I just wanted to get everyone's opinions on having an ice fishing derby at Henry's lake next year. I participated in my first derby last weekend at Chesterfield and we had a blast. Jared Scott came down with us to film a show and he mentioned that he tried to sponsor a derby at Henry's 2 years ago. The Fish and Game said the lake could support the derby with no impact on the fish, however they wouldn't give him a permit due to the fear of the public not supporting it. At that time ice fishing on the lake was controversial, and many people were strongly against it. Now 2 years later I think that public opinion on ice fishing at Henry's has changed. And as Windriver's post showed us Fish and Game believes ice fishing isn't having much of an effect on the lake at all. Jared was thinking of trying again to get a permit for the 2012 season. I personally think it would be a blast, and I'll be the first to sign up. It adds another aspect to the already thrilling sport of ice fishing. When you hook into a big one the anticipation of getting that fish out of the hole without losing it is multiplied when the fact that it could be worth hundreds of dollars is on your mind. Thanks for your input. If Jared decides to host one I'll be sure to post a thread about it.
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I think it would be a fun idea and I would support it.
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Me Too . Curt G.
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I am in.
Idaho
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I would give it a go
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When you have a derby on a lake the size of Henrys the chance of cheating goes up.
At the Devils Creek tournament the people who check your fish are there in seconds and they can see if the fish is fresh or not. At Henrys I can see a huge problem with precaught fish being weighed in.
WIndriver
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The only people that cheat, are cheaters. A thief is a thief. Oh well.
Idaho
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I would be there for sure unless it will cost alot. They would need many places or people to check the fish around the lake to keep it fair.
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Sign me up! As long as who ever is running it is not robbing the fisherfolks. Too much greed to support some of these events. F&G need to raise fees for tournments to account for any effect on that body of water. Rockport in Utah planted something like 40 tag fish sponsered by a local gas station. I'am told this place is a circus 7 days a week. I love tournments and fishing as long as the impact is accounted for.
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I fished a few tournaments a few years ago. I decided that 1 or 2 day tournaments are not for me. I also decided that tournaments that could put money in my pocket are not for me. Too much pressure........
If they have a tournament at Henry's, I hope at least it will be ran by Idaho people. I really hate it when out of staters come up here and run tournaments. They talk about all the money they bring in, and they do bring some money to the local economies, but doesn't most of the prize money end up going back where it came from? And what about the impact to the fisheries?
If I could vote on it, I'd vote no for Henry's. It doesn't bother me as much on AF or Devil's Creek because they are put and take fisheries maintained for a large harvest. CF and H are maintained as trophy fisheries. I don't believe tournaments should be allowed on those types of waters. Just my 2 cents. Hope I didn't offend anyone.
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Thank you everyone for your responses and opinions. Another thing to consider about a derby at Henrys, I think the people who would participate are people who would be ice fishing up there anyways. They may move their trip from Thursday to Saturday to participate in the derby, but I doubt that a derby really brings any additional fishing pressure to a lake.
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[quote maghunter] I doubt that a derby really brings any additional fishing pressure to a lake.[/quote]
What??? I've never seen a derby NOT bring additional fishing pressure to a lake. Never. No matter what lake.
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It may bring in a few people who otherwise would not have fished that lake. But I think the vast majority are people who would have fished the lake with or without the derby. The derby just concentrates the fishing to a particular time. Maybe not, but I know that is the case in my situation. I only have so much time to spend fishing, if there was a derby I wanted to fish, I would adjust my fishing time to go to the derby. If I didn't participate in the derby I would still fish that lake.
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I'm in. Have it the Friday and saturday after T-day!
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A big money derby would bring in a huge amount of people who otherwise would not fish the lake. People would come out of Wyoming, Montanna, Utah and Idaho to fish a big derby. I think you would have to limit the amount of entries. Maybe I'm wrong but if you had an open derby in December I am confident it could draw 1,000 participants. I counted well over 300 fishermen on one of the Saturdays that I was up there this year.
Think of 1,ooo or 2,ooo of the biggest fish being Cherry Picked out of the lake on one or two days.
None of my thoughts have any scientific basis it is just a gut feeling. I don't think it would be a good idea. However if it fell on weekend when I was available I might throw my hat in the ring.[:/][crazy]
Windriver
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If it was unlimited entry then I agree, things could get out of hand, however Idaho limits derbies to 150 participants. I may be wrong but that's what I was told.
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Blue Ribbon fisheries should have derby's??????[cool] There is a lot of miss handling in the quest for one bigger.
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[quote flygoddess]Blue Ribbon fisheries should have derby's[cool] There is a lot of miss handling in the quest for one bigger.[/quote]
I'm thinking you meant to say "shouldn't"?
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"I object to fishing tournaments less for what they do to fish than what they do to fishermen." Ted Williams
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