this year, the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife arrived with 3,100 browns that were released into the Kennebec from Solon to Madison.

“This is one of our favorite projects for the year, because it’s just fun,” Gibson said. “We think we are making the [DIF&W] more cost-effective, because if they dump all thousand trout right out front here … cormorants and eagles and ospreys are here feeding on them.”

And that’s the reason for employing the method.

Bob Mallard, who owns Kennebec River Outfitters in Madison and is one of the state’s more outspoken fisheries conservation advocates, said he first heard about the method two decades ago.

“Twenty-plus years ago we did it in New Hampshire on a small, local river in my town, with cooperation from both New Hampshire and Massachusetts DF&W,” Mallard said. “That program’s still in effect today.

“I proposed that we try something [in Maine],” he said. “I’d never tried it in a water this big. We worked with the department and the [Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine] and TU to make it happen.”

And happen it has.

For the past two years, float-stocking has been used on the Androscoggin as well, with good results. Mallard said the projects have worked because of the cooperation of various groups that sometimes don’t see eye to eye.

“It’s done well,” Mallard said. “It’s one of the few projects that we’ve got the [DIF&W], TU, SAM and a bunch of businesses and anglers working together with no animosity at all. This is something we all believe in.”

Fisheries biologists and anglers alike realized that there was a certain level of mortality that took place when fish were stocked, thanks in large part to the predators who recognized freshly stocked fish as a virtual all-you-can-eat buffet.

“The object is to spread these fish around, as much as we can, to disperse them quicker than they’re willing or able to disperse on their own,” Mallard said. “By moving these fish one at a time and spreading them through the whole system, they don’t have the opportunity to school and circle.

“They’re raised in pens, they’re raised in very tight confines, so they’re used to just schooling and pointing straight up stream, or worse, circling [like they do] in a circular hatchery.”

And according to Mallard’s estimate, at $1.50 to $3 per fish, that initial loss to predators is not cost-effective.

Bill Pierce, a public relations representative at the DIF&W and the department’s marketing guru, pitched in and brought a couple prototype fish pens he had built the night before.

Pierce admitted that the DIF&W didn’t initially embrace float-stocking, in large part because of concerns about increased labor costs during the hectic stocking season.

“Our problem, whether from a management standpoint or a hatchery management standpoint, is manpower and time,” Pierce said.

And when TU and others came forward volunteering to provide the necessary labor, the DIF&W was willing to give the program a try.

That first year, 2004, was a trial run, with just 300 brown trout stocked by the flotilla. The results seemed good, and the project has advanced from there.

“[Some at the DIF&W] were reluctant because they didn’t know what this was going to involve in terms of personnel,” Pierce said. “[But] it’s been an absolute home run.”

Mallard said he’s proud of the efforts everyone has put in.

“Like anything else, it was a rough start, and like anything else, it’s kind of taken on a life of its own and we hope it spread throughout the state,” Mallard said. “We believe that every stocked river in the state could benefit , socially and recreationally, by it.”

The social aspect, he said, comes when people experience the hands-on nature of the project, then go out later and try to catch fish they helped stock.

“If we can get dads out there with kids, handling fish [on a float-stocking project], when they’re fishing with dad later in the year and they get that fish, they’re gonna think, ‘This could be that fish I handled, and maybe this fish is better off back in the river.”

Turkey tales, Part II

Most years, the turkey tales that fill my e-mail in-box after the state’s youth hunt are pretty well balanced between boys and girls enjoying their day afield.

This year, however, the girls ruled the day … or at least, their parents were more eager to tell me those tales.

Among the proud fathers who checked in after the hunt was Peter Brown of Hampden, who sent along a great photo of his 10-year-old daughter, Sammi, after her successful hunt.

Peter Brown, you may know, is the owner of Extreme Dimension Wildlife Calls, which is based in Hampden. Brown’s company gives hunters a digital edge with its wide variety of calls with plenty of options.

And Sammi Brown was undoubtedly one of the state’s youngest hunters: She turned 10 – the legal age for Maine youth hunters – on April 24, and went hunting just five days later.

Peter Brown said the bird, a 17-pound jake, responded to the Extreme Dimensions Phantom Turkey call at 6:25 a.m. The bird sported a four-inch beard.

“[We] got the whole hunt on video, which will be aired next year on The Men’s Channel,” Peter Brown wrote. “She also used a 12-gauge shotgun and is now hooked on hunting.”

I bet she is.

There were, however, plenty of boys who had successful youth days. Among them: The hunting Williams clan from Clifton.

Proud grandfather Phil McTigue of Holden regularly keeps me updated on the hunting efforts of his grandsons, and this year, all three Williams boys – the sons of Eileen and John Williams – filled their tags on youth day.

The photo he brought me is a classic, with 14-year-old Brent, 15-year-old John, and 11-year-old Josh all proudly displaying their birds.

And finally, a couple more turkey tales may inspire you to get out there this morning and try your luck.

Larry Freeman of Brewer checked in to say that his stepdaughter, Deaven Smith, shot her first turkey on youth day after he called in two toms.

Deaven shot the larger of the two, a 20-pounder with a nine-inch beard.

And 101/2-year-old Chelsea King of Holden had a day to remember on her first-ever attempt at turkey hunting. Chelsea was hunting with her stepfather, Brent Drake and his friend, Jason Butler, when she shot a 21-pounder in Dedham. The bird sported a 93/4-inch beard.

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