The line broke just as his big salmon was about to come out of the ice fishing hole on Long Lake Saturday, but Jason Landeen of Fort Kent wasn’t going to lose it to the icy depths.
He reached into the water and grabbed the salmon, pulling it out of the hole before it could slip away.
It’s a good thing. Even by late afternoon, the 26 ¼-inch native fish was at the top of the salmon leader board for the 20th annual Long Lake Fishing Derby. The fish weighed 6 pounds, 12.9 ounces.
Landeen registered the fish at 9:30 a.m. at derby headquarters set up at Lakeview Restaurant in St. Agatha, a popular eatery with stunning views of part of Long Lake and the areas around it.
By 3:30 p.m. in the adult divisions, a 23 ¼ -inch salmon weighing 4 pounds, 2.3 ounces caught by Michael Picard and a 20 ¾-inch salmon weighing 3 pounds, 10 ounces caught by Lucas Mathieu, both on Long Lake, had joined Landeen’s big fish on the leaderboard.
The biggest togue registered at 36 ¼ inches long, weighing 15 pounds, 10.9 ounces caught by Allan O’Clair. The next largest were 11 pounds, 9.9 ounces at 32 ½ inches by Kyle Taylor and 11 pounds, 3 ounces at 31 ½ inches by Shawn Thibodeau. All were caught from Eagle Lake.
The biggest brook trout thus far came in around 3:30 p.m. at 16 ¼ inches, weighing a pound and 5.4 ounces by John Stuart. The next largest were 15 ½ inches, weighing a pound and 4.8 ounces by Gunnar Borsetti and 13 ¾ inches, 14.2 ounces by Stacy Irving. All were from Long Lake.
Benjamin Canlin caught a 13 ½ inch perch weighing a pound and 4 ounces from Cross Lake.
The top three youths were Thomas Thyng with a 22-inch salmon weighing 3 pounds, 3.8 ounces from Long Lake; Zander Valcourt with a 30 ¾ inch togue weighing 10 pounds, 15.7 ounces from Eagle Lake; and no brook trout were registered yet.
Although fishing was slow on Long Lake, a few people were catching fish as the leaderboard showed. But the fishing seemed secondary. The atmosphere was positive and even joyous. The beautiful winter day with its blue skies and little wind made the cold temperatures hovering in the single digits easier to bear on the ice.
There were a few family gatherings and reunions of old friends. There were new and veteran fishermen, all trying for the more than $70,000 in prizes the derby offered. Tournament organizer Paul Bernier said the number of registrations likely broke their record, although all of the entrants were not tallied yet.
Most people said they found the ice to be between 14 and 16 inches deep. There were cars and trucks all over the ice, in addition to snowmobiles and other motorized transports.
Donna Chamberlain of St. Agatha, who lives on the lake, has participated in the tournament all 20 years of its existence. Her family fished Saturday on the St. Agatha end of the lake, but she said her family had fished in Sinclair closer to the southern end for years. Her cousin Mark was visiting from Connecticut, and there were grandchildren and others in her group.
Travis Hutchinson, who fishes for lobster with Chase Hardwick out of Stonington on the F/V Frequent Flyer boat, was fishing on Long Lake Saturday with his family and friends. He and Hardwick, who are from Bucksport, run a TikTok channel called fvfrequentflyer that has more than 31,000 followers. He was posting live on TikTok while he set his fishing traps.
Jason Morneault of St. Agatha, Kyle Boucher of Grand Isle and Tobey Lappin of South Portland caught a 16 ½ inch salmon on a pin smelt that weighed less than two pounds. Boucher’s son Everett, age 3, caught his first fish — a small salmon that had to be released back into the water because it wasn’t legal size.
Long Lake was one of nine area lakes included in the two-day tournament. The others were St. Froid, Square, Cross, Eagle, Glazier, Portage, Beau and Carr lakes, plus the St. John River. Tournament registrants hailed from all of the New England states, plus New Brunswick, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Ohio, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, among others.
Friday events included a raffle and a band. Tournament organizer Bernier was recognized for his service during the Friday events.
