Anglers overcome rainy conditions to compete in Togue Derby

By Bob Chapin

The Sebago Lake Anglers’ Association completed its 10th Annual Togue Derby at Point Sebago Resort on the weekend of Sept. 12 and 13 where 100 anglers, mostly from the local area, competed for honors and cash for two days of fishing on Sebago Lake.

The weather was nice on Saturday most of the day, but it got a little tougher later in the afternoon. Fortunately, the rain held off until about 3:40 p.m. Fishing on Sunday was a washout but a few brave souls suffered through the rain, wind, and waves to compete.

In all, about 83 fish were recorded as caught during the 10th Annual Togue Derby at the official Weigh Station. The fish that fishermen did not want to take home went to a church supper and to the Maine Wildlife Park as food for the animals there.

One angler with early success was John Sailhamert who was an early registrant for the derby. He caught a togue that weighed 9.15 pounds and was 29 inches long. The fish was large enough to capture “Largest Fish on Saturday” honors and held up to become the overall derby winner again this year.

The derby’s “Smallest Togue” category to encourage fishermen to retain all Togue legally caught was captured by Dean Gower and it weighed just .17 lbs. and was 8.62 inches long.

Fishermen also received a drawing ticket for every legal Togue checked into the Togue Pool Lottery. This year, 6 tickets worth $100 each were drawn to win prizes in a lottery.

New to the derby this year was a category for the most Pike caught by a single angler with prizes of $1,000, $750, and $500 for first, second and third place. Most fishermen did not fish for pike or turn one in, which is an invasive fish in Sebago Lake. But one guy did, and his name is Devin Prue. On Saturday, Prue turned in six fish and three more on Sunday, some were as small as just 8 inches, but they counted as pike. The derby’s second and third place prizes in the pike category went unclaimed.

Looking ahead to next year, if you would like to get in on the fun, excitement, and prizes next year, come join us, the annual Togue Derby always takes place on the weekend after Labor Day.

This year’s derby prizes were awarded as follows:

John Sailhamert caught a fish weighing 9.15 pounds and measuring 29 inches and won $1,000 and another $100 in the derby’s lottery.

Brian Sullivan caught a fish weighing 7.65 pounds and measuring 26.5 inches and won $750.

John Lenane caught a fish weighing 7.39 pounds and measuring 29 inches and won $300.

Dean Gower caught the smallest togue weighing 0.17 pounds and measured 8.62 inches and won $100.

Devin Prue caught nine pike to win the derby’s pike category and won $1,000.

Richard Sanborn, Ashley Gouin, Dean Gower and Rick Adams each took home $100 as derby lottery winners.

Stephen Pacific took home $200 as a double derby lottery winner. <