Tommy Keister, of Friendship, guides his skiff loaded with alewives from the Benton Falls Dam back to the riverside rocks using a guide line as lobstermen catch bait in Benton on Thursday.

An osprey plucks an alewife from the waters of the Sebasticook River in Benton as the alewives make their annual run up river on Thursday.

An osprey plucks an alewife from the waters of the Sebasticook River in Benton as the alewives make their annual run up river on Thursday.

An osprey plucks an alewife from the waters of the Sebasticook River in Benton as the alewives make their annual run up river on Thursday.

An osprey plucks an alewife from the waters of the Sebasticook River in Benton as the alewives make their annual run up river on Thursday.

Eagles compete for air superiority as alewives run upstream on the Sebasticook River in Benton on Thursday.

Eagles compete for air superiority as the alewives run upstream on the Sebasticook River in Benton on Thursday.

Harlan Simmons, right, helps haul Tommy Keister and his skiff full of alewives to rocks alongside the Sebasticook River at the Benton Falls Dam where the bait fish will be unloaded into containers on Thursday.

Tommy Keister, of Friendship, guides his skiff filled with alewives back to rocks alongside the Sebasticook River to be crated and hauled up the bank for shipment on Thursday.

Tommy Keister, of Friendship, walks back to his skiff with his fishing net as his crew unloads alewives to be used as lobster bait into crates at the Benton Falls Dam in Benton on Thursday.

Ernie Wallace, of Friendship, makes his way to the base of the Benton Falls Dam for a day of alewife fishing on Thursday.

Jimmy Wotton, of Friendship, sets up for a day of alewife fishing at the Benton Falls Dam in Benton on Thursday.