The weather hasn't warmed up quite enough for a trip to the river yet, and the pond is still covered with ice. My boss, Louie, and I were reminiscing about the Opening Days of our youth when we would crash through the crust of the remnant snowbanks to reach open water and dangle a fly or a worm into the frigid waters in anticipation of the first trout of the season. Often, in those years, my first serious fishing would not occur until school was out and the Old Man and the Bro and I would head north to the Alder Stream to spend a few days in Norman Field's little camp. In the still-frosty June mornings we headed through the woods to the stream, which in those days abounded with little brookies. I fished alone, usually, while the Bro and the Old Man would fish together. We would come back to camp in the late afternoon with bulging creels, having each taken our ten-fish limits. On the little gas range, the Old Man would fry some bacon, and then in the hot bacon fat he would fry the trout, rolled in corn meal, and we would gorge on the crisp, unforgettably delicious little fish.

It was not until I caught the 20-inch brook trout that David Footer mounted and which now beautifies my home office that I stopped killing trout. In the past couple of seasons at the Dam it has pained me to see anglers catch big brookies and kill them -- though of course, given my personal history, I couldn't fault the anglers. This season's Open Water Fishing Regulations thus bear good tidings for me: all brook trout caught in the Dam pool must be released alive at once. As compensation, it would appear, the size limit on landlocked salmon has been lowered from 18 to 16 inches, with a bag limit of one per day.

One other change in the regulations cheered me: from the New Hampshire border to the Gilead bridge, fishing in the Androscoggin is catch-and-release, artificial lures only. Of course, an artificial lure may have as many as six hooks, which can do a lot of damage to a fish and can render the catch-and-release regulation less meaningful. I think artificial lures in such waters should be limited to a single hook.

As I write, it's Opening Day on real grass: Fenway Park, where the World Series Champion Red Sox played their home opener against the Detroit Tigers. What happier conjunction of events exists, than Opening Days on Maine waters and at Fenway Park? Springtime is here, and we rejoice.