Let’s get one thing straight. If you ban ammunition, or simply make it cost-prohibitive, what you do, in effect, is ban guns. A gun is worthless without  ammo. Similarly, if you ban the use of live bait on my favorite pond, what you do, in effect, is ban ice fishing.

There are those who argue this to the contrary. William Oleszczuk, Maine Chairman of Trout Unlimited, in his letter to the governor supporting the Department’s proposed ban of live bait on 16 Maine fishing waters, contends that the ban really has little deleterious impact on ice fishing regulations. Writes the TU head, “Dead bait fish, as well as worms and other currently legal bait, would remain legal on these lakes.”

Even Lila Ware, an otherwise outdoor savvy fishing guide and member of the Fish and Wildlife Advisory Council, insists that there is a middle ground on this issue, that ice anglers need to keep an open mind on the possibilities of ice angling with alternative baits.

For most hard-water anglers, however, who find it tough enough to entice a lethargic winter game-fish beneath the ice with a wiggling smelt or a wandering common shiner, the Oleszczuk-Ware theory just doesn’t pass the straight face test. For that matter, there is a question as to whether the Department’s list of ponds slated for the bait-fish ban pass the straight face test either. 

Here’s the list:

Carr Pond, T13 R8 WELS

Chase Lake, T9 R10 WELS

Fish River Lake, T13 R8 and T14 R8 WELS

Wheelock Lake, St. John PLT

Millinocket Lake (including Little Millinocket Lake), T07 R09, T8 R9, T7 R10 WELS

Portland Lake, Bridgewater

Munsungun Lake (including Little Munsungan Lake), T8 R9, T8 R10, T9 R10 WELS

St. Croix Lake, T7 R4 and T8 R4 WELS

Millimagasset Lake, T7 R8 WELS

Chandler Lake, T9 R8 WELS

Twin Island Pond, Lowelltown TWP

Mountain Catcher Pond, T6 R8 WELS

Fish Pond (Little), Holeb TWP

Webster Lake, T6 R10 and T6 R11 WELS

First (Billings) Pond, Blue Hill

Round Pond and Outlet, T10 SD

Pick one. Let’s take Webster Lake in T6 R10. The Department’s goal, to protect this ‘B’  water, which has a population of self-sustaining “wild trout” that were once stocked, is laudable, at least at first glance. Look closely, though. This lake is an amalgamation of fish species, which reportedly include brook trout, lake trout, whitefish, cusk, smelts, common shiners, and a dozen or more other bait-fish. Additionally, Webster Lake is not an isolated body of water. It is connected  to the entire Allagash watershed through Telos, Round Pond and Chamberlain Lake. All fish species can migrate back and forth from water to water. How in the world can you “protect” Webster’s brook trout, under these circumstances, by simply telling an ice angler that he can’t use any bait-fish, even the bait-fish species that are already a permanent fixture in Webster’s aquatic habitat?

Again, the Department’s goal is honorable, but there seems to be a confusing, inscrutable soup of fisheries science and Augusta politics. Some of the waters on the above list may pass the straight face test for a ban of bait-fish. The challenge is to select the appropriate ponds that are defensible scientifically, so as not to disenfranchise an entire segment of the angling communty for no appreciable gain.

What do the regional fisheries biologists, who have their feet on the ground when it comes to fisheries management, think about this bait-fish ban? They aren’t talking.

On December 20th, the Fish and Wildlife Advisory Council will be asked by vote to approve or disapprove the Department’s list of ponds earmarked for the bait-fish ban. Advisory Council members, who serve as a buffer between the sportsmen they represent and the Augusta policymakers, have their work cut out for them.

The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WQVM-FM  101.3) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e-mail address is [email protected] and his new book is “A Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook.”