For more than 20 years -- since I first caught the fly fishing bug and began traveling up to the East Outlet of the Kennebec River every chance I got -- I’ve looked forward to regular visits to downtown Greenville, and to the fly shop that sits just a few long casts from Moosehead Lake.

Everybody, and everything, loves a smelt. The sleek, silver fish -- officially known as a “rainbow smelt” -- is prevalent in many lakes and ponds, and is the preferred food of landlocked salmon and other larger fish. In streams, they might be gobbled up by opportunistic mammals or birds. And humans? Well, if we’re not using them as bait to catch other fish, we eat ‘em, too.

Steve Trimper has an extensive and impressive resume as a baseball coach including 11 seasons as the head coach at the University of Maine. Now the fourth-year head coach at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, has added author to his list of accomplishments.

Citing a desire to step away from running a retail establishment, the owners of the Maine Guide Fly Shop in Greenville have announced plans to sell their business.

The Maine Highlands Sled Dog Club will host a two-day sled dog race on Saturday, Jan. 25 and Sunday, Jan. 26 as part of Brownville’s annual 11th Dog Days of Winter celebration. Teams will leave Railroad Avenue in Brownville Junction at 10 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday, travel up to the KI Road along the converted rail bed and then return along the same trail.

Before I-phones, about the only time fellow deer hunters communicated with one another was during the 12 o’clock lunch break or back at camp after legal shooting hours. Not so today. We text each other during the day at agreed times. It might go like this: “On south side of bog. Good sign.” Or “Just jumped a buck. Headed northwest, toward you.”

Jan. 19: We have a few inches of snow in the last few days on top of ice from last week. Saturday night we were blessed with about six inches of nice powder.

Join us Jan 24-26 for the 13th annual Moosehead Lake Togue Derby. We will be giving away some awesome prizes once again this winter. Of course, there will be prize money for the three largest togue: first place - $1,500, second place - $500; and third place - $250.

The Foxcroft Academy and Piscataquis Community High School indoor track and field teams were in action at an Eastern Maine Indoor Track League/Penobscot Valley Conference meet Jan. 18 at the University of Maine. The Foxcroft boys picked up 11 points to finish seventh among nine schools scoring at the competition.

The lead bullets you're using to shoot deer and moose could be creating an unintended health hazard for your family -- and you don't even know it.

The Caribou High School basketball and cheering teams will be raising funds for this year’s World Down Syndrome Day when the Vikings host Foxcroft Academy on Monday.

Team dual-meet state championships will be added to Maine high school wrestling’s postseason agenda this winter. The top four teams in the North and South regions of each class will square off in a succession of head-to-head matches involving all 14 weight classes, with quarterfinals and semifinals leading to state championship matches.

The Classes B, C and D South and Class A North regional meets will be held in Augusta while the Classes B and C North and D North/South will take place at the Cross Insurance Center. In Bangor, the Class B North competition will begin at 9 a.m. to be followed by D North/South at 11:15 and the C North at 1:45.

Danny White of Foxcroft Academy and Chris Kates of Lisbon have been named head coaches for the 2020 Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic high school football all-star game by the event’s board of governors.

The Foxcroft Academy Key Club and American Cancer Society are partnering to invite you to “sweep away cancer” at a broomball tournament being held at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 26th at the Piscataquis County Ice Arena in Dover-Foxcroft (thepcia.com).

It has been said before in this space, but applies once more. When it comes to hunting big game there are hunters, and then there are hunters. Most of us are of the former, we enjoy the hunt but we don’t live to hunt; the latter are among the minority, they live to hunt and they stand out in the hunting community because of their dedication, perseverance and singular accomplishments in the field.

A new framework has been recommended for the rapidly expanding eight-player movement in high school football around the state. The lingering question is, just how many more schools are on the verge of making the switch from 11-player football to the eight-player version, which debuted in Maine last year?

As winter gets colder and the ice on local lakes and ponds gets thicker, more of us will waddle out there, drill a few holes and try to catch some fish. Wouldn’t you love it if you knew how to catch even more?