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The History of the New York State Crappie Derby
The New York State Crappie Derby was founded in late 1973 when two members of the Whitney Point Sportsmens Association were enjoying a "beverage" while discussing the excellent ice fishing at, what was then known as the Whitney Point Reservoir. Crappies were responding well to bait being offered by the local anglers. The weather was also very nice and the discussion led to "why not . . .". A few phone calls were made and the event was on. In a few weeks time, a $150 purse was assembled and some posters were distributed. In early 1974, 197 people gathered on the ice and had a lot of fun. A lot of fish were taken and all went away satisfied. That's when the invention started. The Whitney Point Sportsmens Association decided that it should be made an annual event.
Over the course of the next couple of years, it evolved into what is known today as the "party derby". Ice derbys at that time typically registered anglers at the beginning of the day and weighed and measured their fish at the end of the day. People had fun but we wanted to add a little excitement. We evolved an event whereby a judging area with a Public Address system was set up in the middle of the ice and prizes were awarded each 15 minute period from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. This encouraged a lot of coming and going across the ice. The rules were kept at a minimum and we added additional prizes to the event.
The lake, now called Whitney Point Lake, lent itself well to this event structure. Whitney Point Lake is about 3 1/2 miles long and 3/4 miles wide. The lake was developed as a flood control reservoir and impounded the Otselic River. The impoundment is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A river channel about 20' deep follows along the West side of the lake. The crappies (Calico Bass) thrived and multiplied. A county park (Dorchester Park) was developed at the southeast area and provided a base of operations with excellent parking. Broome County Department of Parks and Recreation saw this event as a way to promote the park during the off-season. The parks department joined us in a joint venture. Now it really took off.
Prizes, from the beginning, were solicited from local merchants. They took the form of cash, merchandise and gift certificates. The prizes were distributed across the 28 derbys (15 minute segments, 8 AM to 3 PM) and more significant prizes were awarded for the biggest crappie of the day (1st, 2nd & 3rd). Additional prizes were awarded for the first caught (or biggest) of numerous fish species.
Until 1977, we had been blessed with good weather which helped the event catch on. Then it happened. In 1977 mother nature decided to throw us a curve. On derby day, the weather never climbed above zero and the winds were raging. 20-30 MPH winds were blowing people across the ice. There was 28 inches of ice to drill through but 301 very brave souls ventured forth. It was, by far, the most demanding day in the history of our event to date.
By 1978, the purse expanded to $1,000.00 and we saw over 1,000 participants register. by 1985, the purse had expanded to over $2,000.00. Unfortunately, little information exists for the 1987, 88 and 89 events. By 1995, the purse exceeded $5,000.00 and in 2000 the purse exceeded $10,000.00.
Along the way,
- It became an excuse to get outdoors - a "cabin fever" issue. The
number of spectators far outnumber registered anglers. It is the place to see
and be seen.
- The event now sports a concession stand, providing hot and cold drinks, along
with chowder, chili, hot dogs and such. Port-a-johns eliminate some of the
discomfort.
- Through the efforts of the Whitney Point Sportsmens Association, it has become
a "kid & family friendly" event. A significant amount of the purse
is set aside just for the kids. A few committee members are assigned to wander
the ice looking for young ones who look bored, tired, cold or whatever and find
a reason to give them a prize.
- The local Point of Light Masonic Temple jumped on the band wagon many years
ago and started a Pancake Breakfast to add to the day.
- During the Eighties, softball On-The-Ice found its' way into the program.
Our records are a little sketchy on this but a number of teams from the
Central and Southern Tier NYS organized and had a lot of fun on the ice.
trophies were awarded and nobody died. We have tried to
"jump-start" this a few times but it never caught on again. Maybe
some day!
- A number of times, weather did not smile down on us and insufficient ice
existed on our planned date. In each case, the event moved to its' two week
postponement schedule. That is until . . .
- Along came 1990 and 1991 - Mild Winters became fashionable and an an
insufficient blanket of ice never formed. The derby was postponed for two consecutive
years. 1990 was to be our 25th Annual event and all sorts of events, on and
off the ice, were planned. But after two years in a row of inadequate ice,
we lost the momentum and the big celebration never took place. At this time,
The New York State Crappie Derby took on the name of the Almost-Annual New
York State Crappie Derby.
- We have had many visitors across the years. The New York State Department
of Environmental Commission attended one year. A milestone event that year
included our first tent burning to the ice. (All escaped without injury). We
have hosted exchange students who had never seen ice outside the
refrigerator must less walked on it. This is always a treat for us.
Congressman James Walsh, (__th congressional district) attends frequently as
does our own Senator Tom Libous (NYS __th district). Both are avid fishermen
and good friends of the derby. I wish I could say they have caught many fish
but we won't go there.
- We started placing emphasis on the "kids" about mid-way through
our run. Over the years, more and more of the purse was targeted to the
youngsters. This is one of the best things we do. WPSA representatives scour
the ice looking for our "future outdoors caretakers" and find
reason's to award a prize from one of our sponsors. This is when the event truly
became "family friendly". Any time fees were charged, those
participants 12 and under were exempted.
- In ____, Broome County Parks required that a fee be charged for county
parks usage. The fee was set at fifty cents and, in an effort to avoid
accumulating a large number of quarters that might threaten ice safety, the
WPSA added an additional fifty cent fee bringing the total to $1.00. Up
till this time, the derby was a FREE event - unheard of. We never heard one
complain about the fee. The WPSA decided to take their share of the fee (50
cents) and pass that back to the community. Each year, a local cause (e.g.
youth sports, senior citizen activities, etc) was selected and several
hundred dollars was presented to them complements of the derby.
The reservoir houses many species of fish waiting to satisfy the eager angler. There are many Walleye and Perch along with occasional Northern Pike, Bullhead, Catfish and White Rocks. The "then" state record White Rock was taken in the reservoir few summers ago - 10 lb. 6 oz - how'd you like to get one of these on a jig rod? The DEC has since (1989) stopped stocking hybreds in Whitney Point Lake. The largest Crappie taken at the 24th derby was 15 ½ Inches, taken by Shaun Gotthardt of Hancock, NY. This tied a 15 ½ inch crappie caught by Russ Pickins of Newark Valley in 1994.
There are many Walleye and Perch along with occasional Northern Pike, Bullhead, and Catfish. At one time the state record White Rock was taken in the reservoir - 10 lb. 6 oz - how'd you like to get one of these on a jig rod? In 1989 the DEC stopped stocking hybreds in Whitney Point Lake. The largest Crappie taken at the 24th derby was 15 ½ Inches, taken by Shaun Gotthardt of Hancock, NY. This tied a 15 ½ inch crappie caught by Russ Pickins of Newark Valley in 1994.
Prizes, in addition to the 15 minute "special derbies" between 8am and 3pm, include major prizes for the largest Crappie of the day (1st, 2nd & 3rd) along with prizes for the largest fish of a number of other fish species. Prizes are also awarded for largest fish (weight) of the day for many fish species and door prizes assure that everyone has a shot at some prize. To win you must be registered. You can register at local bait shops starting a few days before the event or at the Pancake Breakfast. Registration will also take place on the ice starting at about 7:00am.
The 1998 and 1999 running of the Annual NYS Crappie Derby were cancelled due to insufficient ice. Throughout the entire winter of 1997-98 the maximum ice thickness was only 5 inches. The previous winter, we had a 12 inch growth, lost it completely and grew a second 12 inch slab. That has never happened before in the previous 25 years. In 1999 we had 14+" of ice but a prolonged January thaw did us in. The 1998 Derby was to be a Free Fish Day at the Lake. But the cancellation did this in as well. It was all approved by NYSDEC. This was the first year that we projected a $10,000 Purse. We were able to exceed the $10,000 in the 2000 Derby.
The 2002 Derby was cancelled due to insufficient ice.
The 2004 Derby
provided lots of stress. Ice came on briefly in early December but promptly
left. We had some very warm weather during December and the water
temperature increased significantly. Ice came on in early January and we had
some very cold weather. It was the second coldest January in history. But. .
. the ice went quickly to 3 inches, then to 5 inches. . . still cold weather
. . . it slowly rose to 6 inches . . . more cold weather then to 8 inches.
Eight days before the derby it increased to 9 1/2 inches and after a bitter
cold weekend we managed to see 12 inches the Monday before the derby. We got
the go-ahead to have the derby. During an extremely bitter cold week, it
barely increased to almost 14 inches. No one was able to explain the slush
that formed on the ice in certain spots. This slush did not freeze for some
reason. We also had quite a lot of snow on the ice Derby Day. The prize
cutoff was loosely enforced and a lot of donations came in at the last
minute. We ended up with a $15,000 purse. The fish were decent sized but
typically slow biting. The cold weather Wednesday & Thursday impacted
attendance - especially the percentage of those 12 and under. The
temperature reached 19 degrees and a late morning wind increased to
uncomfortable levels (25+ mph gusts). It was a good derby but attendance
suffered.
The 2005 Derby was in winter that started off slow.
Ice-On occurred just before Christmas and was 8 inches well before the derby
with lots of cold weather following. Surprise - it grew very slowly from
then but did get to 10+ inches a week before the derby and reached about 13
inches on derby day. A few days prior to the derby, the cold set in. Minus
teens for a few days prior to the derby and derby morning saw about minus
15. It warmed up to -10 but 8 AM and hit +20 about 2 PM.
This year, attractions on the ice included: the National Weather Service,
the Ross Park Zoo (a falcon, an owl and a huge rabbit), the Whitney Point
EMT squad, a representative from the NYS DEC Fisheries, the Broome County
Sheriff's Communication Mobile, Gander Mountain Demos and Lowe's of
Binghamton providing craft kits and personnel to assist the kids in
assembly. Attendance was down, most likely due to the cold weather leading
up to the derby. The big fish attraction was a 27 inch 7.2 pound Walleye
caught by Bob Arnold of Johnson City, NY.
The 2006 derby was cancelled due to insufficient ice. It was "nip 'n tuck" throughout the winter but we never did accumulate enough ice thickness to allow the event to go on. This one went in the history books as a non-event. The fish were biting fairly well at "first ice" but tapered off quickly. It was a slow season for fish. We grew fairly good ice up to early January but then the water temperature started rising above 32 degrees (33, 34, 35) which kept things at a standstill.
The 2007 Derby was again cancelled due to insufficient ice. There never was sufficient ice up to the postpone date of February 10, 2007. Following that date, there was additional ice growth but, as it was not tracked due to the cancellation, it is not known whether we did gain any significant additional growth. It is highly unlikely that enough ice existed to conduct the ice. This was the 3rd time the event has been cancelled two straight years. It has never been cancelled for 3 consecutive years. This year, the water temperature never got down to 32 degrees until mid January. We just ran out of time.
The 2008 Derby planning started out well. We had first ice on December 5, 2007 and the ice grew slowly to 4 inches by 12/21/07. On Saturday, December 22, 2007, the temperature went up into the lower 50s and we received about an inch of rain. The runoff caused severe degradation of the ice. The weather continued to moderate through the next two weeks.
The 2009
Derby planning started out much the same as 2008 above. Early first ice,
some good fishing. The ice stabilized for a short while then we lost some
(but not all of the ice). Ice came back in early January and built to 5 or 6
inches. It was a good solid base and the ice level was kept well. In another
week it had grown to about 8 - 10 inches. Ice progressed very slowly and it
was nip & tuck for quite a few days. By our decision date, January 26th a
good foot of ice was declared and we were given the go-ahead.
The day of the derby, we enjoyed ice thicknesses of 14-15 inches. Weather
was a little cold (teens) in the morning but the wind cooperated. We had a
few gusts in the mid-late morning but in general the weather was quite nice.
The crappies hadn't been biting well for a few weeks but we managed to tease
enough of them of legal size out of the water to have an entry during each
of the 29 15 minute contests from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Our sponsors were
sufficiently generous to allow a purse of over $7,500, with many prizes
coming in even during the derby.
We had to relearn a lot this year due to the 3 year hiatus. It didn't go as
smoothly as we are used to but it did go well. We had a lot of kids and were
able to insure that most of them went home with something. Our final
committee meeting following the derby concluded the event was a very big
success.
2009-2010 History
1. Winter
was slow in starting. First ice wasn’t on until around the third week in
December. It grew slowly and fishing started after a cold snap brought ice
the weekend of the 19th of December.
2. The ice
grew fairly quick with the channel and the pond area showing the same
thickness until around January 20th 2010. The ice growth on the
channel stalled about the 22nd while the pond area continued to
grow (to about 10-11 inches on the 20th.
3. On
January 23rd, warm weather invaded and on the 25th, a
heavy rain brought over an inch of water. The Broome County Parks was unable
to get an ice reading and notified the WPSA to postpone the event to
February 13th. The notices were sent out at noon on Monday
1/25/10.
4. The
purse hit $10,000.00 by January 23rd.
5. By
January 27th, the lake level had raised about ten feet. Of
course, the ice pad broke loose from the shore.
6. By
February 1st,called by Broome County Parks director to advise that there was
a big problem with the parking facilities. The lower lots were covered with
ice and there were not going to be any opportunities to plow the grassed
areas because of the fresh turf from last spring.
7. By
Friday, everything looked good and I was advised that we could schedule the
event even though we normally wait until Monday to take a final check. Was
very surprised by this. Sent out news release.
8. Derby
was conducted on schedule but had a low turnout. The weather was cold
(seasonal) but the winds were not too bad. For the first time, the
participants were scattered widely on the ice. From up near the end of the
West road down to the spillway. Registration was very low (1,331 ). We
believe that many of the participants were not registering. Nothing we could
do. The derby was also conducted the day before Valentine’s Day.
Postponements always seem to sap attendance.
9. It was
a very good derby. Lots of activities (Gander with demos and seminars, Finch
Hollow, Ross Park Zoo, Underwater Rescue Team demo, on-ice radio.
2010-2011 History
1. Ice-On occurred around December 9, 2010.We had a rain event on January
13, 2010 that caused a lift of about one foot in the lake level. It returned
to normal level in a few days. Crappie fishing was
mediocre at first. Lake ice conditions grew slowly from 2 inches to about 4
when we had a rain event that caused a slight lake elevation. The ice
re-healed quickly and the ice continued to grow. . . but slowly. The ice hit
12 inches the week before the scheduled derby date.
2. We started looking for a sponsor for a Lifetime NYS Fishing License
giveaway in early December. It wasn't until the second week in January that
the Southern Tier Chapter of Pheasants Forever came forward to sponsor this
giveaway. Town of Triangle Clerk's Office graciously offered their
assistance to support this prize.
3. The Whitney Point Rotary contacted us with an offer to support and
control an public ice skating rink on the lake. Permission was given by the
Parks Department to place the rink just offshore near the North Pavilion.
4. The purse hit $13,500 by January 28, 2011.
5. The 2011 running is now in the History Books. From my own warm feelings
and the comments I heard during and following the event from our guests and
the TEAM of club members and Parks employees, I believe this can be
considered in the top five of all Crappie Derby's. We had the perfect storm
from a positive viewpoint -- There was no postponement, the weather was
quite good, we had some new events and we continue to build on the WPSA TEAM
that forms the manpower to conduct the derby. The team has evolved to: an
overall coordinator and chairmen/women of the following SubCommittees: Food
Concession, Buildings, Prize collection/distribution, Registration, Raffles,
Judging and our Announcer. Each of these Chairs has their own group of
volunteers. All have a passion for the derby. THAT'S what makes the derby
the success it is today. Broome County Parks and Recreation, along with
Broome County Security, make the event possible with their dedicated
personnel. They provide rock-solid support and flexibility, which is very
important to make an event of this "iffyness" happen.
* This year we had Professional Ice Anglers assigned to our event by large
outdoor equipment manufacturers/distributors (each actually volunteered for
the event). Some of them were at the derby last year and provided services
then also. These representatives conducted seminars (on the ice) for people
who were not experienced in our sport. They demonstrated the latest
technical/state-of-the-art equipment available and assisted our guests with
fishing techniques. It was a great addition to our derby. As the derby
disassembled, they all expressed an interest in attending again next year.
(Maybe they tell that to everyone?) I guess my ego is big enough to believe
it. A lot of kids were very pleased with the assistance these Pros provided.
I received many positive comments.
* We had our first LIMO this year. A group of ladies arrived by Limo,
dressed to the "Nines" to celebrate one of the groups member's birthday. This
group of ladies, all in Tiaras and lots of jewelry, had attended the first
derby in 1974 and many others up to the mid 90s. They were doing a "road
trip" down memory lane to celebrate. The Derby Committee, BC Parks and BC
Security were happy to assist them in their celebration. It was a surprise
to the "honoree" and lots of fun was had by all.
* This year, the Southern Tier Chapter of Pheasants Forever provided a prize
of a lifetime NYS Fishing License to a youngster between the age of 10 to
16. Paul Houle, the Founder of the Southern Tier Chapter, was on hand to
present the Prize. The Town of Triangle Clerk, Sandra Martin, graciously
donated her time on Saturday to attend, confirm the eligibility of the
recipient and arrange for the license to be written. Paul Houle also
presented a challenge to other outdoor oriented organizations to step up to
the plate next year to upgrade this award to a NYS Lifetime Sportsman's
License. I hope that they're beating down our door next year.
* This year, the skating rink previously discussed, came off on schedule.
The Whitney Point Rotary representative who made this happen, Jim Petrie,
advised me that that it went over very well. The ice could have been a
little better, he stated, but we'll learn from it and improve it next year.
He says "it will return".
* We had ten states represented at the derby this year and forty-six of the
sixty two New York State Counties represented.
* The Broome County Underwater Divers Rescue Team appeared this year for the
second time. A large hole was cut in the ice and divers went into the frigid
waters. A large crowd gathered around during their demonstrations. There was
a lot of interest and the divers expressed an interest in returning next
year.
2011-2012 History
1. In September 2011, Tropical Storm Lee flooded the Southern Tier of NY
wiping out a number of businesses, including Gander Mountain in Johnson
City, NY. After a lot of uncertainty, Gander Mtn announced that it would not
be opening in the near future. This had an impact on the ProStaff usually
provided by the major outdoors manufacturers/Marketers. It appeared that we
may not have them available for seminars for the kids this year.
2. December weather was unusually warm and only provided a couple of ice
'skins' at the southern end of the lake. These skins were gone by noon of
the following day. By the first of January, there was no ice on the lake and
weather forecasts for the next few weeks did not appear to provide any
encouragement.
3. The first week in January, spent over an hour with the National Weather
Service. We compared the extensive ice growth history kept by the Derby
Committee with the computer weather models available at this time. Also
compared potential ice growth, again using historical data and long range
weather possibilities. We reached a conclusion that there was NO possibility
of an ice growth sufficient to support the derby for the January date. We
then compared data for February possibilities for considering a
postponement. We took into consideration our experiences in the past with
February postponements (considerations included the sun now climbing higher
in the sky and the daytime ice erosion effect). Again, this information
along with longer range computer models again led us to only failure.
4. The derby committee meeting was held on Wednesday, January 4, 2012. After
reviewing the information assembled in #3 above, the committee unanimously
voted to cancel this years' event. The chairman was asked to get the
approval of the Broome County Parks department prior to releasing this
information. It was felt that we do our participants no favors by letting
the event hang in the balance and experience the uncertainties of
postponements. This way, our followers were now able to plan future winter
weekends.
5. A draft News Release was sent to the Broome County Parks Commissioner
followed by a phone discussion. The commissioner agreed with our position
and the news release was sent officially the next day.
6. The weather and ice conditions over the next few weeks substantiated our
predictions very accurately. The ice over the pond area of Whitney Point
Lake never had an official reading of over 7 inches.
7. A couple of records were set:
a. It was the earliest derby cancellation ever.
b. It was the latest "First Ice" in our history
c. It was the least amount of maximum ice we have records
for.
8. We would be remiss not to mention the sad deaths of at least 3 ice
anglers in our immediate region due to this unusual weather. Our
cancellation was sent out Thursday, January 6. Two anglers were lost through
the ice the following weekend and an additional angler was lost within days
just across the border in PA.
9. There never was more than 9" of ice this season.
2012-2013 History (so far)
December was snowy but warmer than usual. There was no ice on Whitney Point
Lake up till December 29, 2012 and then it was only a little ice around the
edges. Lo and Behold, on January 1, 2013 there was enough ice for, at least,
one lonely angler to be on the ice. We can't speak for the thickness of the
ice on that day but it must have formed on December 31, 2012 and thickened
to around 2 inches almost overnight. During the first few days of January,
seasonally cold weather found it way here to allow some ice improvement but
not nearly enough to allow planning for the last Saturday in January date.
The derby committee recommended that we postpone and shoot for the February
9, 2013 date. A news release soon followed. A few warm days followed. A cold
snap came along the third week in January that produced some ice growth (to
6 "). Over the next few days, we were able to get readings of 9 inches
but then Mother Nature threw another whammy at us. Heavy rains came (2
inches or so) and the lake level was raised over four feet. This brought us
to the weekend prior to the 'decision date Monday' prior to the rescheduled
derby date. The Friday prior, we could not access the lake due to this
higher lake level. At one week prior to the reschedule date we were faced
with:
- No lake access to do high lake level
- Ice likely to be less than 9 inches
- Raised water temperature due to stream runoff
- A forecast of moderate Winter conditions for the week prior to the event.
2013-14
The key to the weather in December and January of 2013-14 was "Up and Down".
Ice On 12/9/13 - light unsafe covering. 12/13/13 - 2 to 3 inches on the Pond
Area and unsafe ice over the channel. 12/17/13 Dorchester Park reported 3 to
5 inches on the pond area and 2+ on the channel. Unseasonable warm weather
predicted for 12/21-12/23. This bout of weather caused a 9" increase in the
lake level and probable ice distruction. By December 27 the lake level was
within a foot of normal and the ice thickness was at 3". The rain and snow
coverage actually resulted in an increase in ice quality -- nice clear blue
ice. Following Christmas we saw a few days in the upper 30s then the next
week it went back to warm for a few days. Up and down! There was one days in
Dec when we received around an inch of rain.
The first full week of January, record wind chills but went back to warmer
weather by the end of the week. Snowfall was nearly 4" by the 7th of
January. The second week saw a couple of cold days but by the weekend, back
to very warm (40s-50s) and an inch of rain on the 11th. Then warm all
through mid month. This gave us under a half foot of ice by end of January and
another 1 1/2 inches by the 15th. At this point we have 6 days prior to our
"decision" date and generally only average temperatures. On the 20th
(Decision Day), we had 7.5 inches on the channel and 8.5 on the pond. Nice
ice but no cigar! We were now hopeful for our postpone date. Bitter cold was
then the prediction and the fact. On the decision date for the postpone date
(2/3/14) enough ice and were given the "GO" for the event.
On Derby Day, it was -20F on the ice at 5:30 and was -15F at the start of
the Derby (8 AM). There was no wind and a cold heavy blanket spread over the
ice until it had moderated to 0 F around 10:30. After lunch the
temperatures came up to about 20 F or a little higher. The crowd was around
3,200. . . Two postponements + the bitter cold held things back. The purse
was the highest yet and there were many activities for those browsing rather
than fishing. We also Door Prizes from 8:30 to 2:30 for those who registered
and didn't catch a fish (or even 'wet a line'). Due to the postponement and
bitter cold, we have to put this one in the books as a huge success.This
spring, the ice lingered well into March./
2014-15
In spite of an early Thanksgiving gift of a heavy snowstorm to bring the
water temperature down, the weather moderated through the end of 2014. There
was a less than 1' snowfall and brief cold snap that brought a slight skim
of ice around 12/10/11 but, no 'fishing ice' appeared. The long range
forecasts at month-end appeared beak as well. December 2014 can be summed up
as average high temperatures but above average low temperatures due to a
large number of cloudy nights preventing evaporation cooling. First ice was
January 7, 2015 and it grew very slowly at first. About ten days prior
to the "decision" date it appeared that we might have a good window of
opportunity for our postponement date so we announced a 'postponement' at
that time. I turned out to be a good decision as there was, indeed
insufficient ice on January 31st. "ole Man Winter returned and by the week
before the Feb 14 date, the ice was doing well. On February 9th, we had an
official reading of 11"+ and the 'go ahead' was given. The 12th of
February, readings of 14" were common but there was a slushy mix on the ice
and it appeared that we would have uncomfortable conditions but two very
cold nights set this up tightly. Conditions on the ice Valentine's Day we
not too bad. It was about 8-10 degrees as the start of the derby and warmed
to the mid 20 in the afternoon. There was a steady breeze of about 15 mph
with light snow all day. The turnout of only about 750 registered was low
but given a postponement, a holiday and a Winter Weather Advisory on the day
of the event, it wasn't too bad. It was estimated that about 1,500 turned
out for the event. The usual efficiency and skill of the Whitney Point
Sportsmen's Club and BC Parks & Recreation had the 1500 SqFt Ice Central
structure up, used and removed in record time. The event was conducted
without a hitch and those who attended went away highly satisfied. This was
the 41st attempt of conducting the event with 31 successful derby's
conducted.
2015-16
This year started out with a record high average temperature for November
(44.1F) and December (40.5F). Being one of the strongest El Nino years ever,
it didn't look good for us from the "get-go". For the first time, we moved
the initial date from the last Saturday in January to February 13, 2016.
And, we weren't very optimistic with that. Around Christmas time, we had a
water temperature of 42 Degrees. Dorchester Park personnel reported first
ice (a thin skin) on January 5, 2016.
First ice was January 7, 2016 and within two days there was open water
again. By January 13, we had 4 inches again and that ice held, getting to 5
inches by January 20 and 7 inches by January 25. By January 29, the ice was
holding about 7 inches on the channel and 9 inches on the pond area. The
forecast for the next week was for temperatures in the 40 and 50’s with an
inch of rain due by mid week. The derby committee met and it appeared
obvious that we were not going to have sufficient ice by February 8 to conduct
the derby on February 13. We contacted Broome County Parks Director, Art
Garrison and he concurred that we would not have sufficient ice to conduct
the derby so we drafted a Cancellation News Release which was transmitted to
the news media on Monday, February 1. We will continue to track the ice
conditions for awhile longer however.
2016-17
Had first ice around mid-Dec with some anglers in another week. Ice stayed
around 5" for awhile then shot up to 8" by January 11 but then some rain and
warmer temperatures opened up the ice at the South end of the lake and the
lake was raised by a little rain to break it loose around the edges.
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