A decades-old annual ice fishing derby on New Brunswick’s Kennebecasis River has been cancelled — because of too much winter.
Organizers pulled the plug on the annual derby scheduled for this weekend in Rothesay, N.B. because there is too much snow on the ice.
Gary Gower, president of the Renforth Ice Fishing Association, said it’s the first time in his memory that the event has been cancelled.
As many as 500 people were expected to attend the annual event at Renforth Wharf.
The snow accumulation stood in the way of organizers setting-up, said Gower.
“We can’t get onto the ice to plow and we can’t get any of the equipment, such as barbeques, tables and tents and all that down to the ice,” he said.
The snow accumulation on top of the ice has pushed the ice down, in turn pushing water up through the fishing holes.
“With this last 30 centimetres of snow that fell, you start cutting holes into that and then the water that gets soaked up by the snow adds to the weight of the ice and it just becomes a very dangerous situation for all involved,” Gower said.
A number of shacks have flooded after snow got saturated with water.
Gower said he expects the weekend to still be busy as fishermen come to free their shacks from the ice.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ashley Blackford
