winni derby

[hardwatergrampa]

is this a by word on this site  now was once a weekend everyone looked forward too , now not a word prize pool is down and entry fee is up  I didn't fish it this year  but always enjoyed the weekend good luck if you entered enjoy the day

[AquaAssassin]

I have zero interest if you wanted my opinion lol, had way more fun calling in birds this am and finishing it off catching a ton of 16-27” stripers. I’m all set with taking a few days off work and paying 55 bucks to basically follow in a line like a Christmas parade for sub par caliber fish. Rather just work and buy exactly what I want and go when I choose 

[hardwatergrampa]

looking like a good many feeling that way

[TheCrittaC]

I'm sure more would be interested in it if launching a boat wasn't such a b***h

[DT5150]

i didn't fish it this year either. i just couldn't support the derby in good conscience this year simply because of the troubles with the salmon population. they absolutely should have canceled it this year, or perhaps changed the parameters to exclude salmon. the salmon are in big trouble in the big lake, they need a few years to recover, and having a derby specifically targeting them at this point in time is certainly not helpful. 

[mowbizz]

i didn't fish it this year either. i just couldn't support the derby in good conscience this year simply because of the troubles with the salmon population. they absolutely should have canceled it this year, or perhaps changed the parameters to exclude salmon. the salmon are in big trouble in the big lake, they need a few years to recover, and having a derby specifically targeting them at this point in time is certainly not helpful.

Bingo! Those in the know say there are too many age classes of salmon missing from the fishery. I too believe derbies are detrimental to the fishery and don’t participate. A resident of Winni that lives on an island has witnessed many salmon dead and floating the week after the derby.
Not good.
There is a survey being conducted for fishermen to participate in that Fish and Game hopes might help them restore the missing age classes.
The survey is simply recording the measurements of HARVESTED salmon, lake trout and rainbows. There is a form available if anyone wants to participate I can get a copy of the form to you if you PM me.

[AquaAssassin]

id love to know a difinitive cause of the missing age class(es) if Fish. I was only aware of one. It would be good to know if it was a hatch susceptible to disease or be it a weak Smelt year or fisherman etc.

[zwiggles]

id love to know a difinitive cause of the missing age class(es) if Fish. I was only aware of one. It would be good to know if it was a hatch susceptible to disease or be it a weak Smelt year or fisherman etc.

I do t think the real reasons will ever get fleshed out on here. It’s sad, it’s my favorite fishery.

[AquaAssassin]

I do t think the real reasons will ever get fleshed out on here. It’s sad, it’s my favorite fishery.

You are right

[skinnywater]

I do the derby and have with my kids since they were about 6 and 9.  One is now a sophomore in college the other is 17. It is the thing where it is just me and the kids.  It is a great family event/tradition for us we fish the entire derby start to finish in crazy rain, big winds, rogue waves, 90 degree heat for us it is great fun and memories and trust me we are not putting any dents in the salmon population.  To me like any derby or event don't go or support it if you have an issue with it.  I think there are bigger issues with the fisheries in NH, I fish New York and Maine as well and if you have, l you know what I'm talking about.

[mowbizz]

id love to know a difinitive cause of the missing age class(es) if Fish. I was only aware of one. It would be good to know if it was a hatch susceptible to disease or be it a weak Smelt year or fisherman etc.

The fisherman who lives on Winni year round and the same guy working with F&G says one of the problems may have been the previous hatchery up towards Merrymeeting. The hatchery was stocking smaller salmon for some reason unknown to me and the theory is that many were being predated on before they were big enough to survive on their own. The new hatchery location (Nashua I believe) will allow them to grow the salmon to a larger size before stocking. The recovery make take a few years to re-establish the missing age classes. That’s how I understand it.

[Seahunt]

The fisherman who lives on Winni year round and the same guy working with F&G says one of the problems may have been the previous hatchery up towards Merrymeeting. The hatchery was stocking smaller salmon for some reason unknown to me and the theory is that many were being predated on before they were big enough to survive on their own. The new hatchery location (Nashua I believe) will allow them to grow the salmon to a larger size before stocking. The recovery make take a few years to re-establish the missing age classes. That’s how I understand it.

The hatchery where the salmon were previously raised (Powder Mill) is just below the dam on Merrymeeting lake. The lake water runs through the hatchery and continues down the Merrymeeting river, eventually feeding in to Alton Bay. That water was too cold (in the winter) to grow and have salmon smolts thrive. There may have been nutritional issues also, due to financial constraints. The stocked salmon (the last many years) have been way too small. There's good speculation also in how they were recently stocked. There's other (previously mentioned) issues with Powder Mill hatchery. Next years salmon are being grown at the old federal hatchery in Nashua and will continue until Powder Mill is rebuilt. This "should" improve the size of the released salmon due to more moderate water temps.
If you consider the salmon fishery in Winni as a priority (IMO, you should) having the derby (this year in particular) was a terrible decision!
Both missing age classes were during very robust smelt/forage years, Frank. That was not the issue.     

[AquaAssassin]

I assumed so, seeing as how drilling holes through the ice in recent years the Smelt come right out with the slush too lol!

[ishoot308]

First off the missing age classes of salmon have absolutely nothing to do with water quality, algae, crayfish, camps, boats or lack of baitfish... As a matter of fact trawl netting and hydro acoustic surveys of smelt (primary food for salmon and trout) are done on a regular basis by the states biologist and have shown that winnipesaukee has an abundance of smelt and has been this way for a number of years so food is not an issue. Also the water quality in Winni is excellent for salmon and smelt to thrive in so again another non issue.

Salmon are not native to the lake and are stocked each year by the state. Every year Winnipesaukee gets stocked with a certain number of POUNDS of salmon. It does not stock based on individual quantity but by total weight.

Unfortunately due to “issues” at the Powder Mill Hatchery, for the past few years, the state has had to stop using heated water and nutrients which would help the salmon grow larger before stocking. Prior to this and In years past, 8-10 smolt per pound was the average when stocking and approximately 30,000 salmon were stocked each year at different locations in the lake.

In 2017 the state stocked 55,816 salmon in Winnipesaukee all in one location. Most people think wow that’s good they stocked almost twice as many fish as previous years...unfortunately that 55,816 represented the same weight as the 30,000 previously stocked in years past...the smolts were that much smaller and most of them became bait-fish for larger predatory fish and birds (loons,ducks, etc, etc.) and not many survived. THis is the reason we have missing age classes of salmon. The reason for stocking all in one location is the state thought they would have a better chance of survival being all together as it is natural instinct for bait-fish to school up when being attacked, at least that what we were told and it made sense.

By far in 2018, the predominant salmon age class caught was 3 years old. On average the catch ratio for most of us involved with this study was between 75-80% of our catch was the 3 year old salmon. We were catching very few if any any 1 or 2 year old fish and myself personally never caught a single stocked fingerling after they were stocked which is highly unusual.

Beginning this year all salmon rearing has been moved from the Powder Mill Hatchery to the Nashua, NH facility where warm water and proper nutrients will allow the smolts to grow larger before being stocked in the lake and survivability will be much better. The salmon will eventually rebound but it’s going to take a couple / few years.

There is a LOT more going on behind the scenes but this post is long enough and gives everyone the basic idea of what the issue really is.

In the meantime there is over abundance of lake trout and plenty of rainbow trout in the lake just waiting to be caught! Also the 4 year old salmon that will be caught this year should be real beauties! Catch and proper release always helps!

Tight lines!

Dan

[hardwatergrampa]

that was interesting