Our Maine Street's Aroostook Issue 8 : Spring 2011 | Page 17

Fort Kent International

Muskie Derby
by Dave Kelso

Forty years ago if someone had predicted Fort Kent
would be host to a muskie derby, not many people would
have believed it. 2011 marks the 8th
year for the Fort Kent International
Muskie Derby.
The St John River, its
branches and tributaries were once
known as a native brook trout
fishery. Anglers from all across
the country came into the North
Maine Woods to fish for the native
trout. Today, that has all changed
because of muskie, also known as
muskellunge.
Muskie were introduced
to the St. John Watershed by the
Quebec Government. Muskie were
stocked in Lac Frontier, Quebec
near the Maine and Quebec border
around 1980. The muskie were
stocked at the request of local
hotel and campground owners on
the lake that wanted a fish their
summer guests could catch rather
than the native brook trout. This is
the headwaters for the Northwest
Branch of the St. John River. It
was believed that muskie were a
sedentary fish and would not travel
far or leave the lake. The Quebec Fish and Wildlife

Department never consulted with Maine Inland Fisheries
and Wi