Brown ground dominates the landscape here in Bangor – always a bit of a downer come mid-January – but there is winter fun to be had for those willing to put a few miles of pavement between themselves and the Queen City.

That’s one reason I’m heading north, and will spend the weekend checking out the first Long Lake Ice Fishing Derby.

According to derby organizer Paul Bernier, folks in the St. John Valley are all geared up for the derby on one of the state’s premier landlocked salmon waters.

Bernier said more than 100 anglers had registered as of Friday morning, but he hadn’t visited all the registration locations to collect data … and he’s preparing for a huge last-minute turnout.

“I know we’re going to get swamped tomorrow morning at the [Long Lake] Sporting Club,” he said.

Bernier’s report for those who will be attending the derby is encouraging.

“The weather looks great,” he said. “They’re announcing some flurries tomorrow, but mid-20s, and then Sunday’s supposed to be in the teens. Excellent conditions and not too windy.”

As for the ice conditions on Long Lake, Bernier said he’s been using his pickup to get to his ice fishing cabin for two weeks, and said the whole lake is accessible by snowmobile.

“There might be a few pockets [of slush], but right now it’s solid ice,” he said.

Bernier said those who wake up on a beautiful Saturday morning and decide to enter the derby can do so … if they hurry.

“If they call [543-7584] we can hold them a registration as long as we get a phone call before 9,” he said.

Those who do head to Long Lake can find some snacks at the Sporting Club, which also will serve as the base camp for derby officials and as the official weigh-in site.

“The St. John Valley Technology Center is going to be manning concessions at the club, plus they’re going to be having snowmobiles out on the lake, selling to the fishermen,” he said.

And if you’re still not sure if you want to fish Long Lake this weekend, here’s an added incentive.

The big ones are out there.

“A 7-pound, 9-ounce salmon was caught in Sinclair [last week], right in front of the old Sunset Restaurant,” Bernier reported.

So, what do you say? Are you fishing this weekend?

If so, I hope to see you there.

Winchesters enjoy headline

On Thursday, I told you what the announced closing of a Connecticut manufacturing facility may mean to you in the future.

The plant, which produces some popular Winchester guns, will close at the end of March.

The effect, one local sporting goods shop owner pointed out, will be that hunters and collectors will have an increasingly hard time getting their hands on Winchester weapons in the months and years to come.

One thing this job regularly reinforces is that it’s hard to gauge the effect a specific column (or headline) will have on individual readers.

One such reader checked in on Thursday to say that the Page 1 index item referring to my column brought her and her family more than a few chuckles.

Here’s what Claire Winchester had to say:

“I just called to tell you about the wonderful joke that is going to be mailed to Iraq today,” Winchester said.

“My son, Capt. Philip Winchester, has no children, which is a little family joke here. This morning’s front page of the Bangor Daily News announces a ‘dwindling supply of Winchesters.’

“I loved that. We’ll send it to him as a little reminder that Winchesters are in short supply in the world. Thanks for making my day,” Winchester said.

And thanks for making mine, Claire.

Moose season already?

OK, moose season won’t really arrive for months. But if you’re interested in (finally) getting your name drawn in the annual state-run permit lottery, it’s not too soon to begin dreaming.

According to an e-mail from the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, now’s the perfect time to register.

This is, after all, your lucky year. Right?

Well, maybe not. But as they say, you can’t win if you don’t play. So here are the details:

You can register for this year’s lottery up until 11:59 p.m. on April 3. To do so on line, go to www.mefishwildlife.com.

Those who take advantage of the online registration option (or who buy a license at any of the 120 MOSES agents throughout the state) will be entered into a contest to win a classic 1957 DIF&W warden’s truck.

Egg Ride approaches

Whenever a few well-meaning individuals (with slightly warped minds) decide to create a fund-raiser for a good cause, the result is interesting … or messy … or hazardous to my health.

That’s what I’ve found over the last few years, anyway. One time, I shot hoops while riding a donkey. For the record, the smelly little critter had an innate sense of the intricacies of the game, and even made sure all four hooves were planted behind the 3-point line before he let me take a particularly memorable shot. That’s the way I remember it, at least.

A couple other times, I jumped into the Atlantic Ocean … in January. One of these days, I may even fully thaw out.

And sometimes I’ve even been known to stuff raw eggs in my suit and hop on a snowmobile for a gooey, wet, slightly nauseating 20-mile ride through the woods of Maine.

Not because it’s fun. Not because my boss makes me. But because (you guessed it) it’s for a good cause.

And even though the folks at Brewer radio station WQCB are fun and funny and friendly, it’s the cause that keeps most of us coming back to participate in the annual Egg Ride for Pine Tree Camp.

Notice, I said “for most of us.”

There are a couple of wild cards in our deck, and I suspect that WQCB’s Breakfast Flakes, J.R. Mitchell and Paul Dupuis, actually take part because they really like the feeling of freshly cracked eggs congealing against their chest hair.

That’s a debate for another day.

For now, I’ll just let you know that about 9 a.m. on Feb. 4, a group of local media members and others will gather at the Hungry Hollow 76’ers Snowmobile Club in Levant, egg up, and ride to Newport. The event is part of the weekend-long Pine Tree Ride-In.

For every $50 that WQCB raises for Pine Tree Camp, riders will put another egg in their suits. Last year, the station raised $45,150. That’s 903 eggs … per person.

Yuck.

This year, J.R. Mitchell says the station hopes to raise $50,000, which means we’d carry 1,000 eggs each.

And whether we have any snow to snowmobile on or not, it promises to be an interesting day.

“Hopefully, we’re gonna have some snow,” Mitchell told me on Thursday. “If not, we’ll probably stand around and throw eggs at each other.”

If you want to help the Pine Tree Camp (and make our day more miserable), you can contact WQCB at 991-9500 or q1065@midmaine.com to make a pledge.

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