“The year 1805 will long be remembered on account of the advent of the wolves from Canada to the State of Maine and other parts of New England. They came in droves, and their howling was a terror to everyone.” This important event may not be remembered these days, but it won’t be forgotten either, […]
You just purchased 50,000 stunningly beautiful acres for $7. That’s not a typo. Each Maine resident contributed $7 to purchase an amazing list of our very best places – great places to hunt, spectacular places to fish, critical deer wintering areas and trout spawning grounds, farms, lake and pond frontage and access, snowmobile trails, important […]
I was reading Dad’s Lewiston Sun Journal the other day, in his room at the Togus VA Hospice Unit, when a full page ad grabbed my attention. Sponsored by individual board members of the Poland Spring Preservation Society, the ad was a very big thank you to Poland Spring Bottling Company for “being a great neighbor.” […]
Free fishing sinkers and jigs were handed around the table at the annual meeting of the Minnehonk Lake Association a couple weeks ago. I didn’t take any because I’ve already swapped out my lead sinkers and jigs for those that don’t kill loons and other critters. If you haven’t gotten […]
The old woman hasn’t run out of stories. The subtitle of Return of Old Maine Woman, written by Glenna Johnson Smith and published this year by Islandport Press, is Tales of Growing Up and Getting Older. Glenna grew up in the 1920s and 30s in rural Hancock County, eventually moving to Aroostook County where she […]
I had been fishing for about two hours. On counting the catch, we had one hundred and thirty-seven trout. This might be my dream fishing experience but it is not my story. Its Heber Bishop’s story, written in the Guide Book to the Megantic, Spider, and Upper Dead River Regions in 1887, and reprinted in […]
Gigantic trout and salmon taken from Rangeley’s famous waters are every angler’s dream. I’ve caught five pound brookies and salmon there, but nothing approaching the mounts I’ve seen at the Oquossoc Angling Association. And that’s just one reason I’ll be visiting the Outdoor Sporting Heritage Museum in Oquossoc soon, where they are featuring a special […]
I’ve caught everything from giant King Salmon in Alaska to huge Brown Trout in Montana to 23 species of fish in Florida, but brook trout are my passion. It saddens me that we haven’t done more to protect, enhance, and cherish Maine’s native brookies. While I am very happy to catch a brook trout of […]
This is another in my ongoing series on landowner relations, the most important topic and challenge for Maine sportsmen and others who recreate on private land. Of particular importance in this column are the recommendations of Tom Doak for an effective landowner relations program. A great suggestion about multi-species management is featured in one of […]
Maine’s three candidates for governor recently received their 2014 Questionnaire from the Sportsmen’s Alliance of Maine. SAM is the only statewide sportsman’s group that surveys the views of candidates for major offices and the legislature, issues grades, and makes endorsements. Traditionally, the group has been nonpartisan and very successful. In the 2014 Questionnaire, the candidates […]
George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. George also hosts, with Harry Vanderweide, a TV talk show called Wildfire, now in its 13th year and focused on hunting, fishing, environmental, and conservation issues. The show is owned and produced by Maine Audubon and seen on its website as well as on the Time Warner cable TV station throughout the state.
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