Opinion: In praise of Maine’s dead zones

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 3, 2026

It’s three o’clock in the afternoon, and my friend Parker and I are camping on a remote island trying to dodge wet summer weather and catch a few of the pond’s famed landlocked salmon. The shoreline around us is undeveloped and the other islands empty. This is one of the longest days of the year, and it’s amazing how slowly it unfolds as we wait for evening. There are few distractions, few unnatural sounds. There’s no cell service here, no Wi-Fi network to join. The pond — like many of Maine’s remote waterways — exists in a dead zone where cellphones are useful only as cameras and clocks. A fish rises and takes a mayfly. Parker makes a few casts, misses. He casts again at a fading ring. When he sets the hook this time, a fat, mini football of a salmon leaps into the dusk. I net the fish. In the morning we break down camp. There’s a spot just on Route 16, heading south, where cell service returns. I ignore my phone. ~ Ryan Brod