Derby champ hauls in 40 and 1/2-inch muskie

FORT KENT - The big winner on Sunday was Kevin Bossie of Madawaska.

On Saturday, Bossie landed a 40 and 1/2-inch muskie that stayed at the top of the leader board until the derby officially ended at 5 p.m. on Sunday.

His 18 pound and 15 ounce fish netted a prize of $2000 plus $100 more for having the biggest fish on Saturday.

Bossie is nonchalant about his big catch, starting out the story with, "I had to take a nap in the afternoon."

He set his alarm so he could be on the St. John River around 5 p.m.

He went out in his canoe, cast his line only one time, and wammo, he hooked the big one.

As he fought to bring the fish in, Bossie took his cell phone out and called his brother, Dave Bossie, who was also fishing that day.

Kevin said he had hooked a fish, but he didn't think it was big enough to bring in, and he was wondering whether Dave might want to have it.

Dave asked about the size of the fish, to which Kevin responded that it was "...half the length of my rod."

Kevin finally hauled the nearly 19-pound fish into his boat.

Over the phone, the two tried to figure out how big was the fish.  Kevin had no tape measure and his brother was miles away.

Finally they came up with a way to estimate the length of the fish.  Kevin said, "I had to measure it with a dollar bill and I counted $6."

Bossie said there was nothing special about the tackle he used, no expensive scent or fancy ritual.  He said, "It was beating around in the back of the truck."

He said he'll probably put some of the prize money in the bank, and "the rest of it, I'll probably drink beer."

Ken Jandreau of Fort Kent landed the second place muskie, at 39 and 5/8 inches.  His prize was $1500.

Eric Gardner of Allagash brought in the third place fish at 38 and 5/8 inches and a prize of $1000.

In the youth division, only one fish went on the leader board.  Nathan Bourgoin, 12, of Fort Kent caught a 36-incher and earned a $1000 savings bond.

Conditions for the derby were quite warm this year, with the mercury topping out in the 80s for each day.

Derby committeeman Phil Soucy said, "It went fantastic.  Unfortunately it was too hot for the fishermen and too hot for the fish."

Despite the heat, approximately 300 anglers registered for the derby this year.

Howard Horne of Milo Maine received the $500 prize for having caught a muskie and travelled the furthest.

Along with the Muskie Derby, thousands of people came to Fort Kent over the weekend to enjoy the Ploye Festival.

The Ploye Festival began Friday, and that night saw two of the most important features of the event.

The Ploye Eating contest came first, with Jordan Labbe in the 5-9 years category eating five ployes.

In the second age group, 10-14 years, Mathew Bouchard managed to devour five ployes.

It was 15-19 age group where the competition became serious.  After a tie of 9 ployes each between Jason Lesaldo and Max Jandreau, organizers held a face-off in which Jandreau seven more ployes to Lasaldo's six.

Jandreau remarked, "It's what I do."

Also on Friday, the Bouchards created their legendary World's Biggest Ploye, a 12-foot diameter ploye that fed several hundred people who had gathered to watch the well-known event.  One family member said the giant ploye takes 60 pounds of the Bouchard ploye mix.

On Saturday, the people on Main Street saw the Antique Tractor Pull and the Mini-tractor/ATV Pull in the fields just east of Riverside Park.

For the mini-tractor pull, Joshua Taggett, son of Carolyn and Todd, took first place in the 4-wheel drive category on a Mahindra tractor.

The winner of the 2-wheel drive division was Danielle Nadeau on a Club Cadet.

For the ATV competition, Mark Paradis took first on a 350 Polaris Trail Boss and Brian Daigle came in second on a Polaris 202 Sportsman's 400.

John Bouchard coordinated the antique tractor pull that also occurred on Saturday.  He said that approximately 50 tractors competed across the day.  The colorful and unique tractors from bygone days hauled the sled with its weighted box.

The tractors kicked up dust as farmers and collectors stood by the sidelines or sat on their tractors discussing their hobby and sport.