Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §7552, first ¶, as amended by PL 1995, c. 406, §8, is further amended to read:

Except as provided in subsection 5-A and Part 12 and except as the commissioner may by rule provide, the following are the open seasons for fishing in the State. All opening and closing dates are inclusive, the open season for all fish in lakes, ponds, rivers above tidewater, brooks and streams is the period each year when those waters are naturally free of ice.

Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §7552, sub-§§1 to 3, as enacted by PL 1979, c. 420, §1, are repealed.

Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §7552, sub-§5-A, as amended by PL 1995, c. 406, §9, is further amended to read:

5-A. Exceptions. Notwithstanding subsections 1 to subsection 4:

A. A person may take smelts at any time by the use of a dipnet in the usual and ordinary way in inland waters or portions of inland waters that are naturally free of ice, and where the taking of smelts is not prohibited by rules of the commissioner;

B. There is a continued closed season on the dipping of smelts from Morrill Pond and its tributaries in Somerset County; and

C. Whenever the last day of open-water fishing season falls on a Saturday, the commissioner shall issue a rule extending the season one day to include the following Sunday; and

D. The commissioner by rule shall extend the open-water fishing season through the month of November in lakes and ponds that are managed primarily for warm water sport fish in the following counties: Androscoggin, Cumberland, Hancock, Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Sagadahoc, Waldo, Washington and York. Rules adopted under this paragraph may include provisions that establish catch-and-release-only restrictions on landlocked salmon, trout, togue and bass.

E.__Between October 1st and April 1st, salmonids may be caught only by artificial lures and flies using barbless hooks and must be released immediately after being caught.