BETHEL — Anglers anxiously awaiting snow melt, ice out and the opening of fishing season, can learn the latest fishing techniques and more at the Western Maine Fly Fishing Expo.

It will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 23, at the Bethel Inn Conference Center in Bethel.

Participants can also visit with guides and a variety of angling exhibitors, and learn about sporting camps.

The expo is sponsored by The Mollyockett Chapter of Trout Unlimited and the Upper Andro Anglers Alliance. Admission is $5 for adults and free for youth 15 and under.

Exhibitors include Maine and New Hampshire outfitters and guide services, sporting camps, wildlife artists and authors, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the University of Maine 4-H Camp & Learning Center, Casting for Recovery, Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program and equipment manufacturers and retailers.

Attendees can learn the art of fly tying, rod building and wildlife photography. There will be seminars on getting started in fly fishing, and fishing the Rangeley Lakes Region and Labrador.

HMH Vises and Maine Fly Fishing are sponsoring a fly-tying contest.

Additionally, sponsors and exhibiting vendors will give away dozens of door prizes every hour. Proceeds from an auction of items, including guided trips, sporting camp vacations and fly-fishing gear, will go toward fishing habitat restoration projects and river access in Western Maine, according to a Monday news report from Wende Gray of the Upper Andro Anglers Alliance.

The Fly Fishing Film Tour, a nationwide movie tour featuring segments from the best fishing films of the year, will cap off the day.

The two-hour presentation will be shown at 7 p.m. at The Bethel Inn Conference Center. Tickets are $7 in advance; $10 at the door.

The film features a segment on the Maine Salmon produced by Carter Davidson of Gray Ghost Productions. Carter is a Bethel native who grew up fishing in Western Maine and has handcrafted a wooden drift boat.

“We’re really blessed to be able to fish in this area of Western Maine, which provides the perfect environment for catching trout,” Scott Stone, president of the alliance and Trout Unlimited member, said in the report.

“We hope that anglers of all ages and abilities will attend and leave with a greater understanding of the sport, and lots of fishing goodies, too. And if the groundhog was right and there’s an early spring, the Upper Andro is open to fishing year round.“

Information on the event is available online at  www.westernmaineflyfishingexpo.com, or by phoning the Upper Andro Anglers Alliance at 207-824-3694, or send questions to fish@upperandro.com.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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