MEREDITH — At his day job, Dan Harris of Merrimack takes to the skies as a pilot for Continental Airlines. In his spare time, he loves delving his fishing line into New Hampshire lakes and ponds.

The Great Meredith Rotary Fishing Derby grand prize winner now has another frontier to conquer: land. For catching the largest tagged rainbow trout of the weekend tournament, Harris won a John Deere XUV 825i Camo, an all-terrain crossover utility vehicle valued at $24,000.

“It's great, though I'm not sure yet what I'm going to use it for,” Harris said Sunday with a smile.

The 36-year-old landed the largest tagged rainbow trout of the derby, a 2.57-pounder, while fishing through a hole on Lake Winnipesaukee near Gilford about 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

“At that point I got a little nervous; I was just worried about getting it out of the water and not losing it,” he said.

Second-place winner Kurtis Sleeper, 35, of Laconia, who caught a 2.11-pound tagged rainbow trout near on Winnipesaukee near Moultonborough on Saturday, won a 2010 Polaris Sportsman 500 H.O Touring ATV and Trailer.

“The fishing was excellent (Saturday), and I was really happy with my catch,” Sleeper said.

Third prize, an ice-fishing package valued at $3,000, went to Christopher Rurak of Haverhill, Mass., who caught a 1.95-pound tagged rainbow trout on Winnipesaukee's Nineteen Mile Bay near Tuftonborough.

Derby officials said they were pleased with this year's event, even though unusually warm temperatures have left open water on the lake — including near the docks of Meredith Bay, where the derby's headquarters are located.

Participation was down about 10 percent, said Tracy Acquilla, the derby's chairman.

“These were some of the worst conditions we've ever had, and most of us expected participation to be much worse,” Acquilla said.

She added: “It shows you that no matter what the conditions, ice fisherman will find a place to fish, and that's encouraging.”