TEMPLETON — The faithful arrive in the early morning darkness wearing headlamps, lugging huge augers, and tugging sleds.
Unpacking all that stuff from the back of their trucks, they look possessed in the glow of the red taillights. They are.
Ernest Hemingway had it right when he said: “Anyone can be a fisherman in May.”
They are also obsessed with finding the right place, especially this year when safe ice is late to arrive and in some places never does.
Ed Duane, a high school teacher from Marshfield, says he has to hit the road to find safe ice.
“The main story here is the lack of ice all over New England,” he says “It makes me sad.”
Duane and many of the 41 other anglers arrive at Partridgeville Pond before dawn for the Acadien Social Club First Annual Fishing Derby held at Templeton Fish and Game Club.
Jay Barlow, the tournament organizer, says he expected a much higher turnout. A January tournament canceled due to thin ice apparently scared people off.
“People didn’t believe me when I said there was 7 inches of ice,” says Barlow, who adds that he repeatedly measured every part of the pond for ice safety.
Once the sun rises on this day in the second weekend of February, there is no wind, just warm rays and temperatures climbing into the mid-50s. The afternoon sun reflects off the ice, forming puddles of slush.
Chris Rameau, of Fitchburg, says climate change is making his life difficult, both professionally and recreationally.
His winter job is plowing driveways, and there’s been little heavy snow this winter and a lot of risky ice.
“It’s definitely global warming, for sure,” he says. “We’re slowly killing ourselves. It sucks, but it is what it is.”
He pulls a nice-sized pickerel out of the ice hole and smiles. “Just got to enjoy it while you can.”
Nearby, families are having fun, and children are squealing with excitement. Plenty of fish are caught using shiners, weighed, and then gently released, their tails flapping bye-bye as they disappear into the inky black water under the ice.
It’s an eight-hour party without hearing a single cellphone ring or a kid looking at a computer screen.
Elise Sabolevski, 9, of Winchendon, has no problem with the catch-and-release rules.
“Catch some bass. Then let ‘em go and let them grow,” she says. “It felt awesome.”
But her dad, Eric, worries that this sport is on life support.
“It’s my passion, my whole family has done it my whole life,” he says. “It’s like a dying art, it’s not part of the season anymore.”
Mass Wildlife strongly advises caution for anyone embarking on ice fishing.
“Four inches of clear, newly formed ice may support one person on foot, while a foot or more of old, partially thawed ice may not,” according to its website.
Even Maine has had a handful of ice fishing derby cancellations — and two fatalities so far this year. Earlier this month, an 88-year-old grandfather died when his all-terrain vehicle broke through the ice while he was returning from ice fishing with his son and two grandsons at Spring River Lake, according to the Associated Press. On Jan. 26 the town manager of Carmel, Maine, died after rescuing his 4-year-old son when they broke through ice on Etna Pond, the AP reported.
But with some care, the Templeton fishing tournament still has its rewards — including prizes of $100 for the biggest bass, pickerel, and crappie. plus big-time bragging rights.
Duane, who caught the largest bass of the day, is ecstatic. He and his buddies took four of nine medals. For him, this is heaven.
“It’s like you’re fishing while you’re tailgating,” he says.
“I love it.”
Stan Grossfeld can be reached at stanley.grossfeld@globe.com.