New Hampshire’s official State sport should be Ice Fishing. [Actually, it is skiing]. It is a quiet past time where you become intimate with augurs, frozen fingers, bob houses, crappies, smelt, and patience.
Interestingly about 25% of New Hampshire’s fishermen and women are into ice fishing. It is popular enough to contribute millions to the New Hampshire economy (if you include travel and equipment).
Reportedly in January 1994, at the Lake Como Fish and Game Club near Syracuse, N.Y., Brian Carr beat out three dozen competitors in the annual ice-fishing derby, with 155 catches. The temperature that day was minus 30, and the prize money for the top three anglers was $8, $6.50, and $5. Sounds like so much fun I could just spit.
Meredith, New Hampshire’s annual Rotary Ice Fishing Derby, held each year in February is very popular–an estimated 6,000 anglers compete in this statewide tournament featuring $60,000 worth of prizes. Now this kind of prize money makes even frostbite sound more exciting.
Janice
P.S.: Did you ever wonder about the origin of the term “bob house” to describe the shanty or shack used in ice fishing. The most popular theory is that any shacks left on the ice when it melts, “bobs” in the water, thereby giving it the name.
*Additional Reading*
–Why I Don’t Icefish Movie– (A MUST SEE! Not for children’s eyes)
–Winter Smelt Fishing on Great Bay, New Hampshire–
-2003 Ice Fishing Derby in Meredith NH-
-Choosing a ‘Stick’ For Ice Fishing-
–Black Crappie Fishing (Bellamy Reservoir, Madbury NH)-
-Big Ice Fish in NH-
-Fishing for Winter Fun? Try Ice Fishing This Winter-
