January 2006 Almanac
This Month: Grab a Fry Pan: The Smelt Are Running!
January reigns as Maine’s coldest month — the very dead of winter. Days lengthen, though, and by month’s end, it is noticeably brighter and warmer for three sports that dominate the month: Snowmobiling, ice-fishing and tidal-water smelt fishing. These three sports keep cash registers jingling.
Snowmobiling reigns as the most popular sport in a Maine winter, and indeed, this winter tool has saved rural, northern hamlets from economic hardships. Ice-fishing for salmonids and black bass kicks off Jan. 1, and for the first two weeks, the One That Didn’t Get Away Club has a surge of entries for trophy fish. Ice fishing closes Mar. 31.
Smelt-shack businesses along tidal rivers boom this month, as folks head to the coast and rent a place for an outing.
Rabbit hunters surely have a tracking snow this month. This season runs through Mar. 31.