Biddeford angler lands the big one at derby

By Tim Obrey

    We wrapped up the 8th Annual Moosehead Lake Togue Derby with Ricky Craven on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 25.
    This year was a record-setter. Nathan Paradis of Biddeford brought in a 20.66 lb togue on Saturday which is a new record for the derby. The 37.5 inch fish was in terrific shape. Nathan purchased his ticket at Lucky Bait and Tackle in Greenville and that turned out to be rather prophetic because he in addition to collecting $1,500 for the biggest fish, he also won a door prize, a guided fishing trip with Steve Cole on his boat the “Reel Affair” this summer on Moosehead Lake.

Contributed photo

    HAULED IN THE BIG ONE — Nathan Paradis of Biddeford, left pictured with Ricky Craven, set a record during the eighth annual Moosehead Lake Togue Derby last weekend. Paradis’ catch weighed 20.66 pounds and was 37.5 inches in length.

    Second place went to Josh Nelson of Gouldsboro with a 10.45 lb togue and third place went to Mark St. Armand of Windsor with a 5.86 lb togue.
    In addition to setting the record for the biggest derby fish, ticket sales also set a new high in 2015. Ticket sales for the derby have been in the 200-300 range for the past few years. This year NREC changed the format to include obtaining sponsors, big door prizes, advertising on social media, and internet ticket sales.
    NREC sold just over 700 tickets to this year’s derby. Sponsors like Indian Hill Trading Post, Bangor Savings Bank, and the Maine Highlands Credit Union really helped to build this derby into a great community event. It was amazing to see tickets purchased from York to Fort Kent and from Jackman to Seal Harbor.
    In all, around 192 towns in Maine and 8 total States were represented in this year’s festivities.
    NREC and the American Legion held a well-attended wild game dinner on Saturday night that was sponsored in part by Coca-Cola. After the meal, Ricky Craven was on hand to swap stories and draw the winners of the door prizes.
    The first door prize was the choice of a vacation trip or cash and Justin Moore of Skowhegan was the winner. Morgan Whitten of Winter Harbor and Willie Strid of Greenville were the winners of the two firearms. Jason Crea of Brookline, NH got the call Sunday morning that he won the ice fishing package donated by Indian Hill Trading Post and he picked it up on his way out of town and Keith Palmer of Dexter won $250 in the door prize raffle. Just over 40 participants took home door prizes this year.
    We want to thank all the businesses that donated to this year’s events and thanks to all the anglers that make the trip to our beautiful region to make this derby a great event.