ST. AGATHA, Maine — With warmer temperatures and a recent storm dumping two inches of rain across Aroostook County, snow is all but gone. Despite the unseasonable weather, organizers of the upcoming Long Lake Ice Fishing Derby and Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Races are confident that the events will go on as planned.
The ice fishing derby and Can-Am bring in thousands of participants from Maine and beyond, providing a significant economic benefit to the St. John Valley. The Long Lake derby is scheduled for Jan. 27-28. The sled-dog races in Fort Kent are scheduled for March 2-3.
Paul Bernier, event chairman for the ice fishing derby, said it’s not a lack of snow that would stop the derby, but a lack of ice.
“At the end of the day, you don’t need snow to go ice fishing,” Bernier said. “And the water is ready to freeze. And once that happens, it’ll make ice quick.”
With five weeks until the event, Bernier said organizers are not worried about potentially stopping the event.
“We had one year where, two weeks before the derby, it was very sketchy,” he said. “We put out a lot of warnings to try to keep vehicles off the ice.”
But even in that example, the region received enough cold weather to ensure there was a solid amount of ice on the lake.
And though the derby is likely to proceed as planned, Bernier said it is still unfortunate to see a complete lack of snow in late December, as many snowmobilers are usually traveling the ATV trails and filling up hotels around this time.
Can-Am organizers are also not worried about the current lack of snow, as the event is over two months away.
“It’s far enough off that I think we’ll be fine,” said Dennis Cyr, president of the Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Races Planning Committee. “We’ll probably get swamped (with snow) in February. All plans are moving forward and everything is still a go. I don’t anticipate us having no snow.”
Cyr said he has never seen a northern Maine winter in his lifetime in which there was no snow at the end of February and early March. He said this will likely not even hinder mushers in their training, as they practice year-round.
“Mushers use their ATVs and 4-wheelers when they are training in August and early Fall,” Cyr said. “I anticipate that is what they are still doing.”
