In the St. John Valley of extreme northern Maine, the weather plays an important role in the day-to-day activities of many.

In towns such as Madawaska and St. Agatha, cold weather is expected, accepted and often embraced.

So, too, is snow.

Over the years, I’ve found that in the St. John Valley, people don’t worry much about that inclement weather.

They simply deal with it.

Therefore, it came as no surprise Monday when Paul Bernier, one of the organizers of the third annual Long Lake Ice Fishing Derby, e-mailed to say this year’s event went off without a hitch.

Even though Saturday was cold … and snowing … and blowing.

“Even with the Saturday storm, we had 410 registrants,” Bernier reported. Of those, 84 were youth entrants.

Some of those entrants, I suppose, could have been lured out into the elements by the massive cash prize pool. But I suspect most entered (and fished through the inclement weather) for simpler reasons.

It’s Maine, after all. It’s supposed to snow. And getting out, setting a few traps and having fun with friends is a lot more enjoyable than sitting at home, watching the snow pile up.

I touched base with a couple of avid St. John Valley anglers Monday to see how things went, and as I expected, both spent most of the weekend on the ice of Long Lake.

Here, then, are a couple of reports from the field:

First, let’s hear from Rich Rossignol, who lives on Long Lake but spends plenty of time out in his ice shack with family and friends.

“You missed a great fishing weekend,” Rossignol wrote. “Lots of food, fun and not so much fish. Oh well.

“Mike Thibodeau and I slept on the lake in Mike’s camper along with the three kids on Friday night. Tried to catch enough bait for the weekend, but as usual the smelt didn’t cooperate with us. Good thing for bait shops,” he wrote. “Saturday and Sunday we all caught our share of fish. No prize-winners, but was a good time anyway.”

As Rossignol points out, fishing can be spotty, but there’s no reason ice anglers can’t eat well, no matter what the conditions. Although, he found out, some folks’ ideas of “eating well” aren’t universal.

“Had a good hot breakfast on the lake and a big chili in the afternoon on both Saturday and Sunday,” he wrote. “My new neighbor Jennifer Pelletier thought the chili was one of the better chilis that she had until she found out that there was some moose meat in it. She didn’t have any chili on Sunday, and she’s not talking to me any more … just kidding!”

Pelletier wasn’t the only one who didn’t get a list of ingredients for Rossignol’s special chili, apparently.

“Actually, I didn’t tell my wife about the moose meat, and I’m guessing she’s gonna find out real soon,” wrote Rossignol, who, for the record, wrote his e-mail to me understanding that I’d publish much of what he wrote.

Sorry for ratting you out, Rich … but you asked for it!

Not far away from the Rossignol fishing compound off Birch Point, Scott Picard of Madawaska also got an early start Saturday morning.

The weather, however, nearly got the best of him for a bit.

“Saturday morning fishing conditions were difficult. The snow was blowing and falling at a feverish pace. Visibility was low,” Picard wrote. “Lionel Daigle, my fishing buddy, was already on the lake with his truck when I arrived at around 6:45 a.m. So I followed his truck tracks onto the lake to begin setting out our traps.”

Bad idea.

As it turns out, the heavy overnight snow had turned the ice surface to slush, and Daigle was, in fact, stuck.

Soon, so was Picard. Not that getting stuck on the ice could slow these two for long.

“I walked back to camp and got the snowmobile and began drilling holes,” Picard wrote.

The day quickly got better, especially for Daigle’s 5-year-old grandson, Robert Lausier.

Robert first caught and landed a 14-inch salmon, which his grandfather explained had to be released.

Not long after that, another of Robert’s flags went up.

“As we walked over to the trap the reel became detached from the flag and began dancing on the snow. There was a lunker on the end of the line,” Picard wrote. “Robert began heaving on the line as the fish fought back. It must have taken him 15 minutes to get it through the ice with the assistance of his grandfather.”

The salmon measured 211/2 inches long and weighed 4 pounds, 5.4 ounces. Robert ended up winning a $200 savings bond by taking first place in the special youth salmon category.

Thanks for the reports, guys, and congratulations to all the winning anglers.

And if you didn’t get a chance to participate in this year’s derby, you may want to start planning for next year: Bernier says next year’s cash prize pool will increase to at least $6,000. This year’s pool was $5,000.

The prize-winners in this year’s derby (all fish were taken from Long Lake, except for the togue, which were caught in Eagle Lake):

Salmon: Chris Leek, Bucksport, 7 pounds, 11 ounces, $1,000; Nick Bourgoin, Frenchville, 6 pounds, 13 ounces, $500; Devan Cyr, St. David, 5 pounds, 4.2 ounces, $250.

Togue: Glenn Roode, Wallagrass, 5 pounds, 8.2 ounces, $1,000; Bruno Doucette, St. David, 5 pounds, 4.8 ounces, $500; Jake Hebert, St. David, 5 pounds, 3.4 ounces, $250.

Brook trout: Alan Gagnon, Van Buren, 3 pounds, 14 ounces, $750; Jeff Michaud, St. Agatha, 2 pounds, 2.2 ounces, $300; Alex Corey, Madawaska, 1 pound, 15.8 ounces, $200.

Cusk: Cody Daigle, Wallagrass, 10 pounds, 8.6 ounces, $200.

Youth prize, largest salmon: Robert Lausier, Madawaska, 4 pounds, 5.4 ounces, $200 savings bond.

Booby prize (most perch): Scott Stevens, Wallagrass, 211 perch, $50.

jholyoke@bangordailynews.net

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