Day 1 was a major mess at Alton Bay and Wolfeboro. I didn't get up to Meredith. Very few trucks could get out on the ice, and I saw a bunch of them were stuck. 4 wheelers did a little better, sleds seemed the way to go. I ended up fishing just north of Wolfeboro, parking on the side of the road, and hiking our stuff out on to the ice. We could see our tilts from the truck, so we could go back to get warm.
All that rain you got earlier last week was still sitting on top of the main ice. Then you had about 6-7 inch's of snow over the past couple days, hiding the water
Every step we took went right down to the water on the main ice, and the footprints quickly filled with water. We only got 1 flag, my buddy had a nice salmon on, but it got off, just as we were going to cut the line. I got zip !!!!
I was talking to a guy whose nephew drove a 4 wheeler to close to a dock (in some fog) that had an ice eater, last night. They went through, and one guy was still in the hospital today, from exposure. Then on the way home, we heard that a sled went in on Ossipee. Those were just two incidents, I'm sure there were more, and will be more, before the weekend ends.
I imagine the winners will be happy, but personally I would have rather seen the derby postponed until the ice is safer. Rotary puts out a message not to drive on the ice, but there is NO PLACE to park all of the pick-ups that had planned on driving on!!! I really hate to bitch because Rotary does so much for the community, but I think these were the worst conditions I've every seen for the derby, and I've been to a bunch of them!!!