I have been obsessed with the Sebago ice fishing derby for over 10 years. It started a short time after college when I attempted to fish it alone with no planning, it was -4 and blowing 20mph so needless to say I lasted all of 10 min and caught nothing, in fact I was home watching tv before 10am. As my love of ice fishing has grown in recent years, I have focused more and more on figuring out Big Slowebago. I have developed a theory about the habits of larger fish, in that they must behave differently than the average togue otherwise they would not have lived so long and grown so big. I also believe in order to catch big fish you need to avoid the crowds and areas that are hit heavy while still getting to deep water. Several years ago, I found a spot that I thought would hold decent fish but had other plans the weekend of the derby. However, I returned the following weekend to test my theory and we landed a 29" 8.5lb togue, my obsession was born a new with the thought "If only I had fished that spot the week prior, I would have come in 2nd place". I would not be kept from fishing the derby again. Last year I planned and prepared but only managed a 27" that wouldn't have broken the top 5 fish. Fastforward to this winter and the ice came in early and strong on the big lake and several friends wanted a crack at a decent laker. The area I fish usually holds 24-26" fish with some consistency. So two weekends ago I took my future brother-in-law Ben and my fraternity brother Steve to "my spot". The morning was slow as most days laker fishing are and after pulling in a 24" myself I offered Steve my next flag which he graciously declined, and I will forever be grateful for his decision. The rest you will see on film but the fish was thick and at least 3 inches longer than our 33" bump board so I put the weight at 15-17lbs. Looking back it would have won almost every derby since 2010. At the start of the day I said I want everyone to catch fish but I hoped we wouldn't catch any big ones and ruin the spot for the derby. I am very glad I caught this fish but boy do I wish I was on the 19th of February.
Good luck to everyone fishing the derby. Below i have linked some of my other videos including some from tournaments past
Ice Fishing
Early Ice 2024: [ Ссылка ]
First Ice 2024: [ Ссылка ]
First Ice 2023: [ Ссылка ]
Ice fishing Lake Trout: [ Ссылка ]
Ice fishing Brookies and Splake: [ Ссылка ]
How to research lakes: [ Ссылка ]
Saltwater Fishing
Giant Stripers in May 2024: [ Ссылка ]
2024 Tournament PT1: [ Ссылка ]
2024 Tournament PT2 : [ Ссылка ]
Haddock Fishing: [ Ссылка ]
2024 Schoolie fishing: [ Ссылка ]
Maine Starte Record Tautog: [ Ссылка ]
Islamorada Play list: [ Ссылка ]
2023 Striper Catch and Cook: [ Ссылка ]
How To Remove a Gut Hooked Circle Hook : [ Ссылка ]
2023 Haddock fishing on Jefferies: [ Ссылка ]
2022 Haddock fishing on Jefferies: [ Ссылка ]
Tuna Fishing: [ Ссылка ]
Striped Bass Fishing: [ Ссылка ]
Safety Gear List: [ Ссылка ]
#icefishing #maine #troutfishing
