BETHEL — Members of the Upper Andro Anglers Alliance hope children attending their free Maine Family Fishing Festival on Saturday, June 2, at Angevine Park finally will catch some fish.
In previous years, finicky brook trout, stocked by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife before the well-attended event, would rarely take the proffered bait.
This year, however, after Angevine Pond was stocked May 17 with more than 75 brookies, David Head of Bethel is trying to better the odds, Wende Gray, alliance spokeswoman, said by email Wednesday in Bethel.
“David is feeding them worms every morning to see if we can acclimate them to the pond and eating worms, hoping that the kids will have more success,” she said.
The alliance and Trout Unlimited host the event on Maine’s free fishing weekend, wherein resident and nonresident freshwater fishing licenses are waived each day. This year, it’s June 2 and 3.
The festival will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., rain or shine June 2. The park is at 500 North Road, which is 2.2 miles from Route 2. Gray said there will be free casting workshops and fly-tying instruction available throughout the day.
Local Maine guides and members of the Mollyocket Chapter of Trout Unlimited will teach the workshops.
Additionally, instruction for older children and parents will include spin-casting and fly-casting.
Maine’s Hooked on Fishing — Not on Drugs program will supply complimentary rods and reels for use at the festival, Gray said.
“Families can practice newly-learned casting skills in the 1-acre pond and are welcome to take home their catch,” she said.
Each young angler will receive a mini-tackle box, complete with bobber, sinkers and hook, courtesy of the Upper Andro Anglers Alliance.
Children who learn how to tie flies with materials provided by local outfitters and fly shops will get to take home their hand-tied flies.
Families participating in the festival will be eligible for door prizes from local outfitters and businesses, and L.L. Bean and the Kittery Trading Post.
The Bethel Fire Department will host a barbecue of hot dogs and hamburgers, chips and drinks, and families are welcome to bring packed lunches.
“The Family Fishing Festival is one of many nationwide events that provide families with an opportunity to have fun on the water,” Gray said.
The events are promoted by the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation.
Gray said that for families wanting to stay overnight and fish or canoe the Androscoggin River on Sunday, June 3, local lodging establishments will have special family packages available for the weekend.
For more information on the festival, contact the Upper Andro Anglers Alliance at 207-824-3694, fish@upperandro.com, or www.upperandro.com.
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- Donavee Cote, left, of Naples, Fla., helps her 4-year-old grandson Wyatt Lilly of Bethel ready to cast into the Bethel swimming pond at Angevine Park in Bethel during the 2010 Maine Family Fishing Festival hosted by the Upper Andro Anglers Alliance and Trout Unlimited. This year’s festival will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 2.
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