 |
| Greg MacIntosh of Nottingham, New Hampshire displays his winning togue caught during the 2021 Sebago Lake Rotary Ice Fishing Derby. It weighed 10.78 pounds and was 32 inches long. SUBMITTED PHOTO |
The ‘Greatest Show on Ice’ lived up to its reputation last
weekend as more than a thousand fishing enthusiasts from across Maine and
points beyond descended upon Sebago Lake and the Lakes Region to try their luck
and possibly take home a prize in the 2021 Sebago Lake Rotary Ice Fishing
Derby.
Participants braved chilly temperatures on the lake for a
chance to take home the grand prize, a 2021 ATV from Windham PowerSports. This year’s derby welcomed a new Gold Sponsor,
General Dynamics/BIW and official media sponsor, Channel 8 WMTW | Maine’s CW
for 2021, according to Sebago Lakes Rotary Club member Cyndy Bell.
A total of 1,071 fishermen registered to compete in this year’s derby with 2,500 fish weighed and processed during the event. more than e Over 2500 fish were processed during the derby.
“Approximately 7,500 pounds of fish from the 2,500-plus collected
was delivered to Nova Seafood to be processed, flash frozen and will be
delivered to food pantries,” Bell said.
Sebago Lake Rotary Club member Tom Noonan is credited with coming up with the idea to create the Ice Fishing Derby in 2001 in cooperation with the Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Department. Since that time, the event has grown to become the rotary club’s biggest annual fundraising effort and has supported hundreds of charities over the past two decades, accumulating more than $1 million to donate to local causes during that timeframe.
“Under
the leadership of Sebago Lake Rotarian Toby Pennels, the derby gained additional
national notoriety as one of only four fishing derbies in the United States to
be featured in a television program filmed for the National Geographic Channel that
aired in June 2014,” Bell said.
While
many families embraced the annual derby as a chance to get outside during the
long winter, participants this year also had to adapt to the reality of 2021 as
derby requirements followed the CDC’s COVID-19 protocols, including mask
wearing and social distancing to avoid spreading the coronavirus.
According to Bell, proceeds raised from the derby will benefit
the Salvation Army, food pantries and other Rotary focused charities and this
year the club added an ice shack contest and a 50/50 raffle to benefit wildlife
conservation programs.
Here’s
a list of winners from the 2021Sebago Lake Rotary Ice
Fishing Derby:
Top Prize winners
Grand
Prize winner, Chris Grant, ATV from Windham PowerSports
50/50
winner, Josh Sparks, $2,055
5HP
Mercury Outboard winner, Dan Stanton
Togue
First
place, Greg MacIntosh, 10.78 pounds, 32 inches
Second
place, David Ferris, 8.36 pounds, 29.5 inches
Third
place, Rick Laney, 8.35 pounds, 29 ¼ inches
Perch
First place, Jacob Burrows, 1.90 pounds, 14
¼ inches
Second place, Randall Breton, 1.60 pounds, 14.25
inches
Third
place, Christopher Cook, 1.56 pounds, 14 inches
Pickerel
First
place, Fran Orcutt, 4.98 pounds, 25 ½ inches
Second
place, Wayne Roma, 4.71 pounds, 25 7/8 inches
Third
place, Glen Sparks, 4.1 pounds, 25 ½ inches
Pike
First
place, Ben Carlin, 9.44 pounds, 34 ¾ inches
Second
place, Ben Carlin 9.24 pounds, 33 inches
Third
place, Billy Groton 8.44 pounds, 32 inches <
