Page 16 - APRIL2025

Page 16
Community
By Donna RhoDes
ALEXANDRIA – The weather was beautiful and the fish were biting early last Saturday morning when the first big catch of the day was already hanging from the board just an hour or so after the Alexandria Volun- teer Fire Department’s 34th An- nual Newfound Lake Ice FIshing Derby got underway.
Derby officials said more than 500 people entered this year’s competition, including many young boys and girls, which they are always glad to see. N.H. Fish and Game officers were also pleased to see hundreds of fam- ilies come out to the lake for the weekend and reported there were no incidents on either day.
At 3:30 p.m. on Sunday the all winners were announced at derby headquarters in Wellington State Park. While there was oddly not one Rainbow Trout caught over the weekend, there were plenty of other big fish pulled from the lake. For Lake Trout, the first through third winners were Nathan Tucker, 6.73 lbs.; Cashus Lima, 5.66 lbs.;
NEWFOUNDLAKELIFE.COM
AVFD Ice Fishing Derby
April 2025
and Kenneth Martel, 4.83 lbs.. Winning entries for Cusk were Patrick Nowell, 6.22 lbs.; Adam Long, 5.66 lbs.; Kyle Huckins, 4.83 lbs. In the Pickerel category the top three were David Blauss 3.38 lbs.; Greg Fair- banks, 3.15 lbs.; and Kyle Huckins, 3.46 lbs.. The Perch category saw 5-year- old Wyatt Ragosa taking first place with his 0.98 lb. Yellow Perch, while second and third place went to Noah Elwell, with a 0.51 lb. perch in second place and a 0.47 lb. catch that took third place.
In the children’s divi-
sion it was Cashus Lima in
first place with his 5.66 lb.
Lake Trout; Herbie Paradie was in second place with a 3.55 lb. Lake Trout; Nathan Joyal pulled in a 3.37 lb. Lake Trout for third place; Olivia Paraodie finished fourth with another 3.36 lb. Lake Trout and Kinsleigh Simula’s 2.72 lb. Pickerel came in fifth place.
Prizes in each category were
Among the youngest anglers taking home prizes in this year’s ice fishing derby were (left to right) Kinsleigh Simula, Cashus (Cash) Lima, Wyatt Raposa, Olivia Parodie, and her brother Herbie Paradie. Missing from the photo was Nathan Joyal. Photo Donna Rhodes
in the adult Lake Trout division and a bonus of $250 for being the third largest fish caught all weekend.
Besides the trophies and checks for winning fish, there were more than 55 prize raffle winners announced and a 50/50 cash raf- fle, which was new to this year’s derby. That raffle brought in a total of $428 and half of that went to Donna Duquette whose win- ning ticket was drawn on Sunday. Derby tees, sweatshirts and hoodies were also sold to help boost the fire depart-
ment’s fundraising.
All proceeds from the derby
help the volunteer fire department purchase additional equipment and supplies not provided for in the town budget and they wish to thank everyone for their generous support each and every year.
$150 for first place, $100 for sec- ond and $50 for third.
The Top 3 Overall winners for the weekend were Nathan Tucker who won an additional $1,000 for his Lake Trout and Patrick Nowell who also received a $500 check
for the second largest fish of the weekend. Completing a “trifecta” for the weekend though was three- year-old Cashus (“Cash”) Lima whose catch not only won him the first place trophy for kids, but also a $100 check for second place
The