Crystal Lake Ice Fishing Derby!

Yesterday I helped out at the Crystal Lake Ice Fishing Derby in Gray Maine. It was awesome! There were thousands of people hanging out and a couple hundred fishing. There was about 12-18" of ice. A bunch of different media personnel were there filming from National Geographic, Northwoods Law, and others. The derby gave out some awesome prizes including a Ford Raptor truck. The event was organized perfectly and everybody had a great time. The food was awesome and I finally tried a red snapper (hotdog). There were a bunch of families that came out with no gear or fishing experience and we hooked them up pretty sweet. That part was really fun. We handed out 200 free tip ups to kids and helped them set them up. Apparently jigging was the way to go though as I was told from the people who caught the most fish. Jigging swedish pimples worked the best. I'm just going to dump the pics here, enjoy:

My view as the sun came up.

Some kids with a nice trout.

Red snapper.

I ate well!

Fish were donated to Hunters Feeding the Hungry.

One of the kids leading fish.

The leaderboard later in the day. Notice the big nasty eel. I saw 3 of them brought in around 3' long.

Hundreds of snowmobiles!

One of the Fish and Game mascots.

An awesome old snow mobile that still ran great. I have no idea how old.

I got to the derby at 4:45am and got home about 3:30pm so it wasn't as long of a day as I expected. I would have stayed until dark if the festivities hadn't finished at 2:00pm. When I got home the animals were in rare form:

Bed Time!

Catch up time: Shed hunting and Ice Fishing and Ssssnnnnoooowwwwwww.

I have over a month to catch up on with blogging and this will probably be a long post but its a mixed bag of a few projects and adventures from the end of 2013 to the start of a new year. We had a TON of snow around Christmas. So much so that it really limited any outdoor activities.

I finally broke down and had to get Rusty out of the house last week. We took off and went rabbit hunting at our usual stomping grounds. We passed three big deer on the way. It was a not so subtle reminder of how huge Maine deer are.

Rusty insisted we get out of the house.

Interesting Fact: Snowshoes are the game of choice in Maine as Cottontails are uncommon and have no season.

The snow was waist deep off the trail so the snowmobile trails were about the only place any living thing could walk around. The deer tracks were piled on top of the sled paths like cervine highways.

 

We never saw any rabbits. Not even rabbit tracks that seemed so plentiful just a month prior. I did see what I figured to be moose tracks though which was cool. If they were deer tracks; well, that would be even cooler. Rusty had a blast and we even got off the trail a little and got the legs muscles burning.

It was a beautiful day and rabbits or not; you could not beat being outside. We crashed when we got home!

With all the nasty weather I decided to pick up some books and dvds to bide my time waiting for spring. 

A few of the books and a dvd I purchased for the winter.

The Deer and Deer Hunting website had a huge sale and I got a great deal on books and movies. I have read some of them but I couldn't beat the price and love sharing great hunting books with people. I picked up the Tom Miranda Super Slam dvd finally. Its a 3 disc set that follows his success at completing the Super Slam with his bow. Miranda isn't the entertainer a Nugent or Waddell may be but he tells it like it happened and is fun to watch. He lets the hunt be the star of the show which is refreshing. I will have reviews on the books and dvds as I finish them.

 

One of the Little Man Ice Traps I picked up.

I am going to get into some ice fishing pretty soon. Guys have been out for nearly two months now but the weather has been warmer recently so I want to give the ice time to harden. I bought a couple Little Man Ice Traps for cheap recently and Rusty helped me set them up. These traps are made in Maine which is very cool. I have not used tip-ups before but I am excited to get into them. I put some backer on them and a couple of leaders with Gamakatsu 2/0 red octo-inline hooks. I hope to get into some Salmon, Lakers or maybe some Pike.

This weekend I am helping out at the Crystal Lake Ice Fishing Derby so I figure I will have the itch to get out for myself after that. Its just tough using my free time alone leaving Rusty at home. Rumor has it, National Geographic will be at Crystal Lake filming a documentary about ice fishing and they are supposed to hit our shelter for some footage. That should be fun. I am trying to grow a beard quickly and come up with some epic quote to give them to make sure I get in the movie.

The weather has been warmer and the feet of snow have been slowly diminishing so I went shed hunting by myself a few days ago. I put on about 7 miles in 5 hours with no success. A few guys are posting shed pics so I thought I might get lucky. The weather was awesome! 

I love winter days when there is snow on the ground and you can still walk comfortably in jeans and a flannel shirt. I saw a lot of deer sign and found about 30+ beds but no sheds. 
 

Bedding area.

The thick cedars I look for deer beds in.

I started with the well used trails then moved to bedding sites I knew of in the cedars then I tried the hills and then finished in a swamp walking a stream. The places you typically think of deer loosing there crowns at. I saw a lot of deer and turkey tracks and some coyote and bobcat as well.

Buck track!

Bobcat track.

Big coyote track.

 Tips for Shed Hunting

• If you are tripping over brush you are going to fast and not looking down enough.
• Dress in layers. I started off cold and got hot then cooled off again and was able to stay comfortable by moving layers between my body and backpack.
• Go slow. If you start to feel your heart beat in your throat are hear it in your ears you need to chill for a while. You are moving way too fast. Sometimes deep snow can be make for a rough hike. Overexertion in frozen temps can be dangerous.  
• Take plenty of snacks and drinks. Take a camera as well, you never know what you might see.

 I got to hike into areas I was afraid to during the fall and improved my knowledge of the area. There were no other boot tracks that I ran across which was cool. I had first dibs on any sheds that could have been out there. Its great just being outside by yourself sometimes. You can take as much time as you want to appreciate the simple things that amuse you. I still may talk myself into getting up early some morning and trying to call in a coyote. 

Winter gives the best shades of blue skies.

I found this acorn in a tree stump. Pretty crazy hiding spot. AKA: simple things that amuse me.

Other than all of that I have been just trying to keep Rusty busy. We've been hitting the park as often as possible.

Jealous.

Saco River.