Most people who’ve driven past Lake Massabesic in winter assume there’s nothing happening out there. It’s Manchester’s water supply. The shoreline is managed, the access points are limited, and the whole place has a kind of municipal seriousness to it that discourages casual wandering. So when someone tells you there’s a full-on ice fishing derby happening out on that lake, with a few hundred people drilling holes and dragging shelters across the ice, it sounds wrong.
It isn’t wrong. The LaBonte’s Ice Fishing Derby runs every February, organized by LaBonte’s Sporting Goods, which has been selling fishing tackle and hunting licenses out of its Auburn Street location for decades. The store itself is worth a visit — it’s the kind of independent sporting goods shop that stopped being common, with actual staff who fish and know what they’re talking about — but the derby is a different thing entirely.
The event typically draws somewhere between 300 and 500 anglers, depending on ice conditions and weather. Registration runs through the store and online, and fees are modest — usually around $20 to $25 for adults, less for kids — which covers your entry and makes you eligible for the prize pool, which can get surprisingly competitive. Cash prizes, gear, the usual derby structure. But the atmosphere is what catches you off guard.
Massabesic freezes reliably in a good winter, and the southern end near the Route 28 bypass access is where most of the action concentrates. By early morning on derby day, you’ve got an improvised small city out on the ice — tip-ups flagging, hand augers and power augers running, portable shelters dotting the white expanse, thermoses being passed around. The city reservoir backdrop is a strange and specific thing: you can see the Manchester skyline faintly in the distance, and you’re aware you’re fishing inside city limits, which never quite stops being odd.
Yellow perch are the primary target. Pickerel show up too. Neither is going to make the fishing magazines, but they’re cooperative in winter, and catching them through eight inches of ice is its own satisfaction. Kids tend to have an easier time staying patient in the cold when there’s a flag going up every few minutes somewhere nearby. This is a genuinely good family outing if you dress the right way, which means layers under a wind shell and waterproof boots, full stop — no shortcuts on February lake ice.
LaBonte’s stocks everything you’d need if you don’t own gear: tip-ups, jigging rods, wax worms, spikes. Rental equipment is trickier, but staff can point you toward options. First-timers are genuinely welcome; the derby isn’t a closed club. Someone will almost always help you rig up if you’re standing there looking confused.
The timing matters. Ice conditions vary year to year, and the derby gets postponed or relocated if conditions aren’t safe — the organizers take that seriously. Check LaBonte’s website or call the shop as February approaches. When it runs, it usually starts around 7 a.m. and wraps by early afternoon, with the weigh-in and prizes at the end.
It’s not what you’d picture when you think of Manchester in winter. That’s exactly the point.
