The January 2022 Issue of The Maine Sportsman

Snow on the Trails; Ice on the Lakes

Hey, snowmobilers – to paraphrase Hank Williams Jr.’s opening refrain from pre-2020 Monday Night Football games – ARE YOU READY FOR SOME SLEDDIN’?

Your snowmobile was stored all summer at the dealer’s warehouse or in your garage or shed. Now it’s tuned up and ready to go, so find a straight section of snowy trail, or a pond covered with thick ice, squeeze the throttle and – at least figuratively – blow out some carbon!

In many areas of our state, the winter economy is dependent on snowmobilers. Restaurants and other establishments whose locations abut sections of the interconnected trail system or its offshoots can double their business – cars and trucks along the roadway out front; snow machines lined up in the back parking lot.

The January, 2022 issue of The Maine Sportsman pays homage to this recreational and economic powerhouse, starting with the cover photo of a sledder pausing to admire the rosy glow from a stunning sunset reflecting off ice-covered trailside trees.

Inside, Steve Carpenteri stresses the importance of riders sharing the ice with anglers, in “It’s Fishing Derby Time” (page 21), while William Sheldon (“Katahdin Country,” page 36) celebrates the trail system that extends from Dover-Foxcroft to Matagamon, as well as the trails around Millinocket, where sledders operate under the watchful eye of Mt. Katahdin.

Just make sure you are ensconced in a safe, warm place before joining in with the refrain of the original version of Hank Jr.’s song, “All My Rowdy Friends are Coming Over Tonight”!

What else is going on? Why, ice fishing, of course! This issue of full of astounding trophy photos, as well as hints and tactics to make a success of your trip onto the hard water.

Blaine Cardilli tells a cautionary tale of how NOT to rescue a puppy from thin ice (“Breaking Through the Ice,” page 32). Bill Sheldon (“Keep it Simple,” Jackman Region, p. 37) and Nolan Raymond (“Back to the Basics,” p. 46) teach us that at its core, ice angling is not a complex sport – after all, mankind has been pulling fish through the ice for thousands of years. Tom Seymour (p. 42) instructs on jigging for trout, while Bill Graves, Tom Roth, Jim Lemieux, Luke Giampetruzzi and Val Marquez all add their authoritative and experienced advice.

Our writers also travel to exotic locations this month, including New Zealand (Lou Zambello, p. 43), Iowa (Joe Salty’s “Big Game,” p. 28), and Idaho (Ethan Emerson, p. 67).

For local color, we have poachers (pp. 14 and 63) and cribbage boards shaped like toilet seats (p. 45). And Christi Holmes and Kate Krukowski Gooding class up the joint with “Sportswomen to Watch” (p. 34), and savory rabbit pot pie stuffed into a cornbread muffin (p. 41).

All this, plus quotes, cartoons, jokes, trucks, moose, rifles, foxes, salmon, togue, kick-sleds, a thoughtful guest editorial by Allagash region’s Stacy Belanger, an ode to DeLorme maps, and Al Diamon’s rant against veggie burgers. Seventy-six pages of material, making our publication larger than any other in New England.

Questions? Contact the editor at Will@MaineSportsman.com or the office staff at Carol@MaineSportsman.com. Good luck to hunters during bobcat, rabbit and coyote seasons; be safe in the woods; and continue to use extreme caution on the ice this month.

And the happiest of Happy New Years to all our readers, advertisers, writers, administrative staff and distributors.

Will Lund, Editor
The Maine Sportsman magazine