HARRISON — The fourth annual Harrison Recreation Youth and Family Ice Fishing Derby is set for next month on Long Lake.

The starting point and weigh-in station will be at the boat launch at the head of Long Lake next to Route 117.

Recreation Director Paula Holt said the derby will start at 7 a.m. on Feb. 25 with registration available at the boat launch. Preregistrations can also be made prior to the derby at the town office Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

A copy of the rules and regulations can be picked up at the Harrison Town Office or downloaded from the Harrison website under recreation. Only fish caught in Long Lake are eligible for prizes.

The derby will feature a sanction area where parents and guardians will not be required to obtain a Maine fishing license to help their children fish or to fish themselves.

This year, the derby will feature a two-day sportsmen show at the Town Office on Route 35. There will be hot food, hot drinks and sodas available for all who stop by.

The Town Office will also be the focal point for the raffles. Raffle prizes can be viewed and tickets purchased at the Town Office as well as at the boat launch.

Hamburgers, hot dogs and a warming fire will offered at the boat launch both days at lunch time.

Officials are recommending that entrants preregister. The first 100 children under age 16 who register will receive an ice fishing tip-up. Bait buckets and bait will also be available at the boat launch both days for registered derby participants. There is a limited supply of bait buckets.

There will be three Youth Life Time Fishing Licenses given away. One has been donated by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and will be given to the child with the most first-place finishes in open lake (outside the sanctioned area). A second has been donated by Harrison’s Western Maine Fish and Game Club and will be given to the child who catches the smallest legal fish (not including bait). David and Heidi Dennison of Anglers Attic in Derry, N.H., have donated a third license to the child with the most first-place finishes in the sanctioned area.

Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries’ program Hooked on Fishing not on Drugs has sponsored the derby for the past three years. The derby will raffle an ice shack with all the proceeds donated to Hooked on Fishing not on Drugs.

The ice shack raffle tickets can be prepurchased at the Harrison Town Office for $5. Raffle tickets are $1 each. Registration for children under 16 is $2; adults (16 and older) is $5. Holt said participants need to be registered in the derby to be eligible for prizes, but not the raffles.

The prizes and raffles will be awarded and drawn at the Town Office at 4 p.m.  Sunday, Feb. 26. There will be an hourly raffle starting at 9 a.m. Saturday and running until 3 p.m. Sunday. There will also be a free raffle for children under 16 who put their registration ticket in the bucket. The children have to be be present at the drawing to win their prize.

For more information, contact Holt at 207-583-2241 or [email protected] or derby coordinator Joe Jack at 207-730-1288 or [email protected].