No matter how busy many of us are each winter, we dream of spring trips to exotic Maine destinations. This time of year, anglers can grab a DeLorme's The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer and plan for fun times in the green season.

The best part of this exercise begins with a truth, too. An angler could fish his whole life in this state and never hit all its wonderful, blue-ribbon, salmonid waters shown on this detailed book of maps.

That thought was driven home to me three years ago when Bill Sheldon, a fellow outdoors writer, and I headed up to Grand Falls on the Dead River northwest of The Forks. My travels through the decades have taken me all around this region from Little Enchanted Pond to all those ponds east of Route 201 between The Forks and Parlin Pond to Cold Stream itself, a superb water, particularly near its confluence with the Kennebec, but that trip with Bill was my first ever to Grand Falls.

What a strikingly beautiful, rugged stretch of water. The Falls drops about 30 feet to a short, cliff-lined gorge below, where I waded tentatively from shore and flipped a fly into a big, slow-moving eddy.

Within two or three casts -- Bang -- My rod bowed double as an honest, 23-inch landlocked salmon fought for its freedom in the deceptively strong current. Bill ran downstream carrying a camera and net. After quite a tussel, Bill shot a few photos, and then, the salmon went back into the river.

The morning passed with a few more salmon and a small brookie or two -- a lifetime memory from one of the state's most picturesque pools. We had the spot pretty much to ourselves, too. Check out Map 29, A-5.

One wonderful region of Maine takes a little effort to reach because of its remoteness -- the Munsungan and Mooseleuk area north of Baxter State Park. Check out Map 57, B-2 for Mooseleuk Stream and Map 56, C-5 for Munsungan Lake and the blue-ribbon brookie ponds west of this lake.

Mooseleuk Stream runs from Mooseleuk Lake to the Aroostook River, a large stream, a river really, paralleled by two tote roads. In many places, though, it takes a little bit of a walk to get to this brawling water. Brookies run 8- to 12-inches, but this stream can produce 2-pounders at times -- a great spot for a classic brook-trout experience in an alder-lined river.

Caddis and mayflies hatch prolifically here, one of the reasons biologists saw fit to make it a fly-fishing-only water. The best time to hit this stream is late May through June, depending on the spring. You can camp out in several spots along this river, as DeLorme's shows.

Munsungan is a beautiful lake with mountains dropping to it -- reminiscent of a Norwegian fiord. The real targets in this area, though, are the blue-ribbon ponds west of Munsungan. Check the regulations booklet for Piscataquis County and concentrate on the waters with the stricter regs.

Big Reed was once the premier pond in this area, but it has fallen on hard times. Little Reed promises a good bet for folks with the will to reach it.

Munsungan has two sporting camps, and the region around it has plenty of camping areas.

For a less remote experience, plan a trip to the southwest corner of Baxter State Park (Map 50, D-4) to hit all the wonderful, tiny, blue-ribbon ponds west and northwest of Kidney Pond. June proves a wonderful time to set your sights on Rocky, Little Rocky, Draper, Slaughter, and Celia ponds -- just to name a few. Most of these are fly-fishing-only, insuring quality.

While in the area, no self-respecting Maine angler can miss fishing at least a day on the West Branch of the Penobscot below Ripogenus Dam. The Penoby here has a bad rap as being over-fished, but anglers can always find solitude on this river -- someplace.

I have always fished on the north shore of the Steepbank Pool below the Big Eddy downsteam beyond the brook from Fowler Pond and seldom run into other fishermen. Any spot away from the name pools, though, can offer seclusion. And, when salmon are in the river, you can find them anywhere.

I spent a few summers on this river in my youth before the rafting industry started, and this stretch in those years attracted big-name, fly-fishing writers like Pal Alexander and George Linnane. It was quite an experience for a young guy such as myself.

In those years, I studiously avoided the Little Eddy, Big Eddy and other name pools and had long sections to myself.

It's a good time to dream and plan of spring, and DeLorme's proves quite the aid for such endeavors.

Ken Allen, of Belgrade Lakes, is a writer, editor and photographer.