Madawaska man snares 31-pound ‘muskie’

loading...

Jeff Albert had just finished eating lunch Saturday when a friend pointed to a waving ice fishing flag 200 feet away on the frozen surface of Glazier Lake.

Albert ran to the flag, looked into the hole, and quickly realized he had a fight on his hands.

“When I got there [the fish] was still on its first big run,” the Madawaska man said. “That only lasted five to 10 seconds, but it probably peeled out 250 feet of line.”

After the fish completed that run, Albert grabbed the line and began to fight the fish.

“We just settled into a 20-minute tug-of-war,” Albert said.

There was a problem, however: The massive fish at the other end of the line seemed to be winning the fight.

“We went back and forth so often that my line was sawing notches into the ice at the bottom of the hole,” Albert said. “Steve Plourde actually had to keep pushing my line down to get it out of the notches.”

Albert was worried about what would happen if Plourde didn’t keep the line free for the continuing battle.

“My concern was that the line was moving two, three inches at a time sometimes, into the ice, and if [the fish] changed directions, he’d snap the line right off.”

Luckily, that didn’t happen, and after as many as 10 tries, Albert managed to haul a massive muskie up through the 10-inch hole.

Then he and other anglers – wife Marse Albert, Dave Daigle, Plourde and Reginald Roy – realized exactly how big the fish was.

The muskie measured 46 inches and had a girth of 23 inches. Another angler with a scale weighed the fish at more than 31 pounds.

A quick reminder: The existing state record muskie (until Saturday) was a 27-pounder caught by Kim Masse back in 2004. That fish also came out of Glazier Lake.

Albert took his fish to Paradis IGA later that night to weigh the fish on a certified scale, where the fish weighed 31.02 pounds.

Dave Basley, the regional biologist for the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife for Aroostook County, said that weight would, indeed, establish a state record.

Albert said catching such a monstrous fish was just another part of an already wonderful day.

“Saturday was such a beautiful day, we were having a great day anyway,” Albert said. “That just put the icing on the cake. That was a fish of a lifetime.”

Limestone man wins drift trip

From around the state and across the country, the entry forms arrived here at 491 Main Street over the past month or two, as avid anglers (and those just looking for a free trip) vied for a shot in our fifth annual Win A Drift Boat Trip contest.

To clarify things a bit, it’s important to note a couple of things: First, you were not competing to win a drift boat. You were competing to win the trip … no matter what you may have heard elsewhere.

And second, the trip in question is not a whitewater rafting trip (though most of you already knew that, the question did crop up a time or two).

This year’s lucky winner is James Rolph of Limestone, who mailed his entry to us here at the Bangor Daily News.

Rolph will join Maine Guide Dan Legere – the proprietor of the Maine Guide Fly Shop in Greenville – and me for a glorious day of fly fishing on Father’s Day, June 17.

Legere will take us down the majestic East Outlet of the Kennebec River, and will undoubtedly put Rolph on top of plenty of fish. Me? I’ll try to avoid hooking our (seemingly) lucky winner with any of errant casts, and will do my best to make sure he’s the one who catches all the fish.

That last goal has not proven too difficult over the past four years, as our winners Mike Horvers (2003), Jason McCubbin (2004), Doug Saunders (2005) and Tom Nichols (2006) each caught far more landlocked salmon and trout than I did.

That’s the way it ought to be, I figure. It’s their trip … and I’m just along to document the trip for posterity (and a column or two).

This year’s contest drew 519 entries, a far cry from last year’s high-water mark of 781, but a nice total when you consider the fact most of our entrants typically sign up at the Eastern Maine Sportsmen’s Show … and this year’s show was plagued by bad weather Friday and Saturday.

The entries came in from as far away as Portola Valley, Calif., and Maine communities from St. Francis to Eastport, Lambert Lake to West Boothbay, were all represented.

Congratulations to Rolph, and thanks to all who participated in this year’s contest.

Missing: One big fish

Joe King of the Veazie Salmon Club called Wednesday to ask for some help from BDN readers.

Sometime over the weekend – King thinks it was on Saturday – somebody climbed onto the roof of the club and stole the weathervane.

Hiding or using the weathervane won’t be easy: It’s in the shape of a three-foot-long Atlantic salmon.

King said anyone with any information about the weathervane can call the Veazie Police Department at 947-2911.

The value of the carved salmon weathervane, which was crafted by John Dykstra, is at least $800, and insurance would pay for its replacement, King said. But the item has great sentimental value to many club members, and they’d like the original back.

“It’s been there now for years and years. It was a gift from one of our members in remembrance of another fisherman,” King said.

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