Note to St. John Valley anglers: If Allan Albert calls and wants you to go fishing with him, it might be a good idea to drop what you’re doing, cancel your day’s plans, and go along.

And if Kim Masse of Smyrna calls, do the same thing.

Two years ago, you may recall, Albert, a Master Maine Guide who lives in St. Francis, headed to Glazier Lake for a day of ice fishing with Masse.

Masse ended up catching a state-record muskie that weighed 27 pounds.

Fast forward to this year, and the recently completed Sebago Lake Rotary Derbyfest, when the duo cashed in again.

Typically, the state’s largest derby takes place on Sebago, and anglers target lunker lake trout during the two-day event.

Due to unfavorable ice conditions this year, derby organizers decided to open the tourney to all legal lakes and ponds in Maine.

More than 200 miles away, as the crow flies, Masse and Albert greeted the news with grins … and a plan.

Albert, you see, is a bit of an expert on fishing for muskellunge. And the chance of catching a muskie bigger than the largest togue the state’s anglers would produce over a given two-day period was pretty good.

“I’ve actually never heard too much about the tournament in the past, being way up here,” Albert said. “My buddy Kim Masse gave me a call and said, ‘Have you heard about the Sebago Lake tournament going statewide?'”

On Saturday, Albert and Masse headed to Glazier Lake, the lake that has been virtually taken over by muskies over the past several years.

Canadian fisheries biologists released muskies into Lac Frontiere – the headwaters of the St. John River – in Quebec back in 1970. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife wasn’t informed of the plan … and the rest is history.

Muskies traveled down the St. John and set up residence in the lakes along the way, including Glazier, as well as the St. John River.

All winter long, Albert has been heading to his ice shanty on Glazier, and has been having pretty good luck.

“We had been catching quite a few [muskies recently],” he said. “The last couple of weeks were pretty slow, but before that we were throwing back fish over 20 pounds.”

On Saturday, Albert’s optimism was rewarded, when he hooked and landed a 39-inch muskie that weighed 19.87 pounds.

On Sunday, the duo fished for a bit before packing up early and heading to the derby weigh-in site to register their fish.

“We fished until about 1 o’clock on Sunday and then I headed toward Presque Isle … with a smile on my face,” Albert said.

Albert said he didn’t really know what to expect at that point, but he did figure he’d at least win a prize.

“I almost thought it would get beat by a pike,” he said. “But I did have an inkling that I might get one of the top three prizes.”

As it turned out, by the time he returned to St. Francis, the light on his telephone answering machine was already lit.

And the news was good: Albert had caught the largest fish in the statewide tourney.

“[My kids] hit that button [on the answering machine] and then my wife was screaming,” he said.

Albert’s prize: A fully equipped 17-foot Trophy fishing boat worth about $22,000.

The catch: Albert doesn’t really need another fishing boat.

“As a matter of fact, I just bought a new boat a few years back and am quite content with that,” he said. “I called the marina [that supplied the boat] and they’ll probably broker it for me. And I called a few of my bass-fishing buddies down in Massachusetts and the word is out that it’s on the market for a pretty good price.”

Albert said he checked out the boat on the Internet and was impressed with the package. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be exactly what he needs, even if he was in the market for a boat.

“For my style of fishing, I’m a motor-and-canoe man,” he said.

After playing a part in Masse’s record-setting effort two years ago, and catching a prize-winning muskie of his own this winter, Albert admitted that his competitive juices are flowing.

And he says he may have to start doing things a bit differently for awhile.

“Every time I’ve got a tip-up, I’ve been letting somebody who’s never caught a muskie through the ice pull it up through,” Albert said.

That practice may end for the rest of this season, he said.

He is, after all, on a bit of a roll.

“I’ve decided that for the rest of the month, I’m going to pull them up myself, unless it’s a really small one,” he said with a laugh. “I’m looking to break that record, too. Everybody’s looking for their moment of fame, you know?”

Postscript: For the record, Albert’s toughest competition did come from pike anglers. Jason Chicoine of Fayette caught the second-largest fish of the derby, a 39-inch, 18.09-pound pike, while fishing at Great Pond.

Third place (and a $500 gift certificate from Kittery Trading Post) went to Jim Bence of Bar Harbor, who caught a 14.61-pound pike at Great Pond.

Another local angler who cashed in: Jody Benton of Eddington, who caught the derby’s largest togue. Benton hauled in a 14.42-pound, 321/2-inch fish at Lobster Lake, and also received a $500 gift certificate from Kittery Trading Post.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.