Hooked-in

Is Jesus a poacher?

I was just reading a posting on Hooked-in that referred to this passage from the Bible, John 21:3-6:

Simon Peter said to them, "I'm going fishing." They all told him, "We'll go with you, too." So they went out and got into the boat but didn't catch a thing that night. Just as dawn was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore. The disciples didn't realize it was Jesus. Jesus asked them, "Children, you don't have any fish, do you?" They answered him, "No." He told them, "Throw the net on the right hand side of the boat, and you'll catch some." So they threw it out and were unable to haul it in because it was so full of fish.

That got me thinking... if Jesus were living in the State of New Hampshire (or any other state I know of) today, He'd be considered a poacher.  According to the New Hampshire Freshwater Fishing Digest on page 17, it is an unlawful action to (among many other things):

• Except as otherwise specifically permitted, it is unlawful to use or have in possession a set line, net, fishing otter, trawl, grapple, spear, jack, jack light, poisons, explosives or electrical device or any other device for killing or stunning fish.
• To counsel or aid another in violating a fishing rule is prohibited.

So, Jesus would have violated at least two of the rules by advising his disciples to use a net!  Do you think the game warden would be sympathetic to His "I am the son of God" story?

June 2008 Cabela's gift card winner chosen

Now I am really catching up on my duties at Hooked-in...

Since I was catching up on May, I also selected the June 2008 Cabela's Gift Card Contest winner:  Fish Monger is came away with a $100 gift card for his report of a 20" Landlocked Salmon caught in Sebago Lake in Maine on 04/16/08.

Fish Monger's response to this prize was "No kidding??? WOW!!! THANKS!!!!!"  He already had his eye on some gear and this gift card will go a little further because Cabela's is running a special on free shipping right now -- of course immediately after I placed an order with them with shipping charges :-(

Jealous?  You can get in on the action. You get one entry entry for every catch you post on Hooked-in with a photo and a map.  Good luck!

May 2008 Cabela's gift card winner chosen

Better late than never!

Sorry for the delay in choosing the May 2008 Cabela's Gift Card Contest winner.  I had intented to do the selection in early June, but my day job, family, and fishing season caught up with me.

Anyway...

Greg J won a $100 Cabela's Gift Card for his catch report of a 3.8 lb. Largemouth Bass caught in Rhode Island on 05/17/08.

When Greg learned of his prize earlier this month, he replied "Man, it's Christmas on the 4th of July... too cool."  My mom used to throw Christmas in July parties for us, but that's another story.

So, what is Santa bringing down the chiminea?  According to Greg, "My motor plans are on hold for the time being. I'm going to load up on tackle, maybe one of those rubber nets."  Good choice.  Those rubber nets are kind of pricey, but is a lot easier on the fish when you catch and release them.

Do you want to win a Cabela's gift card?  You get one entry entry for every catch you post on Hooked-in with a photo and a map.  Easy.

What are they saying on Hooked-in?

One of the best features of Hooked-in is the ability to post comments on other people's catches.  You will often see lots of nice comments when you view a catch report.

Ever want to see all the recent comments on the site?  Now you can.

I just added a new page called fittingly Recent Comments on Catch Reports which you can access here: http://www.hooked-in.com/catch_comments

You will see that yours truly makes a lot of comments ;-)  I love the stories you post on Hooked-in.  Thanks! 

A Bad Day for This Brown Trout

Want to know what put the gashes in the brown trout shown above?  Read the story from Bruce Parks on Hooked-in Fishing Reports.

The Bass Coach Makes a wish come true

Ever heard of the Make a Wish Foundation?  This organization grants the wishes of terminally ill patients.  Jared, a 17-year old fighting leukemia, got his wish to fish with the Bass Coach.

Click here to read the story.  The Bass Coach (Roger Lee) is a nice guy for granting this wish.

Hooked-in preserves fishing folklore

What is Hooked-in all about? 

First, there's the obvious: it's a website that makes it easy to share your fishing stories adorned with photos, maps, and more.  I built the website with the goal of making it easy to show off photos of the fish you catch.

But as I talk with members and read your postings, I am discovering a deeper purpose for the website: preserving fishing folklore.  When you go fishing, you are bound to have an interesting experience whether you catch fish or not.  Fishing is an activity that brings family and friends closer to one another.  It has a rich story-telling tradition ("fish tales").  Hooked-in provides a way to document these stories with facts and stories.  You will see some examples on the Winni Derby Fishing Report.

Anyway, I hope Hooked-in can help you to preserve your fishing legacy!

The Winni Derby Laker - The Real Story

Pictured above is Mark Thyng from Farmington, NH holding the winning lake trout in the 27th Winni Derby.  This picture was taken by Dave Haney, Mark's best friend and boatmate for this catch and for the Winni Derby for the last six years.

How was this fish caught?  If you heard it on the radio, chances are you heard the wrong story.  If you heard it in a tackle shop, you probably got it wrong.  In fact, I was in a local tackle shop where I heard the laker caught on a "Mepps comet mayfly spinner on top first thing in the morning." Not true.

How do I know this?  I spoke with Mark and Dave at the awards ceremony of the Derby.  They told me they had been hearing all kinds of crazy stories and all of them were false.  I told them what I heard about the Mepps comet mayfly spinner and that prompted a hearty laugh.

Here's the real story straight from Mark and Dave.

First of all, you should know they were not fishing for lake trout.  They were fishing for salmon, just like most others in the Winni Derby.  They got off to an early start on day one of the derby (May 16, 2008).  Mark was trolling a live smelt on the surface from a fly rod near Wolfboro.  Just as he was coming off a shoal and going into deeper water, this monster struck.

Mark knew it was not a salmon because it was too big.  However, he did not think it was a lake trout either because this was not their typical behavior.  At first, he did not know what was on the other end of the line.

The fight ensued and boy what a fight that was!  The use of a fly rod made this catch even more challenging.

Finally, after 28 minutes of fighting, Mark had the fish to the side of the boat.  That's when Dave informed him that their net was way too small.  This made landing the fish extra difficult.

In fact, the fish came dangerously close to falling out of the boat in the process.  That's when Mark grabbed the fish by the gills with a death grip to keep it on board.  They knew they had a special fish and did not want to lose it after all that work.

The time of the catch was 6:20 a.m.  After waiting a couple of hours for the weigh station to open 8:00 a.m., Mark and Dave finally got their quarry on the scales and it weighed in at 11.72 pounds.  With most of the 3-day derby ahead of them, there was a concern it would be topped but nobody else came close to a challenge: the second place fish weighed in at 9.22 pounds - a nice fish for sure, but a full two and a half pounds lighter.

This fish won Mark a brand new boat - A 2008 Starcraft SF 1420 DLX S/C, 2008 Mercury 25 HP EFI motor, 2—8 EZ Loader galvanized trailer, battery and a Lowrance Depth & Fish Finder. 

What will Mark's first accessory be for this boat?  A bigger net.

That's the truth.

Live from Winni Derby: Final Results for 2008

Almost 2,000 fishermen participated in this year's 27th Winni Derby.  Here are the final results (my apologies if I spelled any names wrong):

Junior Division (salmon)

1. 4.04# Sean Bready, Northwood, NH
2. 3.96# Noah Durant, Manchester, NH
3. 3.50# Christopher Gelinas, Loudon, NH
4. 3.36# Glenn Peters, Fitchburg, MA
5. 3.36# Nicole Andersen, Dunbarton, NH
6. 3.32# Hunter Burlock, Berlin, NH
7. 3.22# Stormy LaRue, Laconia, NH
8. 3.20# Noah Durant, Manchester, NH

Lake Trout Division

1. 11.72# Mark Thyng, Farmington, NH
2. 9.22# Rodney Furbush, Shapley, ME
3. 8.12# Rodney Smith, Rochester, NH
4. 7.24# Robert Sheater, Weare, NH
5. 5.92# John St. Pierre, Manchester, NH

Landlocked Salmon Division

1. 4.28# George Lodge, Franklin, NH
2. 4.28# AJ White, Meredith, NH
3. 4.26# Thomas Jean, Fitchburg, MA
4. 4.14# Cody Dodds, Hanover, NH
5. 4.04# James ___, Westover, NH
6. 4.00# Joseph Polatta, Lunenburg, MA
7. 3.98# Jean Noelle, Ashland, NH
8. 3.92# Brendan McGee, Merrimack, NH
9. 3.__# Richard Herbert, Barrington, NH

For more photos and stories from the derby, go to the Winni Derby Fishing Report on Hooked-in.

Live from Winni Derby: day 2 results

At the end of day two of the 27th Winni Derby, there were no changes to the top spot of the Lake Trout or Junior divisions.  However, there was some excitement in the Salmon division.

AJ White ended day one in the lead of the salmon division with a 4.28 pound fish he netted at the start of the day.  AJ knew this was a precarious size and checked back regularly on its #1 status.

At 2:35 p.m., Tom Jean of Fitchburg gave AJ a run for his money when he showed up with a 4.26 pound fish.  Just shy of the mark and could have possibly beaten the mark had he brought it in sooner.  Here's the fish:

Then, at 4:47 p.m., there was a flurry of excitement when George Lodge of Franklin, NH showed up at the weigh station with a contender - a 4.28 pound salmon.  This fish weighed exactly the same as AJ's, which prompted Dianne Davis, the derby secretary to crack open the rulebook:

The rules state that if there are two fish of the same weight, then length is used as the tie-breaker.  As it turns out, George's fish at 22.75 inches was a half inch longer than AJ's at 22.25 inches and this gave George the #1 spot.

Here's George with his #1 fish at the end of day two of the derby:

The grand prize is still up for grabs as day 3 of the Winni Derby remains.  Tomorrow, Sunday, is a short day with the weigh station closing at noon at which time we will know the winner for sure.  Until then, Lake Winnipesaukee will host thousands of anglers vying for the treasure and Hooked-in will be there to find out.