One perfect day last autumn I lashed the canoe to the roof and headed for one of the prettiest ponds I know, Little Kennebago. I drove up the Morton Cutoff, hit the Lincoln Pond Road and headed east until I crossed the bridge over the Logans. I put the boat in the water at the launch just above the bridge, rigged my flyrod and pushed off. I paddled up the placid stream, anticipating a fine Fall fishing experience on classic Maine brook trout water. When I paddled around the final bend in the stream the familiar and always beautiful sight of the lake greeted my gaze. The still waters reflected the brilliant autumn foliage on the hills to the west, and about halfway up the lake I saw a trout rise. But I also had a terrible sinking sensation. I knew immediately something was wrong and I knew just what it was. On this perfect day for fishing, not a single angler could be seen on the water. The season was closed. Gulp.

I turned the boat around and paddled ferociously back to the landing, offloaded my telltale rod and landing net and fishing vest, heaved the canoe back up onto the roof rack and pulled the truck up into the parking area and took my lunch over to the weathered old picnic table that's been there for who knows how many years. At that point the warden, Reggie, pulled up in his truck. I thought, If you'd been here ten minutes ago you could have arrested me, all because I neglected to consult the 2007 rule book. Actually, I could have consulted the 2006 rule book, or any book from years past. While some waters remain open to catch-and-release angling through October, Little Kennebago is not one of them, nor has it been. Big Kennebago, yes, but not Little Kennebago.

However, rules change, and anglers are slow to pick up on the changes. At Upper Dam this year all brook trout must be released alive at once. That's new, and I have witnessed a couple of anglers kill brook trout this season out of ignorance of the change. I knew of the change because after last Fall's Little Kennebago blunder I read the 2008 book carefully. So it pained me to watch a kid and his girl friend torture and kill a trout that he'd managed to catch off one of the piers of the dam. While the girl shrieked with every twitch of the poor fish, the boy pinned it to the pier by stepping on it while he tried to pull out the hook by brute force. Even at a distance I could see the gouts of blood pouring from the trout's mouth. The slaughter finally done they bore the fish proudly back to camp for photos on the lawn. I'm sure the kid thought it was legal, as did another angler I saw catch and kill a trout a couple of days later. When I told him the law had changed, he was clearly dismayed at what he had done and thanked me for informing him.

Ignorance of the law is no defense. Carry that little rule book and actually read it. Or if you got your license online and don't have the book, you could pick one up anyplace that sells licenses or you could look up the rules online here.