ST. AGATHA, Maine – Organizers of the state’s largest ice fishing derby will celebrate the event’s 20th anniversary when it happens later this month in St. Agatha — and they are excited about the cold weather in the run-up to the festivities.
The freezing temperatures over the past week have given them confidence about the thickness of ice ahead of the Long Lake Ice Fishing Derby on Jan. 25 and 26, according to Derby Chairman Paul Bernier. He said the weather has added about three to four inches of ice.
“I have a cabin out front of the Long Lake Motor Inn, and we have about eight to nine inches right now,” he said on Jan. 7.
That is well over the recommended thickness allowable for ice fishing. According to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, a minimum of four inches of ice are recommended for ice fishing and other on-foot recreational activities.
As part of the celebration, the derby’s opening ceremony on Jan. 24 will feature an 80-foot tent in which the band Savage Pianos will perform. The band focuses on the “dueling pianos” format, in which two pianists face each other and take turns playing songs requested by the audience.
Bernier said there are six people in the band, and that they perform all across the U.S. He said organizers are spending $10,000 to fly them in for the performance.
The opening ceremony will take place in the large tent outside Lakeview Restaurant in St. Agatha, which will also serve as a base of operations and weigh-in station when the derby officially starts at midnight after the Jan. 24 ceremony. While the event is named after Long Lake, people can fish at a total of 10 lakes in the St. John Valley region.
This year’s derby will feature $70,000 in prizes and its biggest ever purse at $25,000. Bernier said that IF&W does not allow any cash prizes over $25,000.
For non-cash prizes, the event will feature a drawing for a 2025 Polaris Ranger Northstar Ultimate 1000 ATV valued at $33,500 and a Sport Shack Ice Shack valued at $7,500.
Last year’s event, which saw a record turnout with 1,852 people signed up, featured a cash purse of $23,500. And in 2023 the purse was set at $22,000.
About 350 people are currently signed up, which is above where they were last year. Bernier said the majority of registrations happen later in the month.
“Everybody swarms in during the last week or week and a half,” he said.
The derby involves a crew of about 20 people working behind the scenes to weigh fish, keep track of everything and sell merchandise related to the derby.
According to the event website, the derby partners with IF&W by introducing hatchery-raised salmon into the lake in order to preserve its natural heritage.
Registration can also be done on the derby website. It costs $20 per day, and $30 for adults for a full weekend. These prices are respectively $10 and $15 for youth. There are also 30 different locations throughout Aroostook County, going from St. Francis to Houlton, where fishers can register in-person.
Many of the proceeds for the event benefit the Edgar J. Paradis Cancer Fund, which helps families of cancer patients travel to see loved ones receiving treatment in distant facilities. Bernier said they have provided over $140,000 to the fund since the derby started.
Bernier said they plan to continue hosting the derby for years to come, and that he is proud to see how far the event has come over the past two decades.
“The community has been so supportive of this project since day one,” he said. “I mean it started out on just Long Lake as a little $500 derby, and now we’ve got 10 water bodies and we’re maxed out on the cash purse. So we’ve made some huge steps.”
