Repeat winners dominate Moosehead Togue Derby

By Susan Bard, Bangor Daily News Staff

The 19th annual Moosehead Togue Derby took place this past weekend, drawing anglers from across the region.

Chris Parent of Gorham won the $1,500 first-place prize with a 9.66-pound, 30-inch lake trout.

Parent has fished the Moosehead derby four years in a row, winning first place in 2024 with a 14.48-pound, 36 1/8-inch fish and finishing second in 2023 with an 11.39-pound, 39-inch trout.

A rented snowmobile from Moosehead Sled Repair and Rental in Rockwood gave him the chance to explore a portion of the lake he had never fished before. 

The morning, however, started poorly: half his gear fell off the sled, much of his bait died and both his auger and heater froze.

Seeking help, he approached a nearby group of ice fishermen to thaw out the equipment in their shack. 

After a long morning, Parent drilled his first holes at 11 a.m. Friday. His first fish didn’t bite until 1:30 p.m., and the winning trout came at 4:15 p.m. on a tip-up with a sucker.

Parent could tell it was a big fish from the fight. “It would change directions quite a bit and pull hard each time I got it near the hole,” he said.

“It was a nice surprise to win,” he added, guessing the fish was around 10 pounds and expecting he would finish second or third.

Making a few trips to Moosehead each year, Spencer Valley of Bangor entered the derby for the first time last year and won with a 12.43-pound, 36.5-inch trout. This weekend he returned to take second place with a 9.18-pound, 33.5-inch fish.

“Hopefully, the streak continues next year,” he said.

Fishing with friends about a half-hour north of Rockwood, he caught his trout on a tip-up with large bait. 

“I’m always a fan of big baitfish; it means big fish,” he said. While he doesn’t get as many flags this way, when he does, they are usually sizable. He caught four lake trout Saturday and three or four the day before.

Valley and Parent know each other well, though they didn’t fish together during the derby. Both are dentists — Parent owns Ossipee River Dental in Porter, while Valley partnered with his brother Jacob to open Valley Dental in Bangor in 2023. Both attended the University of New England’s dental school.

“I think to win the derby, you need to go to UNE’s dental school,” Valley joked.

Jaxson Lord of Athens took third place, winning $250 with an 8.46-pound, 31-inch trout caught on a jig rod. 

While he has fished the lake his whole life and participated in the derby every year, this was the first fish he registered in the competition.

“And it’s my personal best lake trout,” he said.

Derby organizer and recently retired Fisheries Biologist Tim Obrey called it “a great weekend,” noting that about 540 tickets were sold. Turnout was slightly lower than last year, which wasn’t unexpected because of other derbies and the Super Bowl.

Fishing seemed best Friday, Obrey said. Favorable conditions through Saturday helped some anglers land bigger catches, while Sunday was a bit breezy. Still, nearly everyone at the weigh station caught fish over the weekend.

It was a busy weekend for Greenville overall, with the derby, sled dog races, snowmobile events and West Cove car racing on the ice. Moosehead Bait and Tackle in Rockwood, one of the weigh-in stations, sold all three winners their bait, manager Kate Tiffany said.

Tiffany, also treasurer of the Blue Ridge Riders Snowmobile Club, said the club is sponsoring another derby in March that will include salmon, cusk, brook trout and lake trout.

“This event supports a lot of great causes,” she said. Proceeds benefit LifeFlight of Maine, plowing the Mount Kineo state landing parking lot, two $1,000 scholarships for local students and at least four youth fishing licenses.