Conference wahoo::fishing

    Thanks for posting that Ed.
    
    I'm going to try and make it this year, anyone else? 
    
    donmac

    	YO ;-)
    
    	I've never been, but I hear it can be a "wild" experience
    	trying to deal with the winds, the crowds, and the general
    	"mayhem" that is found at that lake any time of the year.
    
    	I'd love to go, just so all youse guys with experience
    	can watch me (still wet behind the ears) take home that boat
    	combo.
    
    	I'll entertain offers as soon as I get it home!!!
    
    
    
    		Leadcore......

	Heaviest tagged Trout:  	17' Boston Whaler Montauk
					88hp Evinrude
					Skipper "b" trailer

	Second heaviest tagged trout: 	$2,000.00


	Any other tagged trout:		$50.00


	Grand Prize ticket drawing, 4:00 PM Sunday: $5,000.00


	Saturday 4:00 PM ticket drawing: $500.00


	Ticket stub drawins of $30.00 every half hour on Saturday
	and Sunday 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM


	The five heaviest perch, white perch, pickerel, cusk and bass
	will be hung on the board for prizes of $100, $90, $70, and $60
	EACH DAY, each species.


	$500 for the heaviest fish other than lake trout in each category.


	The ten heaviest trout will be hung on the board for prizes of 
	$150, $140, $130, $120, $110, $100, $90, $80, $70, $60 EACH DAY.


	Rotary Trophy Awards:
		Heaviest Lake Trout:		$1,000.00
		Second Heaviest Lake Trout:	$  500.00


	Trout Census report drawing.		$100

1. No tagged trout under 24" may be entered except a tagged trout 18" or 
   over.

2. The fish registration deadline for Sat. prizes is 3:30 PM Sat. and
   for Sun. prizes is 3:30 Sun. Fish may be registered between 4:00 PM
   Sat. for Sun. prizes.

3. Fish entered in Saturday competition are not eligible for Sunday 
   competition.

4. Fish must be legally and freshly caught Sat. or Sun. from any fresh NH 
   waters by a ticket holder. A ticket will be required for identification
   when entering a fish or claiming a prize. Weight at time of entry 
   determines winners. In a case of a tie, length determines winnners. 
   Earliest entry is final tie breaker. Anglers entering fish eligible 
   for prizes of $500 or more willbe required to sign an affidavit, under 
   penalty of perjury, certifying the date, time, lake and person 
   catching the fish.

5. Meredith Rotary reserves the right to open any fish.

6. Entered fish become the property of the Derby. Boarded fish will be 
   retained until 4:30 each day - etc, etc...

7. All lake trout tagged by the NH Fish and Game Dept. are eligible for 
   tagged fish prizes. Tags must be attached and legible. Any signs of 
   tampering may result in disqualification.

8. (warnings regarding thin ice and disclaimer of injury liability.)

9. All anglers must comply with Fish and Game laws. No Salmon are to be 
   taken through the ice.

10.All participants hereby accept these rules. Derby judges settle all 
   disputes.

    Where is the headquaters / weigh-in site located?
    
    Don Mac - thinking of reserving a room for that Sat night...

    Hesky Park near junction of Routes 3 & 25, Meredith, NH
    
    They will have Derby Tickets, fishing licenses, and refreshments,
    too.
    

>>1. No tagged trout under 24" may be entered except a tagged trout 18" or 
>>   over.

    hmmm... didn't know what to make of that line when I read it yesterday,
    but after reading an article on the derby last night I think
    the above live should read something like:             
                                              
    No trout under 24" may be entered unless they are tagged, then they
    may be entered if they are 18" or over.  
        
    Don Mac

� 1. No tagged trout under 24" may be entered except a tagged trout 18" or 
� over.

Okay, okay!! So... a little typo!?! Arrest me for lousy typing!!!
    
It should read "No LAKE trout under 24" may be entered except a tagged
trout 18" or over."
    

    Does anyone know where I can purchase a topo / depth chart of the
    lake?  I'll be up there on Saturday, doing a little scouting -
    fishing in preperation for the Derby.  If your heading up, try
    and find room now, I had a hell of a time finding something.
    Either all full, or they want a two night minumum stay.
    How's the ice?  Anyboby up there this past weekend?
    
    Gone fishing
    

    There is a large topo map available for Winni that's great.
    It's available at many tackle shops and marinas around NH,
    most of the shops in that area probably carry it.
    
    don mac

    Myself and 3 friends went on a pre-derby scouting expidition to
    Winni this weekend.  Well, it looks like the Whaler will be safe
    for the rest of you that may be entering.  In 7 hours of fishing
    we had 4 flags, not a whole ton of action.  We brought up a 10"
    salmon and a 12" laker, both went back down the hole of course.
    The other two flags came up empty.  We were just off of Diamond
    Island, but I'm now wondering if it may be better just off of
    Meridith, where the majority of bob houses were located. 
    Any helpful hints for a Winni rookie???
    BTW  There was a good 6" of ice across the lake, plenty for 
    snowmobiles and bob houses, but I don't think I'd take the truck
    out there just yet :*}
    
    Gone Fishing
    

I'd try in the channel off Spindle Point. We usually do okay there in the 
Spring.

Art

    Okay, who all is going to be in the Winni Derby this year?
    

    I'll be there, think I'll try the area around Diamond Island first.
    
    Brian ( Gone Fishing ) Gaffney, BXC facility
    

    my supposed partner (and his snowmobiles) backed out on me last
    night.... not sure if I'll be there at the moment...  donmac

    I'll be going to the winni derby again this year.  Last year I tried
    off of Rattlesnake island on Sat and in Meredith bay on Sunday.  I
    think this year I'll try Alton Bay to start on Sat and Finish up again 
    in Meredith.

    Convinced another friend to go this year so between him my wife, and
    my brother we should be able to cover more ground.

    I'm still trying to find the right depth to catch lakers at, I seemed
    to have my best luck right around 80ft.  But they were too small to
    keep.  Anyone out there have any recommendations?

    George

For you guys that have fished the Winni Derby before - how important is 
it to have some sort of shelter out there? I will be doing the Derby for 
the first time this weekend, and I expect it may be rather cold by then.
I know how to dress for the cold, but just the same, it may not be good 
enough. Am I getting a little over-concerned, of should I whip up some
kind of a bob house to bring with me?

Thanks,

Ed

    Anyone know howthick the ice is up there?  It's been pretty warm lately,
    is the lake completely frozen over?

    George

    It hasn't been quite as warm up there as it has been down here,
    and the ice was 12-16" thick two weeks ago.
    
    Ed
    

    Ok,  thanks for the info.

    George

    Can anybody tell me if it is illegal to use shrimp for bait in NH?
    I can't find anything about it in the little book they give you
    with the license, but a guy at work here insists that using shrimp
    for bait is illegal. I've never hear that before, myself, and there's
    an awful lot of hearsay that goes around in the fishing world.
    
    Can anYbody comment on this?
    
    Thanks,
    
    Ed
    
    PS I don't knOw why I should even try shrimp, since it seems to
       be the favorite ice-fishing bait of the notorious "Clan".
    

 Using shrimp for bait is not illegal. There are enough other things that are
illegal. don't make more. :-)

 I assume you are talking about for ice fishing. Ask this guy where he gets his 
information. I bet "somebody" told him.

 The Doctah

    	The only bait I've seen that's illegal is spiny-finned fish
    as in pickerel, goldfish, perch, horned pout, carp, etc.
    
    	If you really want to be sure, just give the F+G law enforcement
    # a call (271-3127 or 271-3128). 
    	
    	Just to be on the safe side, you may want to get the name of
    the person you talked to as some things may lend themselves to
    different interpretations at times. By knowing who you talked to
    they at least know you made the appropriate effort to find out.
    
    	RAYJ
    

    I asked a NH F&G officer about shrimp last night. He said it's
    perfectly legal. 
    
    Then he asked me if I got that idea from the Clan!!

    Ed
    

    Well, it was absolute HELL out there on Saturday.  Freezing temps,
    high winds, blowing snow, no flags.  Sometimes I wonder what makes
    me do it.  Sunday was much more enjoyable, the weather moderated
    and I actually got a flag.  I didn't get to pull in my fish though,
    as I was off on a snowbile looking at the vans and trucks that went
    through the ice on Saturday.  I saw 3 of them, I heard there were
    7 that went through.  By 4pm on Sunday, none of them had been
    pulled out, all were frozen in solid.  What a mess!
    btw, my only fish was a 14 inch cusk.  We had one other flag, an
    18" salmon, which my buddy cut off at the hole.
    Looking forward to Moosehead this weekend
    
    Gone fishing
    

    Re.25

    Yeah it was cold and slow on Sat.  I didn't see a single fish caught
    around us, we were at the mouth of Alton Bay.  Sunday was much warmer,
    and my wife caught a small laker while I was off getting more bait,
    it was only 16" though.  It was only me and a friend on Sat and me and
    my wife on sunday, hard to cover much ground with only 4 tip-ups.

    Anyone see that the derby was on the national news sunday and Good 
    Morning America today?

    George

 >   Well, it was absolute HELL out there on Saturday.  

    You got that right! I was the first one out on Paugus (that I know
    about) on Saturday (I needed my coleman lantern just to set up).
    By daybreak there were plenty of others though.
    
    I was SO COLD that I couldn't even pull in the lines to see if the
    bait was still there (didn't get a flag, but got to wondering after
    a while!) I HAD to leave by 9am and get inside. I packed up my little 
    yellow kiddie sled and went to the in-law's condo... Read my lips, "I
    will NEVER, EVER do that Derby again without a shelter!!" By the
    time I got back out to pick up my traps, they were frozen over,
    with one flag up. Both minnows were still intact and swimming (good
    bait) and I let them go.
    
    I probably should have passed on the whole thing, because I started
    to feel like I was coming down with something Friday afternoon,
    but, hey, I already paid, and we were going up for the weekend anyway.
    I've never hurt so much form the cold in my life (hands and feet)
    even though I had some good boots and mits. If I'd gotten a flag
    I would have got some real frostbite just trying to pull it in!
    
    
 >   I was off on a snowbile looking at the vans and trucks that went
 >   through the ice on Saturday.  
    
    Yow, where was that? Didn't they just go to the bottom? In Meredith
    they were using part of the bay as a parking lot. (It took me 10
    minutes to realize that I'd just parked the wagon on the lake! I
    was a real bright kid, my mother called me "Sunny"!)
    
    It wasn't much fun watching those poor fish flapping around on the
    board, though. Too bad they can't do something about that.
    
    Colder but wiser,
    
    Ed
    
    

    OOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!
    
    It ban so cold don chere I had to kick a frozen dawg of de fire
    hydurant!
    
    Don in N'Awlins at de carnival dey ar trowin popsickles off de floats!
    
    Dis are goin to mak de sprawnin run a lil late, probably late March,
    urly April. Ban repaintin de spinner baits an puttin dem new skirts
    on dem. Also paintin dem wurmheds.
    
    Comon don, Steve, an brang any oder fishermons wit chew!!
    
    Coonass

    re 27:   The trucks and vans I saw were a couple miles south of
    Meredith Bay, down past spindle point.  There were these pressure
    ridges that ran from east to west across the lake.  You could walk
    across or drive a snowmobile across them, but on Saturday they 
    were unsafe for heavy vans.  None of the vehicles I saw went all
    the way to the bottom.  One of them was a 1978 Ford van that was
    nose down, with only about 1 1/2 feet of the back end of it sticking
    up.  We opened the rear doors and what a mess.  It had filled up
    with water and frozen solid.  Everything that could float was just
    sitting there imbedded in the ice, sleeping bags, tent, bait, clothes,
    sandwiches, etc.  Looked like they barely got out of there with
    thier lives.  I heard there was someone charging $300 an hour to
    pull people out, but never saw him.  He was probably out there
    getting skunked too  :*}
    
    Never again
    

    re .29:
    
    Man, is that SCARY!  Like I said before, the wife and I parked the
    car in a parking lot that turned out to be Meredith Bay, and when
    I started driving further out to look at the crowds, etc, she got
    very antsy and said "No way! Get me back on solid ground!"
    
    Last week, at the fishing show, I talked w. Rick Davis (used to
    own Paugus Bay Sporting Goods, but now is chairman of the Winni
    Salmon Derby) and he told me that he expected a number of vehicles
    to go through the over the weekend, and he was right. Last year,
    one guy actually drowned going through the ice in his car. Someone
    else said they heard of a couple whose car simply disappeared while
    crossing Lake Champlain - just went through the ice and was gone.
    They were taking a "shortcut". They got a shortcut all right...
    
    Ed who_would_rather_be_a_live_chicken_than_a_dead_duck