There have been many events in the past 12 months that have been canceled or greatly reduced as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The annual Great Meredith Rotary Fishing Derby, taking place over the weekend, seems to have escaped that trend, organizers hope.
“I think it’s looking pretty good,” said Fred Strader, chair of the Meredith Rotary Club’s derby committee. Early sales of tickets were actually up over recent years, though it’s hard to tell if that’s predictive of larger overall turnout or if more people are buying their tickets online instead of in person. However, the state’s Fish and Game Department saw an uptick in fishing license sales, Strader noted, which is good news for the derby.
“Ice fishing is something that matches the mood of the times. You can get outdoors and socially distance, and it looks like pretty good conditions for ice fishing.”
Things look good heading into the weekend, Strader said last week. “We have, looks like now, reasonable ice conditions, but I ask all fisherman to follow ice safety precautions, because ice is uneven.”
It has been seasonably cold for the past week, which has led to most parts of Lake Winnipesaukee being covered in ice. However, those arriving for Derby weekend were advised that this is a fairly recent development, said Meredith Fire Chief Ken Jones.
“Ten days ago, there were open spots all over this lake, the ice conditions are certainly not the same on different spots of the lake,” Jones said.
Indeed, earlier this month a father was snowmobiling on the lake with a 5-year-old passenger, when the machine broke through thin ice in a cove off of Meredith Neck, Jones said. “They got into the water and were able to escape off the ice.”
In places of the lake where the ice has been growing for weeks, people have reported up to 10 inches of solid ice – such as in Alton Bay, where the ice runway will be open for airplanes. But that isn’t a constant across Winnipesaukee.
“Where there was open water, I do not know current conditions,” Jones said. “Certainly out there in the Broads area of the lake, that’s always treacherous.”
Adding to the uncertainty were a couple of snowfall events that came along with the cold weather.
“Snow appears to insulate the ice, it certainly restricts or hampers the growth of the ice due to insulation conditions,” Jones said.
The only way to ensure safety is to assume that ice is unsafe unless otherwise verified.
“No ice is safe out there, it should be tested,” Jones said. “Be safe, take conditions as you go. That’s all I can say.”
Off Leavitt Beach in Meredith, Bryan and Samantha Fontaine, father and daughter, were baiting tip-ups as they decided where the best action was for the coming weekend.
Bryan has been coming to fish Winnipesaukee during the derby for about 20 years, he said, driving up from Hollis for the weekend.
“There’s plenty of good trout lakes down there, but I prefer fishing on Winni because it’s legal to cusk fish,” he said, referring to a species of bottom-feeders that are known to have superior flavor, especially in chowders. He said he usually fishes for rainbow trout during the day, and cusk at night.
For the past decade, he’s been joined by one of his five daughters, Samantha, who has enjoyed cooking and eating her catches since she was a small girl.
“I like the action of getting the fish, and the ice, pretty much everything about it, except the cold,” she said about ice fishing.
Bryan said he prefers ice fishing to warm-weather angling, because he can set his tackle and then have fun – barbecuing, snowmobiling or on-ice games such as “tomahawk throwing,” while he waits to see if a trap alerts him that something has taken the bait.
“You forget how difficult and bitter (cold) it is when you’ve got a flag,” he said.
Over on Meredith Bay, Sanbornton resident Jack Johnston set up his bobhouse among the many others clustered near the town boat launch.
“I started ice fishing last year,” he said. “I figured with coronavirus and quarantine, it’s something fun to do in the winter.”
Johnston is connected with the local hockey community, and he said he likes being near where the pond hockey tournament took place last weekend. He doesn’t expect to catch a prize fish as much as he does hope to catch a good time – as Meredith Bay has a reputation for people with a similar set of priorities.
“That’s exactly what we’re here for and it’s exactly what we heard,” Johnston said.
Eric Peterson, of Meredith, says he’s “not much of an ice fisherman,” though this will be his 15th derby. He is among those who populate Meredith Bay – this year his bobhouse is wrapped in a Bud Light motif.
“We go out and we try (but) you don’t catch anything in Meredith Bay. There’s a lot of traffic. We go down for the party,” Peterson said. He’ll have something to celebrate this year, as he and his fiancee, Shannon Tinker, planned to exchange wedding vows in front of the bobhouse at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
After that?
“We’ll be fishing,” Peterson said. “We’re there for the fun, people knocking on the door (of the bobhouse) and wanting to check it out. It’s a place to gather, a home away from home. Our lakefront property that I don’t have to pay taxes on.”
This year’s derby operated a little differently in order to discourage crowds from forming.
The fish leaderboard, which normally stood next to the derby headquarters and displayed the current leading fish, was strictly online this year.
The grand prize drawing, usually done live before a big crowd at the HQ, was also be done virtually. And, with regret, officials decided to cancel the kids’ fishing derby, Strader said.
However, to keep kids involved, he said that any angler, age 15 and younger, who submits a fish will be entered into a drawing for prizes, whether their fish is a winner or not.
Face coverings and social distancing were required when in line to purchase tickets, enter a fish for weigh-in, or when purchasing merchandise.
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