Every winter, the Rotary Club of Meredith, NH hosts a state-wide ice fishing derby.
It's a great concept because all NH public waters are fair game! All are welcome, and you're not limited by your proximity to the club hosting the event. This was my second year participating. Lake trout, rainbow trout, pickerel, black crappie, white perch, yellow perch, and my personal favorite- cusk, are all up to be scored. We fish for cusk (sometimes called burbot) all season long, but we get especially into it derby weekend. This year, we decided we would try for pickerel and see if we could make the leaderboards.
Well, as luck would have it, the biggest pickerel I've ever laid eyes on was ALMOST in my hands. I brought it all the way to the ice, and just as it started to surface, it broke off. I impulsively (and foolishly) reached my arm into the icy cold water barely exposed through the thick ice in hopes of latching onto it before it could slip away. A fish that is hard to hold out of the water was clearly impossible to snag back in its own element, but my impulse was to at least try. With the sub-zero temps and bone-chilling winds, my sleeve iced up immediately, and I had to rush back to the tent to warm my hand.
Don't get me wrong, we always have a blast out there, but we never really thought we had a shot at winning. When that pickerel was coming out of the hole at me, though, I was 99% certain we were about to seal our fates as champions! Now, it will forever be known, as the fish that got away. 🤣
Let's commiserate! I would love to hear some other fish loss stories!
