derby misery loves company...

[LostOne]

I opted to skip the crowd and try a spot that I have been researching awhile. I left civilization at 8:00am Saturday(had to work till then), carried(on foot) a Jiffy 3.0, and pulled a loaded sled with gear for 2 and a cooler filled with live smelts,suckers, and shiners. I also had 2 kinds of worms. Fished until dark. Ate a lot of steak and drank Old Mill with The Doctor and my friend. Slept for 3 hrs in a tent when it was 10 degrees. Got up at 4:00am and hiked about another mile to a mapped out spot. Fished for about 8 more hours. We had 1 flag(my friend's trap)...wind flag. Gettin skunked after putting in that much effort has almost broken my spirit, please tell me what pains you endured on this Sebago derby weekend.

[jrelaxin]

well no lack in trying...........that OLD MILL might have been your downfall.............

[JimmieDean]

Every ice fisherman goes through days like you just experienced. Don't give up so quickly. Like they say "if you don't go, you're not going to catch anything. That's why they call it fishing, not catching. I had two weekends in a row like that. Sat home for over a week until the wife asked me why I hadn't fished for almost 8 days. I told her I was sick of working so hard for no reward. She told me I was thinking negative and as long as I did, my luck wouldn't change. I went fishing one late afternoon by myself thinking positive the whole walk out to the same area I was skunked two weeks prior. Sure enough caught my limit.

Don't get me wrong I don't believe anything she says, but it did get me out there again.

[Sawyerjosh]

I have fished the derby every year.  This year was the 1st time someone in our party had a sled, and we had a shack for the first time.  7 people fishing, 1 fish.  last year, 7 people fishing, 1 fish, every year b4 that 2-6 of us fishing no fish.  We always eat well and have a few beers, but don't fish sebago enough to really know good spots.  So we go planning on catching nothing, anything we get is a bonus!  But we have a great time every year!! 

[EASTGRANDEST]

Don't feel bad buddy! The last three weekends in a row I have blown off snowmobiling with all my friends to go fishing.

Last weekend, fished hard (dark to dark) Sat and Sun to get skunked on Sebago, my father caught one nice togue all weekend, that's the only fish caught in our group.

The weekend before, fished the Belgrade derby on Sunday. (Dark to Dark) I caught one 20" pickerel while picking up my traps at the end of the day. My buddy caught a 25" northern, only fish all day for our group.

The weekend before, got up at 3AM drove out to Keezer Lake. Fished Dark to Dark again. One flag all day, a 5" yellow perch.


That's some hard fishing for no reward. Growing up I took for granite fishing East Grand all the time, icing 10-30 Salmon per day. I can usually go anywhere and catch fish. Usually we will get a group on the ice, and I will have flags all day, and everyone gets skunked but me. Now it's payback time I guess!! I will continue to fish, because I can still have FUN out there with no flags or fish.

[chief613]

you may have not caught any fish, but had a good adventure though, catchin fish just adds another plus to the trip

[pegasus]

What makes it worst is taking someone along that's growling all the way. Then getting skunked and having to put up with the growling all the way back home. Then getting home and the wife asking how you did then telling you that your crazy. The best thing to do in that case is to go back next weekend and prove them right. ICE FEVER

[bee]

Vex and a Jigging Rod. Small ponds no crowds lots of fish.

[smeltshack]

LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION
I feel your pain, after spending 60bucks on derby tickets 2 years in a row with not even a flag i gave up on it but as you can see from some of our Maine Brothers pictures there are good fish to be caught in that big lake. You have to keep fishing that lake not just on Derby days. Its like with any lake you keep fishing different spots until you find the fish. I no longer fish the derby because im too cheap to spend the money but would happily go with a group that knew where the fish were . Im like you though i want to see results and it became not fun anymore to go fishing all day without a flag and especially after putting that much money out for a derby ticket. It just became not worth it to me so i dont go anymore. Im not bitter, i just enjoy catching fish and for some reason i just cant do it there. I dont have the patience to research the lake and keep looking for good spots. Ive got a little guy that i bring along and he likes to do more catching than fishing so i hit the lake i know where the fish are. Anway hopefully some day you will get into a bunch of fish and find that honey hole.

[dadstacklebox]

 Well I found fishing to be like life itself. You work hard all your life to feed yourself and family. If you pay close attention, it gets easier. Then the more you learn, the better off you are. If you give up, you stay right there in your comfort zone. When you retire, You end up eating more fish. 

[LostOne]

Thanks to you all.  I am already startin to wonder if all I need is a trip to Shaker. Thanks to Dads for the wise analogy. -L.O.

[pennreels]

Beats staying home and watching the boob tube

[JimP]

Exactly, I rarely watch anything other than the sox and the pats. Some C's

I figure every minute watching TV is another minute I could be fishing, thinking about fishing or getting ready to go fishing. Sometimes you slay them -- sometimes they slay you.

Being outside is what it is all about for me. I love the cold, crispness of a winter sunrise. Knowing 99% of the rest of the world is home sleeping, leaving me alone. If all you fish are derbies you loose that a little. I usually go the other direction.

[Joser06]

Exactly, I rarely watch anything other than the sox and the pats. Some C's

I figure every minute watching TV is another minute I could be fishing, thinking about fishing or getting ready to go fishing. Sometimes you slay them -- sometimes they slay you.

Being outside is what it is all about for me. I love the cold, crispness of a winter sunrise. Knowing 99% of the rest of the world is home sleeping, leaving me alone. If all you fish are derbies you loose that a little. I usually go the other direction.

Ain't that the truth, well said! I hate crowds.

[kimball07]

 WELL... monday before the derby 3 of us hammered them. so we went back on saturday. 0 flags 0 hits for me. the other 3 lost a couple fish and iced only 1. everything was the same as monday just no fish.
watched kids sunday @ home
headed back there today we'll see what happens