LACONIA — So much for those pre-tournament worries that the 27th annual Winni Derby would suffer from cool surface temperatures.
Although this year's brutal winter left the lake a few degrees cooler than ideal at the surface, anglers had plenty of luck Friday in Day 1 of the Derby.
Meredith native Alexander White pulled in the day's top landlocked salmon, catching a 4.28-pound, 22.25-incher early in the morning. He took home a brand new downrigger for topping the field at the awards ceremony at the Laconia Ice Arena.
But the catch of the day belonged to Farmington's Mark Thyng, who netted a monster 11.72 pound lake trout, one stretching over 30 inches and shattering last year's mark. Thyng has the odds on his side to take home one of the grand prises, a Starcraft SF 1420 DLX SC fishing boat with a Mercury 25 hp EFI motor, an EZ Loader galvanized trailer and Lowrance electronics. Newmarket's Jason Lambert was last year's winner in the lake trout division, winning with what now seems as a modest 7.70-pound, 27.875-inch trout.
How are the next couple of days going to go for Thyng? "Pins and needles," he said.
Although Derby Director Rick Davis thought the surface temperature, which hit 50 degrees on Thursday, might hurt the number of catches, as it has been regularly below the ideal of temp. of 54, the day ended up being a hit. Anglers brought 104 salmon to the weigh station Friday, along with eight lake trout, which already tops last year's total.
"The fish were on the feed early, until around 10:30 (a.m.) or so," Davis said. "Then they slowed down for a little bit and came back on the feed this afternoon. We had a spell out there where the sun came out and the lake went calm ... once that started to cloud in a little bit the fish started feeding again."
Davis expects a total of about 1,900 participants in this year's Derby.
Thyng reeled in his top-catch around 8 a.m., fighting with the trout for about 25 minutes before finally netting it and pulling it onboard.
"We finally figured out we need a bigger net on the boat," Thyng said with a smile shortly after receiving his Day 1 prize, a new downrigger.
Thyng will be anxiously listening to his radio while he fishes out the final two days of the tournament, hoping no one comes up with a trout that bests his. He just bought a new boat last fall, but there's always room for two.
"I think it's great," Thyng said. "I think it's awesome. I've been fishing here for seven or eight years now, and I finally caught a decent fish to win."
The final two days of the derby will be much more nerve racking for White, whose top salmon is a bit lighter than Lawrence Violette's winner last year. The Manchester native pulled in a 4.74 pounder to take home the grand prize.
White's catch came closer to daybreak. He caught the fish at 5:50 a.m., and although he knew it was a biggy, he had to wait until 8 a.m. to get an official weight. Friday's top salmon gave him a five-minute fight. He had to release his drag five or six times before finally getting it to the boat.
"We knew it was heavy then," White said, "So we got the killer net out."
White knows the chances of holding on to the top spot are slim with two more days of fishing ahead, but he's enjoying the sight of his name on the top of the leaderboard.
"I'm not getting my hopes up," White said. "I'm just happy to lead for a short time."
White said winning the top prize of the salmon division — a Starcraft 1600 Starfire SC fishing boat with a Mercury 50 hp EFI motor, an EZ Loader custom trailer and Lowrance electronics — would do wonders for his fishing website, fishlakewinni.com.
John Cody, of Hanover, pulled in the day's No. 2 salmon at 4.14 pounds, 23.25 inches. Kevin O'Neil, of Northfield, took third with a 3.88-pound, 23.62-inch catch.
Other locals from the Lakes Region who saw some luck on Day 1 include Belmont's Dana Pearl, who caught a 3.52-pound, 23-incher. William McClellan, of Alton Bay, had a catch that weighed in at 3.42-pounds, while Lena Poulin, of New Hampton, reeled in a 3.2 pounder.
In the lake trout division, Rodney Furbush, of Shapleigh, Maine, took second with a 9.22-pound, 29.75-inch trout. Robert Anderson, 15, of Dunbarton took third with a 5.1 pounder, while local 15-year-old Jacob O'Connor represented Franklin with a catch of 3.3 pounds, 24.875 inches.
In the junior salmon division, 15-year-old Sean Bready, of Northwood, won a fishing pole and reel with a top catch of 4.02 pounds. Six-year-old Christopher Gelinas, of Loudon, won a new rod of his own, reeling in a 3.5 pounder.
More of the $65,000 in prizes will be given out at awards ceremonies scheduled for tonight at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at the Laconia Ice Arena.
CENTER HARBOR — John Vier of New Hampshire Fish and Game gave a talk to a crowd of more than 100 people at the 4th annual gathering for www.fishlakewinni.com
members.
The focus of Vier's talk was on conservation of fish and preserving the populations of the various fish in New Hampshire lakes. Along with describing the average size of various fish, he talked about the different methods that were being used to keep the fish population at reasonable levels, and credited the Winni Fishing Derby for helping in that effort.
Vier said that smelt fish in the area were the natural food of salmons, and that they were important in ensuring the numbers of salmon were kept up.
"They drive the fishery," he said.
Vier also said that the perch, both white and yellow, are important fish for the lake also. He described 99 percent of the current white perch population is age-0, or fish not a year old yet, and that when the white perch population was up, the yellow perch population went down.
"There's never an easy answer," he said.
Vier talked about how runoff into the lake from rain was important because it provided nutrients to the fish to keep the populations up, but that currently with the lack of heavy rains or snow in the current spring season is a concern. Vier said that it was important to have populations at a reasonable level, so that fisherman can have good quality fish to catch.
"You can't fish that with traditional methods," he said.
Vier also addressed the concern of fish thrown back into the water with hook injuries. He said out of the fish population in Squam and Winnipesaukee lakes, an average of 20 percent of fish have major hook injuries. Vier said that fish with hook injuries don't grow as big as healthy fish, and should be caught if possible.
"I know that sometimes it can't be prevented," he said. "Things happen. But the idea is to minimize the injuries."
Also speaking at the event was author Dr. Hal Lyons, author of the book "Angling in the Smile of the Great Spirit," where he spoke with master anglers in New Hampshire and asked them for their secrets to great fishing.
"When people ask me for advice, first thing I tell them is to first read the book," he said, which generated laughter among the crowd.
Lyons was also going to present ten minutes of a video that will be released this summer, titled "A Love Affair of Angling," which tells the stories of several anglers and their love of fishing.
Raffle prizes were given away at the event. Items such as fishing poles, vests, T-shirts and fishing gear were raffled off.
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Saturday, February 9, 2008
RAY MONGEAU/CITIZEN PHOTO Paul Pawlowski and his son Justin from Westford, Mass. were at the free Ice Fishing Panel Discussion held at the Meredith Community Center Friday evening. This is their first year fishing in the Great Rotary Ice Fishing Derby.
The night before the start of the Great Rotary Fishing Derby, local Rotarians offered pointers on ice fishing to a group of eager anglers gathered at the Meredith Community Center.
The Friday evening event featured advice on everything from what kind of equipment works well on ice, how to set traps, and what bait to use.
"The idea is that some of these guys don't know and might want to learn a thing or two before they head out there," explained Larry Schultz, the derby's chairman.
A.J. Nute, owner of A.J. Bait and Tackle in Meredith, started by laying out a wide assortment of fishing tackle, such as floral carbon leaders, octopus or circle hooks, and tin sinkers. He also explained how to use an ice fish finder.
Paul Pawlowski and his son Justin said they came to improve their ice-fishing technique.
"This is really only our second year getting into ice fishing," Pawlowski explained.
Pawlowski owns a second home in Laconia but lives with Justin and his older son Eddy in Massachusetts. He recalled fishing with his father and grandfather years ago, and now is looking forward to making new fishing memories with his son.
John Vair, a biologist and conservation officer with New Hampshire Fish and Game, also gave some insight into how to catch one of the more sought-after catches, the cusk. An angler who landed a cusk won the derby last year.
Vair said the best chance one has to catch these nocturnal Lake Winnipesaukee natives is to fish just as dawn breaks at 4 a.m. or just after dusk. That is when they have their feeding frenzy, he said.
The best place to set up for cusk fishing is in a rocky area of water. As far as bait goes, the cusk are not picky. There are several laws that govern how a person can fish for cusk, all of which are outlined in a N.H. Fish and Game fishing booklet.
Also offering tips was Travis Williams, who runs a charter service with his partner called Cool Water Charters.
Over the summer, Williams landed an 18-pound lake trout, one of the largest ever caught on the lake.
"I'm just looking for tips," said Glenn Smith, who had taken a few charters with Williams in the past.
Smith recently moved to the region from Massachusetts, and he decided that ice fishing might be a good way to get through long winters.
Monday, January 7, 2008
MEREDITH — The Meredith Rotary Club has scheduled a free ice fishing panel discussion for Friday, Feb. 8, from 6-9 p.m. at the Meredith Community Center on Route 3 in Meredith to kick off the Great Ice Fishing Derby scheduled for the weekend of February 9-10.
"The panel discussion event we hosted in 2007 was such a great success, we've doing it again in 2008," according to Michael Pelczar, chairman of the 2008 Great Rotary Ice Fishing Derby. A.J. Nute, owner of AJ's Bait and Tackle in Meredith; Mark Bouchaine, of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department; and Travis Williams, a licensed New Hampshire fishing guide, will discuss ice fishing tips, techniques and equipment.
The Ice Fishing Derby is one of the top fund-raising events in the state, bringing visitors to New Hampshire from all over the country. Fishermen, their families and friends come to New Hampshire in hopes of snagging the heaviest Meredith Rotary-tagged Rainbow Trout claiming the grand prize.
