Temperatures were well below freezing on Saturday morning as anglers with frozen mustaches set up on Long Lake for the state’s largest ice fishing derby.
Though the weather did impact attendance at the 21st annual Long Lake Ice Fishing Derby, there was still plenty of activity on the lake as the big event started this morning. Derby organizer Paul Bernier said on Saturday morning that they did not know exactly how the weather would impact attendance, but that they are still overall expecting a good turnout.
“There are some hardcores out there,” he said, “and they’re the ones that are gonna bring the fish in.”
Dustin Potter of Houlton and his friend Dillen Christian of Paris, Maine were preparing their gear and shelter on the lake. Potter said he has come out to the derby for the last four years and that he was excited to get started this year.
“The cold air did not scare us one bit,” Potter said. “It was negative-thirty and everybody was talking about canceling, but I’m glad they didn’t, because we got an Airbnb with no refund.”
Potter said once they set up their equipment on the lake, he plans to pick up his wife and kids.
“Hopefully we’ll catch some fish and have a great time,” he said.
Regardless of the conditions, Potter said he always looks forward to the derby.
“We come out every single year,” he said. “I love it, and I have a grand time. No matter what the temperatures are, it doesn’t stop us.”
Overall, Bernier said the support for this year’s event has been unbelievable. He said the event’s contributions to the Edgar J. Paradis Cancer Fund are a driving force in bringing attendance. The fund helps families of people receiving treatments at distant medical facilities with travel and lodging costs. This year’s derby is offering cash and prizes worth over $75,000 with the largest cash purse yet at $26,500.
Not all anglers were local, either. Dale Bruce of Connecticut has been ice fishing his whole life and decided to come up to the derby for the first time with his best friend Mike Schena and Schena’s father, also named Mike. They said they traveled up in hopes of fishing at the state’s largest derby.
“We’ve been fishing down in Connecticut all our lives hoping for ice, and we knew the ice was thick up here,” said Mike Jr.
Mike Sr. had a much shorter trip. He traveled up from Haynesville, an Aroostook County town below Houlton, where he has lived since retiring.
“I’ve had five nice retired years from UPS in Norwich, Connecticut,” he said. “I love taking these guys up. We shot a couple of nice bucks in Haynesville, finally after 12 years or more of coming up here.”
This is the first time that the group has attended the derby. Mike Sr. said he usually fishes the East Grand Lake and that they have a camp in Orient.
The three did not consider canceling their trip once they heard about the potential for sub-zero weather.
“I already made a reservation at the lodge, and these guys were psyched to come up, so we did it,” Mike Sr. said, “and we’re here now.”
He said he has been fishing since he was six years old in the streams of Connecticut.
“I’d do a little fly fishing,” he said, “and from there my cousins always used to ice fish on the lakes and, you know, ‘monkey see, monkey do.’”
Both Mike Sr. and Jr. said it was nice getting outside and that it was worth it coming out to the derby.
“If you’ve got the proper gear, it’s not bad,” he said. “There’s no reason you can’t have a good time out here.”