Meredith Rotary Fishing Derby

moose tracks · 02-08-2013, 04:16 PM

Is the Meredith Rotary Fishing Derby still on for this weekend?

Irish Choppers · 02-08-2013, 04:34 PM

I just checked the Rotary website and the derby is still on for the weekend!

Belmont Resident · 02-08-2013, 04:50 PM

The only way it would be canceled is for lack of ice or otherwise unsafe conditions. Per earlier post.
Have fun, it should be really interesting until tomorrow afternoon.

ishoot308 · 02-10-2013, 08:09 AM

Well I have done some crazy things over the years but attempting to ice fish during the peak of the storm has to rank right up there with the best of them!

We fished Friday and Saturday in a very wide open but safe portion of the lake. Other than the wind, Friday wasn't bad as we got off the lake at 4:00 P.M. before the storm hit really hard. Saturday however was just ridiculous! While we had tracked vehicles and GPS the conditions were just horrendous!

After getting stuck a few times in 4' snow drifts it took us over 2 hours to travel the 1 mile trek from shore to our bob house in complete white out conditions with wind gusts that would knock you over. I have never had my tracked Polaris Ranger stuck but this snow was so loose and deep it took everything it had just to get through it and even it got stuck a couple times, even the snowmobiles were getting stuck if you stopped at all!

When we finally made it to the bob house, everyone was too wiped out to even drill holes to start fishing.... or so I thought when one of my "Mensa" colleagues drilled a hole and attempted to get a line down in 40 mph gusts! We had a good chuckle as we watched him out the window from the warmth of the bob house...this was youtube material and I really wished I had brought my video camera!

When we finally got our strength back, we wrapped it up or should I say gave up and made the trek back to shore. We got stuck again numerous times and had to shovel out. All in all, it really sucked!!

We made it to the Ellacoya Barn and Grill which was surprisingly open and the looks were priceless as we walked in looking like abominable snowmen with frozen snot stuck to our face! The pizza and beer there really made a bad day a little better!!

Not fishing today!! Good luck to those that are!

Dan

camp guy · 02-10-2013, 02:21 PM

Say, ishoot308, sounds to me like you had a heck of a time, memorable, a little crazy, fun, and a good meal. This seems to me to be a whole lot better than riding out to your shack, drilling a hole, drowning a worm or something, drinking a beer, then riding back to shore and going home - sort of a boring day. Your day had stories galore, suspense, intrigue, and a happy ending with good food and good friends. You are a lucky guy, ishoot308, a lucky guy.

Belmont Resident · 02-10-2013, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ishoot308

Well I have done some crazy things over the years but attempting to ice fish during the peak of the storm has to rank right up there with the best of them!

We fished Friday and Saturday in a very wide open but safe portion of the lake. Other than the wind, Friday wasn't bad as we got off the lake at 4:00 P.M. before the storm hit really hard. Saturday however was just ridiculous! While we had tracked vehicles and GPS the conditions were just horrendous!

After getting stuck a few times in 4' snow drifts it took us over 2 hours to travel the 1 mile trek from shore to our bob house in complete white out conditions with wind gusts that would knock you over. I have never had my tracked Polaris Ranger stuck but this snow was so loose and deep it took everything it had just to get through it and even it got stuck a couple times, even the snowmobiles were getting stuck if you stopped at all!

When we finally made it to the bob house, everyone was too wiped out to even drill holes to start fishing.... or so I thought when one of my "Mensa" colleagues drilled a hole and attempted to get a line down in 40 mph gusts! We had a good chuckle as we watched him out the window from the warmth of the bob house...this was youtube material and I really wished I had brought my video camera!

When we finally got our strength back, we wrapped it up or should I say gave up and made the trek back to shore. We got stuck again numerous times and had to shovel out. All in all, it really sucked!!

We made it to the Ellacoya Barn and Grill which was surprisingly open and the looks were priceless as we walked in looking like abominable snowmen with frozen snot stuck to our face! The pizza and beer there really made a bad day a little better!!

Not fishing today!! Good luck to those that are!

Dan

Great story. I was LMAO reading it, owning both snowmobiles rated for mountain climbing and polaris RZR's I can just visualize the whole scene.
I'd be willing to bet after this year they may want to add having a blizzard the day before to one of the reasons to cancel it.

Merrymeeting · 02-10-2013, 02:54 PM

The timing of the storm was a shame for the Derby. We went to The Wolfeboro Inn tavern last night. Just a handful of folks there, including us.

I'm guess that The Inn and many other places around the lake were supposed to be fully booked. But with travel bans to the south, many could not make the trip. I hope the local businesses weren't hurt too badly, and that the extra business now that we have some decent snow will make up some.

Though I have been surprised at how little activity I've seen or heard on my end of the lake today given how nice it is out there.

ishoot308 · 02-11-2013, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camp guy

Say, ishoot308, sounds to me like you had a heck of a time, memorable, a little crazy, fun, and a good meal. This seems to me to be a whole lot better than riding out to your shack, drilling a hole, drowning a worm or something, drinking a beer, then riding back to shore and going home - sort of a boring day. Your day had stories galore, suspense, intrigue, and a happy ending with good food and good friends. You are a lucky guy, ishoot308, a lucky guy.

You know Camp Guy, you're absolutely right! I'm sure as the years go by my friends and I will embellish the story just a tad to make it even more interesting like most good fishermen do!! Who knows, after a couple cocktails those snowdrifts may get to be 10' and that 1 mile trek will become a 10 mile death march in our stocking feet while we pulled our snowmobiles back by hand!!

Thanks for finding some good in a lousy day!

Dan

SteveA · 02-12-2013, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ishoot308

I'm sure as the years go by my friends and I will embellish the story just a tad to make it even more interesting like most good fishermen do!!

If you're really a "good fisherman" the over/under on the embellishment is likely in measured in months, not years.

(and maybe days)

Great story, well told!

uglytunasaloona · 02-13-2013, 07:57 PM

My son came up on Thursday night and we headed out on Friday morning we decided to do a bit of warm up fishing. We hauled our shelter and equipment on to Paugaus and set up. After 3 hours it was a mess. We did not have even a single bite It took us forever to haul everything off of the ice as conditions had worsened.

On Saturday we decided to give it another shot. It took us an 1 ½ hours to haul our stuff on to the ice. My son's wife was the smart one and said I don't care about the entry fee I'm not going with you two clowns. The conditions were horrific. The winds were unbelievable and the blowing snow made it impossible to see where we were going. We got nothing not a bite. In fact when one of us went out to check the tip ups the wind would lift the shelter ½ foot off of the ice. Then some snowmobilers came through the area and ran over one of our tip ups. My son went to check on it and in searching for it stepped right in the hole where it should have been. Thank god he only bruised his shin and got incredibly wet and cold. We struggled off of the ice and eventually warmed up with a few beers and shots of bourbon.

The Sunday conditions were unbelievably beautiful. We set up in record time and were sitting in the shelter in T-shirts. We caught 2 pickerel which weighed over 3 lbs each and just missed the board. We enjoyed the sun and the other people on the ice and I was mildly surprised that I won $100 in one of the random drawings. Overall a crazy weekend which I would probably do again.

Definitely a few stories here.

Belmont Resident · 02-14-2013, 04:32 AM

With only nine posts and almost a week gone by, is it safe to say the derby didn't do very well this year?
I have also heard very little talk around the area concerning the derby.
Anyone know how low the numbers were?

hilltopper · 02-14-2013, 07:50 AM

I believe I read that last year they sold around 4,500 tickest and this year around 4,000. I'd be curious to know what percentage of those 4,000 braved the conditions and actually fished on Saturday.

Belmont Resident · 02-14-2013, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hilltopper

I believe I read that last year they sold around 4,500 tickest and this year around 4,000. I'd be curious to know what percentage of those 4,000 braved the conditions and actually fished on Saturday.

That is what I was wondering, how many actually attended?

02-08-2013, 04:16 PM	#1
moose tracks Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Loudon, Tennessee, foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains Posts: 283 Thanks: 340 Thanked 41 Times in 33 Posts	Meredith Rotary Fishing Derby Is the Meredith Rotary Fishing Derby still on for this weekend? __________________ Moose Tracks

02-08-2013, 04:34 PM	#2
Irish Choppers Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Worcester MA / Meredith NH / Ft. Lauderdale, FLA Posts: 89 Thanks: 20 Thanked 65 Times in 31 Posts	Fishing Derby I just checked the Rotary website and the derby is still on for the weekend!

02-08-2013, 04:50 PM	#3
Belmont Resident Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Belmont NH but prefer Jackman Maine Posts: 1,857 Thanks: 491 Thanked 409 Times in 251 Posts	It was discussed The only way it would be canceled is for lack of ice or otherwise unsafe conditions. Per earlier post. Have fun, it should be really interesting until tomorrow afternoon. __________________ "better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing, then a long life spent in a miserable way.."

02-10-2013, 08:09 AM	#4
ishoot308 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Gilford, NH / Welch Island Posts: 5,932 Thanks: 2,290 Thanked 4,943 Times in 1,918 Posts	Staying Home Today! Well I have done some crazy things over the years but attempting to ice fish during the peak of the storm has to rank right up there with the best of them! We fished Friday and Saturday in a very wide open but safe portion of the lake. Other than the wind, Friday wasn't bad as we got off the lake at 4:00 P.M. before the storm hit really hard. Saturday however was just ridiculous! While we had tracked vehicles and GPS the conditions were just horrendous! After getting stuck a few times in 4' snow drifts it took us over 2 hours to travel the 1 mile trek from shore to our bob house in complete white out conditions with wind gusts that would knock you over. I have never had my tracked Polaris Ranger stuck but this snow was so loose and deep it took everything it had just to get through it and even it got stuck a couple times, even the snowmobiles were getting stuck if you stopped at all! When we finally made it to the bob house, everyone was too wiped out to even drill holes to start fishing.... or so I thought when one of my "Mensa" colleagues drilled a hole and attempted to get a line down in 40 mph gusts! We had a good chuckle as we watched him out the window from the warmth of the bob house...this was youtube material and I really wished I had brought my video camera! When we finally got our strength back, we wrapped it up or should I say gave up and made the trek back to shore. We got stuck again numerous times and had to shovel out. All in all, it really sucked!! We made it to the Ellacoya Barn and Grill which was surprisingly open and the looks were priceless as we walked in looking like abominable snowmen with frozen snot stuck to our face! The pizza and beer there really made a bad day a little better!! Not fishing today!! Good luck to those that are! Dan Last edited by ishoot308; 02-10-2013 at 10:57 AM.

02-10-2013, 02:21 PM	#5
camp guy Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: formerly Winter Harbor, still Wolfeboro Posts: 1,135 Thanks: 284 Thanked 480 Times in 271 Posts	Meredith Rotary Fishing Derby Say, ishoot308, sounds to me like you had a heck of a time, memorable, a little crazy, fun, and a good meal. This seems to me to be a whole lot better than riding out to your shack, drilling a hole, drowning a worm or something, drinking a beer, then riding back to shore and going home - sort of a boring day. Your day had stories galore, suspense, intrigue, and a happy ending with good food and good friends. You are a lucky guy, ishoot308, a lucky guy.

The Following User Says Thank You to Irish Choppers For This Useful Post:
moose tracks (02-09-2013)

The Following User Says Thank You to Belmont Resident For This Useful Post:
moose tracks (02-09-2013)

The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to ishoot308 For This Useful Post:
Belmont Resident (02-10-2013), brk-lnt (02-10-2013), Major problem (02-10-2013), Pontoon Goon (02-10-2013), Resident 2B (02-10-2013), trfour (02-10-2013)

02-10-2013, 02:54 PM	#7
Merrymeeting Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Merrymeeting Lake, New Durham Posts: 2,217 Thanks: 299 Thanked 795 Times in 365 Posts	The timing of the storm was a shame for the Derby. We went to The Wolfeboro Inn tavern last night. Just a handful of folks there, including us. I'm guess that The Inn and many other places around the lake were supposed to be fully booked. But with travel bans to the south, many could not make the trip. I hope the local businesses weren't hurt too badly, and that the extra business now that we have some decent snow will make up some. Though I have been surprised at how little activity I've seen or heard on my end of the lake today given how nice it is out there. Last edited by Merrymeeting; 02-10-2013 at 06:42 PM.

02-13-2013, 07:57 PM	#10
uglytunasaloona Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Laconia Posts: 12 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	It was a crazy weekend My son came up on Thursday night and we headed out on Friday morning we decided to do a bit of warm up fishing. We hauled our shelter and equipment on to Paugaus and set up. After 3 hours it was a mess. We did not have even a single bite It took us forever to haul everything off of the ice as conditions had worsened. On Saturday we decided to give it another shot. It took us an 1 ½ hours to haul our stuff on to the ice. My son's wife was the smart one and said I don't care about the entry fee I'm not going with you two clowns. The conditions were horrific. The winds were unbelievable and the blowing snow made it impossible to see where we were going. We got nothing not a bite. In fact when one of us went out to check the tip ups the wind would lift the shelter ½ foot off of the ice. Then some snowmobilers came through the area and ran over one of our tip ups. My son went to check on it and in searching for it stepped right in the hole where it should have been. Thank god he only bruised his shin and got incredibly wet and cold. We struggled off of the ice and eventually warmed up with a few beers and shots of bourbon. The Sunday conditions were unbelievably beautiful. We set up in record time and were sitting in the shelter in T-shirts. We caught 2 pickerel which weighed over 3 lbs each and just missed the board. We enjoyed the sun and the other people on the ice and I was mildly surprised that I won $100 in one of the random drawings. Overall a crazy weekend which I would probably do again. Definitely a few stories here.

02-14-2013, 04:32 AM	#11
Belmont Resident Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Belmont NH but prefer Jackman Maine Posts: 1,857 Thanks: 491 Thanked 409 Times in 251 Posts	Curious With only nine posts and almost a week gone by, is it safe to say the derby didn't do very well this year? I have also heard very little talk around the area concerning the derby. Anyone know how low the numbers were? __________________ "better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing, then a long life spent in a miserable way.."

02-14-2013, 07:50 AM	#12
hilltopper Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Meredith Posts: 716 Thanks: 25 Thanked 105 Times in 66 Posts	I believe I read that last year they sold around 4,500 tickest and this year around 4,000. I'd be curious to know what percentage of those 4,000 braved the conditions and actually fished on Saturday.