“Hatch Guide for New England Streams” by Tom Ames, Jr. hit bookstores 13 years ago, and yes, that figure generates a predictable comment from folks like me — “How time flies.”

For birders, one of the joys of April is the arrival of the ospreys. We’ll look at this remarkable raptor today and in the next column.

Transcendentalism is alive and well in Maine, as many old Mainers have indicated when they tell me no one can learn from a book. These backwoods philosophers expostulate that experience teaches — not words on a page or screen — as if they have a corner on truth.

This coming week in Maine’s bottom third, brooks with brook trout start producing decent to darned good fishing, unless nature conspires against my prediction with unseasonably frigid weather for the next several days. Even if action remains slow, though, trout brooks will surely pick up in late April or early May and continue into the first week or two of June.

Anglers troll worldwide, but in Maine, this technique dominates at ice-out and continues in high gear for at least the next six weeks. Lots of trophy fish come to hand now, too, as evidenced by records in The One That Didn’t Get Away Club — far more big fish than anglers catch in fall.

Serious, regular exercising adds to our quality of life, and for me, a bicycling health regimen has everything to recommend it as an aerobic, calorie-burning activity and just plain undeniable joy. What more can we ask than fun while doing something good for us?

Next weekend, the 33rd State of Maine Sportsman’s Show runs from Friday through Sunday at the Augusta Civic Center, a show that has always aimed to offer family fun for all ages — but particularly for children.

PORTLAND — The guy playing the acoustic guitar early in the evening was a fisherman. And the artist singing those original Pete Kilpatrick songs later in the night was as well.

Last week, when the weather warmed and an hour slipped through our sleep like sand through an hour glass — too quickly, so softly, it seemed a tenderness unfolding — I turned once again to the happily irrational acts of welcoming spring early.