NH Ice Fishing Derby - Lake Winnipesaukee 2010

The fishing derby is the last weekend in January which is early this year. The snow covered peak in the background is Mt. Washington. It was clear enough to see from Moultonborough.

The forecast predicted very cold weather and 10 - 20 mph winds. They were correct. As we drove through Meredith it was -4ºF and windy. The ice status report said "Recent rainfall has left the surface of the ice extremely slick in spots, and the snow squalls of Thursday evening dropped just enough snow to hide the surface. Use extreme caution while walking around. Ice-in was officially declared for Lake Winnipesaukee on January 16th. There are still some thin spots so please use caution when venturing out on the ice. The current lake temp is 32.2ºF and dropping slowly. "

Steven, Jed, and John entered the derby and got set up on Friday. Big prizes for big fish. Doug went up on Friday night. I decided to go up early Saturday morning with Kevin. and would make a long day of it.

We had a good set up in the cove with the house close by. Luckily, the cove protected us from most of the wind. There wasn't any protection away from the cove where we put most of the traps. We had a fire on the ice in a fire pit.

Steven had control of the cooking on the ice. Kevin and I arrived to breakfast sandwiches with a venison patty, fried egg, and cheese on an english muffin hot off the grill. Throughout the day Steven cooked BBQ chicken, venison rib eye steak, kielbasa, etc.

Because the ice was very slippery, I brought spikes for my boots. Kevin ended up wearing them which didn't help me much.

The little ice hut the guys brought up had 2 small mice as passengers. This mouse didn't like the cold on the ice and was looking for cover in the jacket collar. The boys took both mice and their nest and kept them warm in a closed bucket.

Later in the morning 4 Game Wardens approached on ATV's to check fishing licenses. Riding ATV's all over the lake would seem like fun but they had strong winds and a lot of lake to cover.

There were other groups on the ice. Some had their trucks on the ice. I don't have the nerve to try that.

Steven helped Kevin use the ice auger to drill a 10 inch hole for a trap. Not like to olden days using a hand auger. We had 2 equipment boxes on skis which makes them easy to pull around on the lake.

We had 17 traps on the ice with different kinds of bait. Shinners, fish eggs, a couple big suckers, and smelt. (no mice)

Rick and Paula arrived early afternoon with their ice skates and had a good time. Kevin and I shot 100 rounds with the 9mm. I forgot the tape for the targets so we used cans. It was a bit cold to play football so just played catch waitng for the flags to pop.

Once it got dark we headed inside and had a great spaghetti dinner with venison meat sauce.

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