The 2026 Fort Kent International Muskie Derby drew 208 anglers this weekend, with more fish caught than in recent years and a 45 ⅝-inch muskie taking the top prize.
Ed Richard caught the longest fish, a 22.17-pound muskie that earned him $2,000.
Brody Hill won the youth division with a 42 ¼-inch muskie weighing 19.22 pounds and received $500.
The derby awards prizes to the top three youth anglers and top 15 adult anglers. Some young anglers choose to compete in the adult division, paying the $40 registration fee rather than $20 for the youth division for a chance to win more prize money.
The derby also awards prizes for the top three smallmouth bass. Brent Carlson won $1,000 for the largest bass, a 20 ⅞-inch fish weighing 4.36 pounds.
The minimum qualifying length for muskie was 38 inches. Anglers measured fish to the nearest ⅛ inch, and the tournament waters included the St. John River west of Grand Falls and all of its tributaries.
Dennis Cyr, who started the derby 23 years ago, said the fish appeared to be healthy.
The number of muskie in the river also appears to be increasing, he said, although the size of the fish has remained relatively consistent.
“That’s probably the maximum size we’re ever going to see,” he said. “It’s been 20 years, and they’ve always stayed the same size.”
Cyr grew up in Fort Kent and saw how little tourism the area attracted during the summer. At the time, few people used the St. John River and canoeing was uncommon.
The derby brought more people onto the river, drew visitors to town and helped turn fishing into a summer business for local shops. Those stores began selling smallmouth and muskie tackle, helping create a thriving fishing industry in the area.
“The economy has really had a boost,” Cyr said. “The derby weekend is always the busiest weekend in Fort Kent. The motels are all booked.”
Hundreds of people visited the town during the derby, including some who just wanted to see the muskie on display.
“These things are almost 4 feet in length, and some of the kids are only 3 feet tall,” Cyr said. “It’s always amazing to see their expression.”
The fish are kept on ice and given to people who want to eat them, with none going to waste.
Muskie are an invasive species in the St. John watershed. They were stocked in Quebec in 1980 near the headwaters of the Northwest Branch of the St. John River and subsequently spread into Maine waters.
Because they’re invasive, the state doesn’t regulate their harvest, and many anglers would prefer that they be removed.
Keeping large, 40-plus-inch fish has drawn criticism from Midwestern anglers, Cyr said, because muskie fishing there is largely based on catch and release.
But the number of muskie removed through the derby is small compared with the size of the river system.
“Out of 325 miles of watershed, we’re pulling out 40 fish,” Cyr said. “So we’re not impacting the population of muskie by far.”
Cyr is considering raising the minimum qualifying length for muskie from 38 inches to 41 inches. The change would keep smaller fish from being brought to the weigh station, he said. This year, the fish in 15th place was already more than 40 inches long.
The river has become more accessible since the derby began. Originally, there were few public boat launches along the St. John, but the state has since added public launches in nearly every community along the river.
Canoes remain one of the best ways to fish the river because anglers can move through shallow water and around sandbars. Larger boats are more common around Grand Isle, where the river is wider and deeper.