“Al Begin” turned out to be Albert St. Saviour, an undercover game officer hired by the Maine Warden Service.  Spencer was charged with allowing St. Saviour to keep and cook three smallmouth bass––one more than the legal limit––and with failure to report the violation.  Each carries a fine of $50.  Spencer, bristling at the charges, swears he caught one fish and his client caught two.

     A June 2005 trial ended in a hung jury, and before a second trial in August the Warden Service dropped the first charge because, Spencer says, “they couldn’t make their case.” 

     But Spencer’s woes drag on as the state intends to pursue the failure-to-report, a civil charge which could result in a yearlong suspension of his guiding license.  A trial date is set for December in Calais.  Thus far, Spencer has spent $15,000 in legal fees. 

     “Will this ever end?” asks Spencer.  “My wife and I decided early on that we had to fight for what’s right and to put my face in the courtroom.  So far, the legal system has worked for us and we truly believe justice will be served.  But lots of sleep has been lost and the wheels of justice turn slowly.” 

     Helping Mr. Spencer foot the bill is David Kotok, chairman of Cumberland Advisors, a money management firm in Vineland, New Jersey.  Kotok, with several of Spencer’s clients, has organized a fundraising dinner in Manhattan, slated for early in this month.

     Kotok and his friends have visited the Big Lake region for 15 years, contracting the services of other guides and holding wine tastings from their private collection at Weatherby’s, a local lodge co-owned by Jeff McEvoy.  But when McEvoy acquired a liquor license, patrons were prohibited from sampling their own spirits.  So Kotok approached Spencer, who introduced the McEvoy guests to a new lodge.  Soon thereafter, “Mr. Begin” called Mr. Spencer. 

     Spencer calls the complaints absurd.  “[Richard] built a case on bad leads and gossip.  Lance Wheaton, [Advisory Council member of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife] wrote a letter stating he’d received five complaints from five guides, two of which he determined had their own interests.  Yet no one has said who these guides were and no one has acknowledged being a part of this.”Spencer points out his untarnished record.  “As a game warden, St. Saviour was empowered to issue a citation on the spot.  But he passed on it because it wasn’t worthy of a citation.

       Toward the end of the trial, the jury requested that his entire testimony be re-read.  There were five ‘I don’t remembers.’ He turned out to be our strongest witness.”

“Even Thomas Santaquida [Maine’s lead warden] admitted it was the most trivial result of a sting operation.  He said the state has spent less than $500, but that’s just [St. Saviour’s] two days with me.

       These sting operations are very elaborate and expensive.  Then there are court, clerical, and administrative costs, in the tens of thousands.  They’re very covetous of how much they spent, but it ought to be public information.”

Unlawful behavior, says Spencer, is going the way of the dinosaur.  “When you’re a fishing guide, your clients know who you are, your standards and otherwise.  With the present-day ethics of sport fishermen, you could never pull off poaching.”

     The Connecticut native says he launched his guiding business because, “I’m a people person and I love sharing the joy of fishing with people from all walks and ages.”

     Spencer supplements his guiding income, which normally nets him $200 a day, as an outdoor columnist and a folk musician.

     “This is the second-most unbelievable thing that’s ever happened to me,” he says.  “The first was writing “Black Flies” and having it go to number one [in Maine, in 1981].  I release a new CD about every other year, and do select performances throughout the year.

      “Who knows?” Spencer muses.  “Maybe this whole thing will end up being set to music.” ––Robert Blechl

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