By Mike Roche

The past few years have not been great for folks holding ice fishing derbies. The unseasonably mild weather hinders ice formation. These popular events get people, many times families, out on the “hard water” to enjoy ice fishing on several local bodies of water. The derbies are a great place to gather around, socialize, eat a little and fish.

One of the oldest derbies is the Mahar Fish’N Game Club Ice Fishing Derby, which has been held each year since the club was founded in 1957. Lake Ellis was the site of this year’s event, and it was held last Sunday. Club advisor Evelyn Cunha commented that the derby was one of the best attended in recent years with over 20 students, evenly split between members of the high school and middle school clubs, with a lot of family members showing up to provide support and enjoy the traditional hot chocolate and hot dogs.

The fishing action was good with about half the students catching fish and flags flying most of the morning. Isabella Harrington landed the biggest fish in the high school group, a nice large mouth bass that tipped the digital scale at 2.04 pounds. Middle school honors went to Joel Wilkey who checked in a 1.59-pound bass, and he also won for the most fish.

Other trophy winners, who will be recognized at the club’s Game Supper that is scheduled for March 15, include Tim King for smallest fish among middle schoolers and MacKenzie Mathews, who caught the smallest fish in the high school category. Middle school club advisor Billy Devine and Anthong Cunha were very busy drilling holes and helping the students get fishing, and the club provided tackle for everyone and bait. Members were very thankful and appreciative for the support provided by Crack of Dawn Tackle Shop in Phillipston. Hopefully the near perfect conditions will continue for the many upcoming derbies, and everyone can have as enjoyable a day as was had by the Fish’N Game Club.

Another longtime tradition for the Mahar Fish’N Game Club is the Game Supper. That event, which began as a Father’N Son Banquet, has evolved over time into a first-class game dinner with plenty of tasty wild game and fish. The club depends entirely on donated meat so please consider sharing some venison, pheasant, moose, bear or any fish you might have in the freezer. You can contact Ms. Cunha (ecunha@rcmahar.org) or Mr. Devine (wdevine@rcmahar.org) to arrange pickup of donations, which are greatly appreciated and make the event possible.

To raise money every year, and particularly this year with club members planning a trip to Alaska in June, raffles are held at the Game Supper. Any business or individual willing to donate a gift or service can do so by contacting either advisor. Your generosity will make a big difference.

This week’s Alberta clipper deposited a little snow locally. That makes a hike in the woods more interesting as wildlife tracks always tell a story. Deer, turkeys, coyotes, foxes, bobcats, fisher, and other critters and birds leave a trace of their travels. It is always fun and very interesting to try to figure out what they are doing. Hopefully, the gale winds and bitter cold will exit and not be back.

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It will not be long before the early signs of spring begin. Wild turkeys are forming groups. Hens and young of the year are still flocked up but the young males will split off. They are sporting short beards, which are really specialized feathers, on their chests and they will mature enough by April to get involved in the mating rituals. The adult males, called toms or gobblers, have longer beards and they have segregated into bachelor groups all winter. The gobbling vocalizations will start up in February as the males are getting ready to establish hierarchy and strutting territories long before the hens are ready to oblige.

Deer seem to be doing quite well as the lack of deep snow makes it much easier to get to food and the plentiful acorn crop is still accessible. The predators are prowling around, and the slow or unsuspecting prey animals provide sustenance for them. Coyotes and foxes are into the mating season, and they vocalize a lot. Most of us have heard coyotes howl, but the foxes during the mating season produce sounds that frequently are responsible for calls to law enforcement as they are often compared to a woman screaming in the darkness. YouTube has many recordings if you want a sample. Most local police officers have stories of calls they have investigated that turned out to be foxes.

This writer had fun at the Mahar Ice Fishing Derby showing some of the students basic ice fishing jigging. The Vexilar FLX-12 Genz Pack flasher is fun and watching the screen for fish to show up as colored bars is fascinating. Unfortunately, not a lot of fish were found and only one yellow perch caught, but the students enjoyed the introduction. This weekend promises some ice fishing which should be fun and there will some hours spent on the ice. Hopefully some fish stories will result!

Mike Roche is a retired teacher who has been involved in conservation and wildlife issues his entire life. He has written the Sportsman’s Corner since 1984 and has served as advisor to the Mahar Fish’N Game Club, counselor and director of the Massachusetts Conservation Camp, former Connecticut Valley District representative on the Massachusetts Fisheries and Wildlife Board, a Massachusetts Hunter Education Instructor and is a licensed New York hunting guide. He can be reached at mikeroche3@msn.com.