Moosehead and Penobscot region ice fishing reports
By IFW Fisheries Biologists
Tim Obrey and Mark Latti
It was another windy and wild weekend on Maine’s largest lake for the seventh annual Moosehead Lake Togue Derby. Cold temps and a stiff wind challenged anglers as they vied for top billing on the leader board. Anglers reported having some good catches on Friday and Saturday, but the action slowed on Sunday as the wind switched to the northwest.
The winner for the best togue of the weekend went to Warren Fitzgerald of Dexter with a 6.60-pound fish taken in the Rockwood area. Second place went to Chris Young of Greenville with a 3.47-pound togue and third place went to Sandra Cooper of St. Albans with a 3.37-pound fish.
The grand door prize was donated by Indian Hill Trading Post and consisted of a pack basket, ice traps, camouflage jet sled with hitch and cover, and a new gas ice auger. Long-time Moosehead angler John McLellan of Lily Bay was the lucky winner.
There were also numerous fish pool prizes which were drawn from tickets anglers received for registering their smaller togue. These prizes include a $250 check from the Natural Resource Education Center (NREC) at Moosehead, Irving gas cards and many other gift certificates and sporting good items donated from the local businesses in Greenville and Rockwood.
The results for the derby and the fish pool winners will be posted on the NREC Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/NRECmoosehead) and the Moosehead Region Chamber of Commerce (http://www.mooseheadlake.org/).
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“Things have certainly turned the corner in this region,” said IFW fisheries biologist Nels Kramer. “All the crappy weather and poor ice is gone. Conditions are as good as it gets for travel on the ice with 15-20 inches of decent snow cover.”
Anglers are getting out on the ice in the Penobscot region. Kramer said that Schoodic has been productive lately, with good catches of lake trout, brook trout and some nice salmon.
“One angler caught an 8-pound salmon,” said Kramer, “and some nice togue as well.” Shacks are set up in the middle looking for togue, and they’ve had some success jigging. Anglers are using a variety of jigs, such as weeping willows, Kastmasters, Swedish pimples and jigs with minnows, “talk to six guys about what the best jig is, and you will get six different answers,” said Kramer.
Anglers are also getting excited about the 52nd annual Schoodic Lake Ice Fishing Derby, which is slated for Feb. 15 and 16, and also includes Seboeis and Ebemee Lakes. It is one of the oldest derbies in the state.
“There are some great prizes, and the organizers are very cooperative with IFW with the prize structure and how the derby is set up,” said Kramer. There are prizes for biggest fish in several categories and also some great prizes that are drawn for anyone who registers a fish into the derby. For more info, check out http://www.trcmaine.org/fishingderby.