BELFAST — We're having coffee. Ron's come to town to go to the hardware. His plumbing froze and broke. He's peeled away the soaked sheet rock. He cut out broken sections of copper and replaced it, but when the pipes were fixed he found out that his toilet was broken too.  Winter in Maine. I think I've got something that will cheer him up.

My proposition is: “How would you like to be a movie star?”

I sense a certain prudent hesitation. Sometimes simple questions lead to unexpected consequences.

“Exactly what would I have to do? If I was interested?”

Ron is my long time fishing buddy. In the past, I have written down accounts of some of our adventures. They may focus more on our shortcomings than on our triumphs, but mostly we're grateful. I can pick up hot early donuts from Weaver's and we can be on a beautiful remote pond by mid-morning.

I tell him: “They're going to put my old fishing column in the Pen Bay Pilot and if I had a camera, since the whole deal is digital, I could include pictures of what we see while we're fishing. Like last summer's snorkeling with the suckers on the West Branch.  Or the black bear sow with three cubs that we saw by the Roach River. Maybe a video of you chasing a floating fly box down the Kennebec. It would be our effort to keep up to date, learn a few new tricks. What do you think?”

“It might be fun, but you don't even own a camera.”

“I've got a credit card and Google's all anyone needs to be an expert.  Johnny can help me figure out what to buy and what to plug in where. He and his pals have the cameras rolling every time they jump off a cliff or snowboard down a mountain.”

“Okay, I'll do it. What the hell?  I'll be a movie star.”

“Good,” I say, and I can see that broken toilet has gone right out of his mind.

“By this time next year we'll probably be in Hollywood for the Oscars.”  He's thinking big, I like it.

After a sip of coffee he asks, “What are you going to wear?  You don't own a tuxedo do you?”

“I've got a credit card.”

Rick Cronin fishes in Maine and will be reporting on why the big ones got away, here, in the PenBay Pilot.