Thomas McGuane, an acclaimed American novelist, wrote a superb collection of fishing essays collected into a book entitled The Longest Silence, published in 1999 and reprinted since. In the beginning essay, a line reminded me — emphatically I might add — of my home river.

Most Maine children growing up within an hour’s driving distance of saltwater have caught Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus), a ubiquitous and extremely cooperative species that swims along our coast and tidal rivers from late spring through early fall.

This year, spring weather has reminded me of April through June of my sophomore year in high school — rain and unseasonable cold punctuated by short, infrequent warm spells. We endured storm after storm, a pattern that continued into July. As of this writing in late May 2013, we have had the same meteorological menu.