Early April fishing has never held much appeal for me. Oh, I have done it. Opening Day recollections are of casting a fly line against a snow squall, of frozen fingers and ice-covered rod guides. Of fishless days amid razor-edged winds pushing up whitecaps on frigid lakes whose shorelines were still shrouded with naked, grey hardwoods. Yep, when it comes to early open water fishing, I have in later life tended to be a faint heart. Opening Day last year found me puttering in the garage, chanting the old angler’s mantra “Fishing doesn’t get good until the alder buds are the size of a mouse’s ear.”

Still, after a long Maine winter, there can be some solace, some psychic warmth, in merely knowing that you can wet a line if you’ve a mind to. This week marks the Angler’s Renewal, the official start of another Maine fishing season for open water fishermen. If you can find open water in and around snow laden, ice-choked ponds, lake and streams, you can dunk a Bead Head Nymph, fast-strip a Barne’s Special, or take a nap near a bobber and a glob of worms.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about re-evaluating my aversion to early April fishing. Perhaps the provocation to change my ways is the lateness of the hour on my body clock. This winter seemed awfully long, even with two winter breaks in the Keys. Lefty Kreh got me fired up, too. Watching his effortless fly casts at the Wilmington Fly Fishing Expo last month left me wishing away the month of March. If you live to fish, you know what I mean. Ice fishing is just a stop-gap measure, never a substitute for shimmering water and trout making riseforms in the morning mist. I am aching to get on the water with a fly rod this week. The alder buds can do their thing without me. I will not wait. When the addictive, obsessed men and women who call themselves fly fishermen make their ritualistic pilgrimage to Grand Lake Stream the first week of April, I may be among them – come ice chunks or high water.

The rest of you winter-battered anglers will have to find your own therapy and make your own choices. From the Maine fisheries biologists, who candidly concede that early April fishing can be an angling challenge, here are some early fishing spot ideas:

Southern Maine.

Sebago Lake: The mouth of the Songo River may provide enough open water to

allow small boats to fish some of the lake for salmon and togue. Auburn Lake: Bank fishing along the shores of Auburn Lake. Thompson Lake: One of the first areas to open up is at the causeway between

the “Heath” (located off the Heath Road) and Thompson Lake. Mousam, Ogunquit and Presumpscot Rivers.

Central Maine

Long Pond Dam: Below the dam where Great Pond spills into Long Pond. Belgrade Stream: By the Route 27 bridge where Belgrade Stream flows into Messalonskee Lake. Cobbosseecontee Stream: Below the Cobbosseecontee Dam.

Downeast

Grand Lake Stream. East Machias River: landlocked salmon fishing in between Gardner Lake and

the ocean. Mount Desert Island waters will open up early. Echo Lake for good sized brook trout, Jordan Pond and Long Pond. Branch Lake in Ellsworth, Alligator Lake in T34 MD, Big Lake in T27 MD, and West Grand Lake in Grand Lake Stream.

Western Mountains

Kennebec River. Dead River: Right below Flagstaff Dam, each spring anglers try their luck

for rainbow trout. Rangeley Lake.The main stems of both the Kennebec and upper Androscoggin Rivers are now producing wonderful fisheries.

Moosehead Area

Many of the more fabled waters such as the Moose River, the East Outlet and

the Roach River do not open until May 1.

Penobscot Valley Region

On the Penobscot River: Sourdnahunk Deadwater, on the West Branch of the

Penobscot River, below Matagamon Dam on the East Branch of the Penobscot,

below North Twin Dam on the West Branch of the Penobscot, and below

Mattaseunk Dam on the Penobscot River. .

Aroostook County

Fish River Region: Try Soldier Pond, a wide spot in the Fish River between

Eagle Lake and the St. John River.Prestile Stream. Meduxnekeag River.