Fishing Derby participant numbers
 

I was wondering if anyone knew how many participants this year compared to last year? Did not hear anything about it. Honestly I was quite suprised the debry was held with the condtions of the ice being what they were.

I don't have numbers, but based just on what I saw, it appears that participation was way down this year.

Merrymeeting usually has up to a dozen anglers on the main bay during the derby. This year there was 1. While Alton Bay was busy (see my photos in PhotoPost), it appeared to be much less crowded than other years, and based on our very short wait for a table in Wolfeboro on Saturday night, I'd say it wasn't very busy their either.

Down about 10%...
 

...according to the Derby chair, as reported in the Citizen today.

Not Bad!
 

Wow, down only 10% ,...that's really not bad considering the conditions all over the state!

Derby Participation
 

The 10% seems low to me also from what was seen on my side of the lake. But when you think about it, folks likely purchase tickets in advance to support the charity and then just didn't show up which would keep the ticket sales number up. Regardless, it was easily 50% off in the number of fishermen on this end of things.

I walked from Brewster Beach in Wolfeboro to past Clark Point and it felt like the number of anglers looked to be similar to last year when I did the same thing. I drove by Alton Bay Friday and Saturday mid afternoon and at dusk. It was less then last year but there were still quite a few folks out there too.

I think it was a combination of both the bad ice condtions and the economy, and throw in the price of gas (which is disgusting). I hope the summer season is not slow!

We made the trip up from Florida for it this year (odd I know, but we love the winter). Ice conditions were not ideal, but none the less we had a great time. I also noticed things seemed to be a bit slower around town when compared to past years I was up. I dont know much, but it seemed like participation was down a little on Sunday due to the cold. Looking out over Wolfeboro Bay it seemed like less were out there vs Saturday.

What a change 24 hours brought. Perfect conditions on Saturday, no wind, a balmy 32 degrees and a good bite. Then came Sunday with a bitter wind and temps in the low teens! BRRRRRRRR!!

Also keep in mind that with the ice conditions on the big lakes people decided to fish elsewhere. Waukewan was busier this year than years past. The same was probably true at other smaller lakes in the area. I'm happy to hear ticket sales were only down 10% and the doomsday scenarios some folks were predicting did not take place. I support the derby every year whether I'm able to fish or not...this year I was not.

Here are the numbers for tickets sold that was in the Laconia Sun...

Tracy Acquilla, derby chairman, said participation was down about 10-percent. The latest figures showed 4,366 ticket sales this year, compared to more than 4,700 last year.

http://www.laconiadailysun.com/node/127891/18661

Derby numbers
 

Yes, the ticket sales were off by about 10% which is not terrible. I think what folks did not see were all the vendors that are usually on ice, and create quite a crowd. Also, last year we had a helicopter company selling 'copter rides, and he wasn't there ... Interlakes High and the Boy Scouts were not out on the ice either selling food because the ice just wasn't thick enough to support crowds of people. Everyone I spoke with (and I was in the trailer all day, both days) had a great time. There were lots of fish caught! A huge number of tagged rainbows, too. The line on Saturday to register fish near closing time at 4pm went from the window (lake side) of the trailer all the way up to Route 3. It took us until 5pm to register all the fish. Granted, the 2012 Derby brought in less money, which means there is less to go out to community programs, scholarships, etc., because every dollar that comes through the door - goes right out again. We are all volunteers. The only thing we had to pay for this year was new fish boards (new species added) and new computers for the trailer. We will take a few weeks to recover, and start planning the Derby for 2013. Thanks everyone.

Glad it didn't turn out to be the horror show of drownings that a few members insisted on preaching about to you and the rest of the Rotary.Keep up the great work.

Thanks!
 

Thanks for the kind words... I think that people tend to forget that this is really a statewide competition, we stock5 or 6 lakes every year, not just Winnipseaukee. We had some big fish from Winnisquam this year, and also from Big Squam-and several from Lake Wentworth and Newfound (although we don't stock Newfound Lake). Believe, nobody is more concerned about the safety of the fishermen than the Rotarians. That being said, I personally would never take a Ford F150 out onto a lake - anywhere!! But there were plenty of them at 20 Mile Bay. Time to start planning for next year's Derby.

Thanks again for a great weekend! I took about 100 pics in Wolfeboro Bay on Saturday. I'm almost ready to start uploading them. After I got permission to take the pictures I told them about Winnipesaukee.com and to keep an eye out for the posts. If you're out there I'll start posting them soon.

Here's a couple of cute ones from Saturday, up by the Board:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...bride1crop.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...bridecrop2.jpg

Love the camo bridal boots! That is one lucky Guy.

Great minds think alike......
 

And from this angle...............

I like yours better!

brrrr....
 

I bet they can't wait to get back to their trailer

Hi JP, I'm curious about your statement about getting permission to take pictures. I'm not challenging you. Rather I want to understand if I violated some rule and wanting to avoid an issue in the future.

I took pictures on Alton Bay on Saturday morning and posted some of them here. I had assumed that since it was a public event, on state property (the lake), that there would be no issue taking pictures.

What permission did you need, and from whom was it needed?

Thanks

I don't believe that I need permission to take pictures of people in a public space as long as I'm not going to profit from the pictures. But I ask permission because sometimes I get close enough to the people where I "invade their space". I was also trying to get them to visit our great site so I told them where I was going to post the images and wether that was OK. I always ask if youngsters are involved.

Was there a ceremony on the ice? Did they exchange lures and ride off in a snowmobile drawn carraige? I hope they stayed in the honymoon bobhouse suite.:laugh:

Here is a response on the Canon Camera Forum. (the site is excellent and is very similar to the "Format" of the Winni.com)

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=864331

Re: What are the Laws on posting photos of people

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote:
Originally Posted by jhuckelberry
yes, you are allowed to post the pictures. If not, parts of this forum wouldn't be here.

You only need permission when you are selling photos for commercial use. You can even sell them as art without a release, just can't sell them for advertising use.

Just a caveat: Where US state legislatures and courts have specifically defined it, "commercial use" refers to promoting a product or service other than the particular image in question. Selling that particular image is not "commercial use."

However, if you are offering your services as a photographer, then putting the photographs on your website as examples of what you can do for a prospective client is also "commercial use."

But if your website is purely a gallery and does not solicit future work, then it's "sale of art," which is permitted by the First Amendment (the courts have ruled that prohibiting an artist from earning a living through selling his art--including advertising the sale of that art--is an inhibition of his ability to create his art).

But, a further caveat: The First Amendment does not protect you from legal liability if you harm the subject by submitting her to "undue public humiliation and ridicule." In fact, it doesn't even protect the news media. The textbook example is a photograph taken by a news photographer of a woman at a carnival ride just as a gust of wind blew her dress over her waist. The newspaper published it as "Carnival Fun." The woman--a quiet suburban mother of two--sued for "undue public humiliation and ridicule" and won.

What is "undue public humiliation and ridicule?" The court will determine that based on the "reasonable man" concept. A shot of a man simply watching a baseball game would not be considered "undue public humiliation and ridicule," even if he was supposed to be at work, had called in sick, and his boss later saw the picture. The picture is simply of a man watching a baseball game.

That there guy used a whole bunch more words than I did. He must be a dang bit smarterer.