Right now it’s a good bet you’re enjoying the “rites of springtime.” You know, stowing ice fishing gear, resurrecting rods and reels, replacing lines and leaders, putting new plugs in the outboard, and trying to get your boat trailer’s taillights to work. But as pleasant and necessary as those putterings are, I’m sure you’re aware that an equally anticipated and enjoyable spring ritual will take place this weekend.

The dates are March 27-29, the location is the Augusta Civic Center, the occasion is the 12th annual State of Maine Sportsman’s Show sponsored by the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine and the Maine Sportsman. So that you can set your priorities, the schedule is: March 27, 4-10 p.m., March 28, 9 a.m.-9 p.m., March 29, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Simply put, if this event doesn’t warm your blood and put some spring into your step, you’d better think about making reservations in a rest home. The fact of the matter is, the Maine Sportsman’s Show, one of the largest in New England, is outgrowing the Augusta Civic Center. This year, more than 145 exhibitors will pitch their tents along the Center’s well-marked trails.

If you’re one of the increasing number of Maine sportsmen planning trips to far-flung hunting and fishing grounds, you’ll find accommodating outfitters from Alaska to Argentina camped at this weekend’s Maine event. Stop by their campfires and get expert advice on equipment, travel, prime times, costs, and reservations.

Perhaps, though, you find it difficult to stray from the pine-scented trails leading to traditional Maine sporting camps. In that case, you’ll be comfortable talking with guides and lodge owners whose names are as familiar as East Grand, Chesuncook, Moosehead, and Nicatous.

Demonstrations and seminars? Take your pick. Among Friday’s offerings are: “Bass Casting Techniques” with Dave Barnes, “Live Hawks and Owls” with Dr. Jim Parker, “Fly Fishing Maine’s Ponds” with Tom Browne, and “Kodiak Bear Hunting” with George Klucky.

On Saturday you can set your sights on: Fly casting with Harry Vanderweide, Maine Bowhunters Association demonstration, Warden K-9 demonstration with Game Warden Debbie Palman, Maine Turkey-Calling Championships, and Maine Moose-Calling Championships.

Interest in saltwater fishing is rising like a full-moon tide. Therefore, bluefish and striped bass addicts won’t want to miss seminars by Cal Robinson, Dan Caruso, Barry Gibson, Harry Vanderweide. Their in-depth presentations will range from fly rodding and spinning for “blues” and “stripers” to trolling for sharks and tuna.

Also, if you’ve been looking for a chance to corner Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Commissioner Bill Vail, look no more. Vail again will conduct an open forum at the show, allowing sportsmen to express their views and opinions on matters regarding Maine’s fisheries and wildlife resources and their managements.

At each turn of the trail you’ll meet sporting goods dealers, gunsmiths, whitewater rafters, taxidermists, canoe and kayak manufacturers, you name it. Last, but not least, the Maine Wildlife and Sporting Art Contest will display works by the state’s leading artists, while the Wildlife Woodcarving Contest features Maine’s foremost whittlers.

Do yourself a favor this weekend and don’t sit down at your fly-tying table after you replace the plugs in your outboard. Instead, take the trail leading to the State of Maine Sportsman’s Show in Augusta. You can enjoy all of the above and more for $5, and there are no gate fees for sportsmen with less than 12 seasons under their belts.

Besides, you don’t need another trout or salmon fly, anyway.

To ensure that the 1992 openwater fishing season gets under way in good shape, the Piscataquis River Chapter of Trout Unlimited will hold its annual dinner and auction at the Dover-Foxcroft Snowmobile Club’s den on April 4. The “evening fishing” will begin with social hour and hors d’ouevres at 5:30, followed by a “Wildside” dinner of venison, moose meat, and smoked turkey.

Auctioneer Ray Poulin will cast a dozen or more valuable items including fine-art prints to the Tuers and their guests, whose “rises,” no doubt, will be immediate. A raffle of fishing-related items also will add to the entertainment. Considering that homemade desserts will be served after the auction, you can expect that no one will go home “skunked.”

Tickets are $7.50 per angler, $14 per pair.

A few days ago, I received a note from Walter Elliott of Grand Lake Stream. Attached to the note was a clipping of an advertisement for a fishing tackle auction featuring fish decoys. “Believe it or not,” wrote Walter, “no one around here, including myself, can explain what, when, and how these fish decoys are used. Comments on the issue would clear up this little mystery.”

I’m no authority on the matter, but my understanding is that fish decoys are used for spearing fish from “darkhouses” (shacks) on midwesterused for spearing fish from “darkhouses” (shacks) on midwestern waters. The practice is to cut a hole in the ice inside a shack that is rendered as dark as possible. This allows the fisherman to see into the water. The fish decoys then are lowered to depths at which they remain visible. Fish – usually pickerel, pike, walleyes, perch – attracted to the decoys are speared.

I’ve never heard of fish decoys being used in this neck of the woods, how