This could be a perfect place to fish, Dave Huntress told me as we motored slowly across the Penobscot River, fly rods at hand, flies attached, eyes peeled.

“I told you this would be prospecting,” he said, offering up an unnecessary apology for the slow fishing.

Huntress, who grew up in Eliot but fishes just about anyplace he can find gamefish willing to slurp a fly, knows his game well.

He’s adept with a bamboo rod – both casting them and building them – and according to at least one fishing buddy, he reads water like he’s got hidden gills.

“See that line of angry water right there,” he says, softly. “That looks really fishy to me.”

That, it did. And that, it wasn’t … at least Thursday, as we prospected for striped bass in one of the river’s lower reaches.

While the popular urban hotspots like the park in south Brewer haven’t been packed with anglers on each high tide as they are when the stripers have truly come to town, there were anecdotal reports striper season was ready to begin.

I caught a couple last night, an angler told me last weekend. Nothing yet today. But yesterday, they were here.

That was all it took to get me agree to an evening jaunt on the Penobscot on a picture-perfect Thursday.

The wind blew only in peaceful intermittent puffs, and the weather was neither too hot nor too cool for the task at hand.

We cast sand eel imitations blindly to likely spots, but both of us knew that wasn’t why we came. Not really.

We were prospecting, you see. We wanted to see fish, and to watch pods of frantic baitfish splash nearby, trying desperately to escape the hungry stripers below.

Then, silently, we’d move in, make a false cast or two, drop a fly into the turbulence … and hope for the best.

Unfortunately, that never happened. A few baitfish moved, and dimpled the smooth surface water with their telltale rings.

All, we eventually admitted, were feeding on small insects … not trying to avoid the larger fish we sought.

In terms of fish caught, the trip wasn’t special.

In terms of time on the water, it was something else entirely.

The Penobscot used to provide the lifeblood for generations of Mainers who lived on its banks.

Today, it’s much easier to take it for granted. Until, that is, you head out onto it and find that you’ve got the entire piece of water to yourself.

Out in the middle of the channel, we inhaled that magical first whiff of salt-tinged air, reminding us that the mighty Atlantic begins just a few miles downriver.

As the sun began to set and we moved closer to shore, the smell changed, and it seemed we were surrounded by fragrant evergreen trees.

“I love that smell,” Huntress said, echoing the sentiments of most Mainers.

And as we finally turned for the boat ramp and headed for shallow water, a thicker, more earthy scent welcomed us to the tidal marsh where our journey began.

The baitfish were feeding eagerly by then, and we motored slowly, casting toward a few of the dwindling rings, again hoping for the best.

In the strict sense of the word, that “best” never came. But in a more figurative sense, I suppose, it needn’t have bothered.

Any evening on flowing water is fine with me, you see.

Even if the fish don’t choose to show up and join in on the fun.

Moose lottery this week

If you’re a prospective moose hunter (again), this is the week for you to pull out all the stops in order to change your lottery karma.

Cross your fingers, grab your rabbit’s foot (don’t try this if you have an actual, live rabbit), and get ready: The annual permit lottery is set for Thursday.

This year’s lottery will take place at Phippsburg Elementary School and will begin at 6 p.m.

Over a few short hours, state wildlife officials will read aloud the names of the Maine permit winners among the total of 2,880 lucky hunters.

This year’s split-season moose hunts will take place Sept. 24-29 in Wildlife Management Districts 1-6, 11 and 19, and Oct. 8-13 in WMDs 1-14, 17-19, 27 and 28.

The results will be available on the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife Web site at www.mefishwildlife.com shortly after the drawing begins.

Or, as always, you can look for complete results Friday morning in the pages of the Bangor Daily News.

Good luck to all … especially those who’ve never had their names drawn for this special hunt of a lifetime.

Maine’s deer CWD-free

The results are in, and according to research data compiled during the 2006 deer hunt, Maine’s whitetail deer herd is still apparently safe from Chronic Wasting Disease.

According to a DIF&W fact sheet on the topic, CWD is a fatal disease of the nervous system of deer, elk and moose. The disease is categorized as a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy and is similar to mad cow disease in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.

In a press release the DIF&W explained all 909 deer tissue samples collected during the 2006 hunting season were tested at the University of Connecticut Veterinary Diagnostic Lab and turned up negative.

Maine’s deer herd has been tested annually since 1999, and this marks the fourth year the state has used a “stratified sampling strategy” that assumes there’s a higher risk of CWD in wild deer living in towns near domestic deer farms or where winter-feeding of deer in large numbers occurs.

The DIF&W says more samples are needed to provide a satisfactory level of confidence in monitoring wild deer across the state.

Deer hunter and meat-cutter cooperation has been a key component to the successful sampling to date, DIF&W officials said.

“We have been fortunate to have a number of people assist us in this endeavor and are grateful for their help,” said Lee Kantar, the state’s top deer biologist. “2006 was one of the most productive years for attaining our sampling goals. We achieved 91 percent of the samples that we needed. In the western mountains of Maine, 100 percent of the samples were collected.”

In 2007 the DIF&W will look for ways to improve its methods when locating and collecting harder to get samples in towns with low deer densities and low deer harvest.

Sunkhaze paddle on tap

Many in the Bangor area have heard plenty about Sunkhaze Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, but far fewer have ever explored much of it.

they’ll get that chance June 16 as the Friends of Sunkhaze Stream NWR will lead a canoe trip on the stream.

The group calls its trip “the best way to see the refuge and the wildlife that call it home,” and they’re probably right.

Interested paddlers should bring their own canoe or kayak, along with paddles, water, snacks, and life vests.

Paddlers will meet at the refuge office at 1168 Main Street in Old Town at 9 a.m.

Participants are advised to be prepared for the weather … and the insects they are likely to encounter.

Blue Planet Run today

A final reminder for those looking for a bit of aerobic activity: The Blue Planet Run, a 3.1-mile road race, will be held today in Winterport.

Registration for the race begins at 9 a.m. in Abbott Park and the race starts at 10.

The entry fee is $15, but those choosing to pay $25 will get a T-shirt and know that they’ve paid the cost of providing clean water for one person for life.

The race is being directed by former Hampden Academy track standout MacKenzie Rawcliffe, who is hoping to raise more awareness about the need for cleaner water supplies worldwide.

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