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This weekend is the annual Sebago Lake fishing derby. Although I decided not to join the derby this year, I still went and fished with a group for the day.

The morning passed quickly with quite a few wind flags and a few hit & runs on the tip ups. Early on my father-in-law Mike caught this Pickeral. It was an exciting little fight as we hoped it would be a Togue to enter into the derby, but it was not to be.

The afternoon slowed and things began to get a little boring. The weather helped to make up for it as the winds ended and the sun shone brightly.

Finally around three o'clock I got my only flag of the day and was able to land this 19.5" 2 lb. Togue.

That would be the extent of our fishing for the day as these were the only two fish iced in our group. Better luck next year!

For some crazy reason I decided to head to Kennebunk Pond today... what a mistake that was!

It would have been a beautiful day had it not been for the wind. The sun was out and shining brightly, but in that wind it's heat was useless. AccuWeather listed the winds from 17 to 31 mph and it certainly felt like they blew to the high side. This is what a tip-up looked like after only 10 minutes and a couple of good gusts.

None of the traps fired and I had only a few light bites on the jig rod. The only fish to hit the ice that I saw today was this WHOPPER!!!! It's got to be some kind of record.

Having such a great day before, Mike and I decided to head to Sebago today. Normally we do not have a busy day through the ice on this lake, but today was very different.

The weather was phenominal. With the bright sun and lack of wind the temperature was easily 50 degrees. By noon time we had removed all of our outer layers of clothing.

It took a half hour to an hour to get the first flag, but after that it was impossible to count the number of hits we had for the day. Usually when one trap fired, we had another one or two go up moments later. I have to admit, we lost a lot of fish. The bite was "funny". Lots of dropped bait and hit and runs.

Dead Suckers seemed to be the best bait. Live smelt would attract a strike, but they were always killed and left for dead. This seemed odd to me as even a small Togue would have no difficulty in eating these smaller fish.

Finally Mike was able to hook into what appeared to be a respectable fish on the run. After pulling in nearly 100 feet of line we watched a sizable Togue swim past the hole. Allowing him some room to move on by and then turn him back towards the hole Mike raised him to the hole and we brought him onto the ice....... more than respectable. He had landed a 9 pound 28" fish! Today was easily the best day fishing Sebago Lake that either of us have had yet!

Today I fished with my father-in-law Mike on Great East Lake. What a great day fishing it was! The breeze was cool, but the weather completely tolerable. Packing light we decided to try and find the fish and find the fish we did!!!

I took three steps away from my first tipup and the flag sprang right away. The action was consistant throughout the day until after 1:00 when we ran out of live smelt. Nothing else seemed to attract any kind of strike. We lost count of the flags but were sure the average was one flag every 35 minutes, plenty to keep our interest for the day.

Here are the four that we brought home to fill our limit, the shortest being 17" and the longest being 22".

Congradulations Mike on ending your skunk for this ice fishing season!

We fished the Winnipesaukee derby this weekend on Wolfeboro Bay. Unfortunately no flags, no fish. This was my first time fishing this derby and the first time I had been on this particular bay. I was impressed with the lake conditions, but it did me no good.

A good day never the less.

Fished the afternoon at Little Ossippee Lake in Watereboro with my son Drew, nephew Dustin, and father-in-law Mike. This was my 3 year old son's first ice fishing adventure.

We had one flag during the daylight hours that was only a quick hit and run with no fish.

Shortly after dark we finally caught this 12.5" Cusk.

The boys had fun with the only fish of the day.

Spent most of the day on Little Ossippee Lake in Waterboro. I set one trap with a small shiner right under the ice. As usual with this lake, I had 3 strikes set up like this in which the minute I touched the line the fish was gone. My guess is that there are small Salmon (probably 13") that are striking on the run and not taking the whole bait to be able to set the hook on.

The other setup was with a large shiner right off bottom with the hopes of a nice Togue taking the bait. When this trap finally fired I was surprised to see what was on the other end.... an 11" Yellow Perch.

I started the morning at Little Ossippee Lake in Waterboro. Quickly I set two traps with small to medium shiners only 18 inches below the ice. I received a strike on each tipup shortly, but both hits stole the bait and left me no fish. After that it was a long three hours with no activity.

On the way home I stopped at Shaker Pond in Alfred for an hour for some warm water species fun. I caught a 14" and a 12" Pickeral on the traps and jigged one 10" Crappie.

Tried my luck on Kennebunk Pond again this morning. I set up tight to the shore and hoped for the Brookies that apparently just weren't hungry. The wind was raw and cold so I only stayed for about 3 hours. From there I left and head for Little Ossippee to see what the ice conditions were. There is fishable ice, however anglers should use extreme caution as the main body of the lake still holds open water.

I started the 2009 ice fishing season on Kennebunk Pond. Despite a late start it was still a decent way to begin the season. I was able to land this nice little 13" female Brook Trout with a small shiner on a tip up.

About an hour later I caught another Brookie, this one only 6". It swallowed the hook & worm so deeply I immediately cut the line and let it swim off. That was the best of my excitement for the day. I jigged one tiny Yellow Perch and had a single hit and run flag for the afternoon. Hopefully the season only gets better!