Upper Andro Anglers Alliance

Bethel, Maine and the BIG Adventure Center were the locations for the 2007 Free Family Fishing Festival. With showers on Friday night, I was fearful of another rainy day for the Family Fishing Festival but that wasn’t to be. The weather treated us all to a fantastic day of gentle breezes, glorious sunshine and tons of kids and adults to enjoy loads of fun.

With great weather, kids and adults crowd around the pond at the BIG Adventure Center to try their luck at hooking a rainbow trout put in the pond by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

The event had several sponsors including the Upper Andro Anglers Alliance, The Mollyocket Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Wal-Mart, Coppertone and others.

Fishing rods and equipment were provided by the MDIFW Hooked on Fishing Not on Drugs program. Also present during the event was the “Wall of Shame” traveling display assembled by the MDIFW. In that trailer you can find an entire assortment of animals and equipment that were confiscated by MDIFW and the Maine Wardens Service because of illegal activities.

Once rods were passed out to the very anxious kids, it took only a matter of minutes before the first fish was caught.

These three kids – one is partially hidden behind – are my grandkids who traveled down from Bangor, Maine for the Fishing Festival. For the two older ones, this was their second festival and a first for the younger. Although they weren’t able to land a trout, they had plenty of opportunity and had a terrific time.

As part of the festival, volunteers help any kid or adult who needed assistance to learn how to cast, bait a hook or land a fish. Instruction also included the proper way to catch and release a fish to minimize stress and injury to any fish an angler opted not to keep. These fishermen had their choice of release or catch and keep as part of a good meal.

Some of the volunteers were members of the Mollyocket Chapter of Trout Unlimited.

Dick Walthers, head of the local chapter of Trout Unlimited, assists a gentlemen interested in learning more about the fine art of fly casting. I was at the festival from start to finish and I can attest that Dick was busy from the beginning to end with his instruction.

Kids have a ball when it comes to fishing. Here a young angler gets some assistance from Dad as they both struggle to get a grip on a slippery, wiggly rainbow trout.

A big hit for the kids seemed to be the presence of some of the members of the Maine Warden Service. Always present and available to answer questions and assist the kids wardens Norm Lewis, Eric Blanchard and Tony Gray assisted in putting smiles on the kids faces. At one point they passed out replica badges to become a “Junior Maine Warden”. My grandkids were still wearing theirs when they headed back to Bangor on Sunday saying they wanted to be a policeman when they grew up.

Toward the end of the day when many of the participants had collected all their gear they had collected during the Festival, a couple of very interested anglers inquired about how to tie flies. As most of you know, one aspect of fly fishing is the use of artificial flies often tied by the angler themselves.

Nate Wight, a fourth generation Registered Maine Guide, was eager to sit down with some of the kids and teach them how to tie their very first fly, a Wooly Bugger.

On the left, Mike Lloyd, nine years old, learns from Nate Wight how to tie a Wooly Bugger. He ended up tying two. Mike had a great time as he took advantage of every aspect of the event. I also recall the expression on Rebecca’s face, that’s his mom, as she held the first fish she had ever caught and asked, “What do I do now?”

This young angler jumped in to learn how to tie a fly. Note the intense concentration. He was so excited about his very own Wooly Bugger that he immediately got help attaching it to a fly rod and trying it out in the pond.

In talking with Bill Pierce of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and Rocky Freda, owner of Sun Valley Sports, they both concluded that the days events where a huge success. Bill noted that 95 kids and 45 adults had registered for the days events.

As part of the weekend long events, a Two Fly contest took place on the Upper Androscoggin River. Each contestant had two flies only that they can choose to use. They are given a camera to photograph their catches and document the information. Winners received prizes. As of this writing, I didn’t have any information but as soon as I get it I’ll pass it on.

Tom Remington