88 Pages to Guide You into Maine’s Springtime Outdoors
For April, The Maine Sportsman brings you a really big issue – big in size; big in content (including the annual fish stocking list, so you know which water bodies received brook trout, brown trout, landlocked salmon, splake and rainbows), and big in variety, from ATVs and boating to turkey hunting, saltwater fishing, and more stories of poachers and fishing tournament cheaters.
Let’s start with firearms, as guest columnist Dave Petzal tells you everything you need to know about shotgun chokes and patterning, while Col. J.C. Allard covers the sweet-shooting bolt-action Savage Model 93-G in .22 Winchester magnum rimfire.
And if you take a walk in the woods this springtime, it’s more than just a stroll through the forest – it’s scouting! Just ask Hal Blood (“Hit the Woods for Spring Scouting,” page 55) and Joe Saltalamachia (“Turkey Scouting Time is Deer Scouting Time,” page 56).
Turning to ocean fishing, Bob Humphrey (“Saltwater Fishing,” page 26) reminds readers of the fastest-growing patch club offered by The Sportsman – the Saltwater Anglers Club, in which fishermen receive recognition for big saltwater game fish – from sea bass to sculpin, and redfish to whiting.
But more than anything, the April issue is about fishing, especially trout fishing after the ice clears. Starting with our impressive and colorful cover photo of Steve Marster’s monster brookie, we then move on to Tom Seymour’s “Early-Season Tactics to Take More Trout” (page 49) and his Midcoast Report, “Seasonal Brooks Hold Springtime Surprises” (page 73).
Meanwhile, Staci Warren (“Get Out There,” page 67) and her husband John tell readers how to pursue brook trout using a float tube – for those times when the remote-pond canoes are all padlocked to trees.
And Bill Sheldon (“Jackman Region”) tells the story of an inspirational hunter who earned his “Grand Slam” patch in 2023 – at the age of 92 (“Ollie Nunes’ Grand Slam,” page 64).
All this, plus provocative Letters to the Editor and the always-substantive Almanac, as well as trophy photos, cartoons, and jokes that will make you flub your back-cast.
Questions? Contact the editor at Will@MaineSportsman.com or the office manager at Carol@MaineSportsman.com. And call (207) 622-4242 to renew your subscription, or give a gift subscription to a deserving relative or friend.
And don’t forget to put the State of Maine Sportsman’s Show on your calendar now – April 19, 20 and 21 at the Augusta Civic Center.
Some please join us this month in welcoming springtime to Maine, and let the April issue of The Sportsman inspire you to get outside and participate in all that our great state has to offer.
See you at the Show!
Will Lund, Editor
The Maine Sportsman magazine
