Skinny Moose Media Will Sponsor Boat For Maine Two-Fly Championships

The Maine Two-Fly Contest and Drift Boat Championships will be held this weekend, September 20 and 21 and Skinny Moose Media will sponsor a boat featuring to local Maine media people. The drift boat, supplied by Sun Valley Sports in Bethel, Maine, will have its oarsman, Nate Wight, a local guide. Fishing will be Steve Minich, sports anchor for the local ABC affiliate News Channel 8. The second angler will be Kevyn Fowler, a videographer from News Channel 8.

We are proud to be able to sponsor a boat for this event. I believe there is still time to enter a team if you haven’t already. I also encourage everyone to take in the event as well. Following the Two-Fly will be the Drift Boat competition which will be easily visible from several locations near town. Awards and a ceremony will also be held in conjunction with the local Harvest Fest.

The event is organized and run as a fund raising event by the Upper Andro Anglers Alliance. The UAAA is made up of a group of individuals and business owners interested in promoting the river as a valuable Maine natural resource and asset to the local economy as well as the state of Maine.

Visit the UAAA website for more information, maps and details of the event.

Dear Fellow New England Anglers, Our Partnerships and our Neighbors in and around the City of Gardiner

USA Bassin, Maine’s second largest bass fishing organization will be holding its last divisional bass fishing tournament of 2008 on September 28 on Pleasant Pond and Cobbosseecontee Stream. Our site host is the Gardiner Sportsmen’s Club and we are very proud to have the opportunity to partner with them.

USA Bassin was founded in 2003 and held its first bass fishing tournaments in Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. In 2006 USA Bassin started in Maine and by years end had grown to have 113 anglers, 9 local and national promotional partners had joined us and we fished on some of the best small/medium sized bass fishing lakes in Maine. USA Bassin is a family friendly bass fishing organization with a simple competitive format. Our format, lower entry fees and organization has made USA Bassin the fastest growing bass fishing organization in the nation, as well as in New England. At the time of this announcement USA Bassin New England has grown to well over 200 members and will most like reach 100% growth in it’s second year.

The event will include the following:

* An fifty+ boat field and 100+ anglers fishing from 6am to 2pm on September 28
* A specially picked Gardiner Sportsmen’s Club Team will compete in the event
* Food and refreshments will be available lunchtime until the end of the event, for both anglers and visitors to buy,
* Locally promoted by WABK
* Toyota Tundra Pro Gene Ellison “The Fishing Machine” will attend, compete and then hold a fishing clinic for kids! So please bring your kids! A fishing rod give-a-way will be included for the first 20 kids to attend the clinic
* Before and after the weigh-in, The Fishtunes Guys, from New Hampshire will be present to provide a little entertainment and have their CD’s available for purchase
* Tim Thurston of Maine Lake Charts will be on hand to speak about his maps and answer any questions anglers might have
* The Lewiston MaineIACS are providing a few extra give-a-ways for all kids who attend the weign-in and will also be having a game the night of the event, in Lewiston
* Bass fisherman fishing with USA Bassin for the first time this year, will have their memberships extended out thru the 2009 season

If you have a questions about the Gardiner Sportsmen’s Club please contact Tim Tayne, the Club’s President at 207-582-5170

If you have a questions about the tournament itself please contact William Schwarz, the New England Divisional Director at 207-893-2266

Maine Free Family Fishing Festival

The Upper Andro Anglers Alliance in co-operation with Trout Unlimited will host a free family fishing festival on Saturday, May 31. The festival will be held at the Grand Summit Hotel Pond at Sunday River Ski Resort in Newry, from 9 am to 2 pm, rain or shine. Free casting workshops and fly-tying instruction will be available throughout the day.

Members of the Mollyockett Chapter of Trout Unlimited will teach the workshops. Instruction will follow the curriculum developed by Trout Unlimited’s “First Cast” program for Kids. Instruction will include both spin casting and fly casting for older youth and parents. Maine’s Hooked on Fishing-Not on Drugs Program will supply complimentary rods and reels for use at the festival.

Families can practice newly learned casting skills in the Grand Summit Pond and are welcome to take home their catch. The pond will be stocked with trout courtesy of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. The Upper Andro Anglers Alliance will provide each young angler with a mini-tackle box complete with bobber, sinkers and hook.

Kids can learn how to tie flies with materials provided by TU and fibers from Sunday River Alpacas. Every child will be able to take home a hand-tied fly.

Families are welcome to bring a pack lunch. The Newry Volunteer Fire Department is providing a hot dog and hamburger cookout. All parents and kids registering for the event will be eligible for prizes including rod and reel angling sets from L.L. Bean and outdoor gear from local outfitters and businesses.

The weekend of May 31 and June 1 is a free fishing weekend in Maine. Resident and Non-resident freshwater fishing licenses are waived each day. June 1 is the first day of National Fishing & Boating Week, a program of the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation. RBFF is a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase participation in recreational angling and boating and thereby increase public awareness and appreciation of the need for protecting, conserving and restoring the nation’s aquatic and natural resources.

The Family Fishing Festival is one many nationwide events that provide families with an opportunity to have fun on the water. For those families wishing to stay overnight and fish or canoe the Androscoggin River on Sunday, special family packages are available for the weekend at local lodging establishments.

For information on the Family Fishing Festival, contact the Upper Andro Anglers Alliance at 1-877-275-3363 or on line at www.upperandro.com.