Outcome of Colorado Pike Tournament For Pike, Inc.

[Lucius]

What can I say, I was impressed with the turn out and even more impressed with the fish count. 22 pike were caught between 11 teams of which only 3 were smaller than 26". The biggest fish was caught 40 minutes before the conclusion of the tournament and it was a beast at 43.5" with a rough calculated weight of 22lbs. The winning team caught all 4 of their fish on the opening day of which their biggest was 39". The team with the biggest fish ended up 2nd because of that fish who were previously sitting in 4th place. The third place team also caught all three of their fish opening with their biggest going 39" as well. All fish over 26" were released unharmed except for one 29" that was a little too aggressive and took a bait deep in the throat. I have included some pictures from the tournament. Hopes this gets though pike juices flowing for you guys up there. Oh and on Sunday, I got 3" of snow in the boat in 1.5 hours!!!

The point difference between 1st and 3rd was 6 points. 2nd was 2 points behind 1st.

[Lucius]

More Pictures

[Lucius]

And the 20" smallmouth

[Lucius]

sunday weather

[Lucius]

conclusion

[Lucius]

conclusion and group

[Natebg1]

Hey Lucius,

It looks like not even mother nature could hold down the most passionate Pike Anglers! I would almost say that scenery with the snow looks familiar, but I can't say I have seen that while fishing from a boat, at least not this year anyway. CONGRATS on such a successful Tournament, next up, PIKE INC., ooppss forgot that this was suppose to stay quiet at least for a little while longer. Oh well I couldn't hold back any longer, I CAN'T WAIT to get this rolling and off the ground, I guess you could say "The Pike Anglers put their money where their mouths are" Chapter 1 PIKE INC Here we Come!!! Huge THANKS has to go out to the passionate Pike Anglers who have stayed so focused and have not forgotten about the "Power of the Pike" This has certainly been a huge step for the Future of Pike Angling Nation Wide! Just think, we one day could be holding tournaments across the pond in places like Europe and also on the other side of the U.S. in places like Alaska on the Inoko River and maybe even Canada. Talk about Pike being a global topic of discussion in the fishing world right alongside Muskie and Walleye, now that is an ESOXstravaganza! Let's kick this into gear and get it rolling, I am sure Pike Fans are ready for this to become reality! Look forward to finally getting all the paperwork turned in to make it official once and for all. Well let the excitement begin, Spring is just around the corner and then the big show starting in Canada begins in June! That trip is going to be phenominal!!! See you in a few months, hopefully with a little warmer weather!

Nate

[Mark K]

What can I say, I was impressed with the turn out and even more impressed with the fish count. 22 pike were caught between 11 teams of which only 3 were smaller than 26". The biggest fish was caught 40 minutes before the conclusion of the tournament and it was a beast at 43.5" with a rough calculated weight of 22lbs. The winning team caught all 4 of their fish on the opening day of which their biggest was 39". The team with the biggest fish ended up 2nd because of that fish who were previously sitting in 4th place. The third place team also caught all three of their fish opening with their biggest going 39" as well. All fish over 26" were released unharmed except for one 29" that was a little too aggressive and took a bait deep in the throat. I have included some pictures from the tournament. Hopes this gets though pike juices flowing for you guys up there. Oh and on Sunday, I got 3" of snow in the boat in 1.5 hours!!!

The point difference between 1st and 3rd was 6 points. 2nd was 2 points behind 1st.

That's awesome Buddy! Some nice fish there! Congrats on a successful tourney.

What would you say the Pike population in that water is? Any similarities to the POR? How much back water is there, and what are summer water temps? It just seems like a really great fishery you have there. How does the State manage Pike? (If they even do) Just curious because it would be nice to see size like that in the POR.

[AJ's Dad]

Lucious,
My question is did "YOU" put anything in the boat? Any luck with the secret lures?

Happy Fishing

[Lucius]

What can I say, I was impressed with the turn out and even more impressed with the fish count. 22 pike were caught between 11 teams of which only 3 were smaller than 26". The biggest fish was caught 40 minutes before the conclusion of the tournament and it was a beast at 43.5" with a rough calculated weight of 22lbs. The winning team caught all 4 of their fish on the opening day of which their biggest was 39". The team with the biggest fish ended up 2nd because of that fish who were previously sitting in 4th place. The third place team also caught all three of their fish opening with their biggest going 39" as well. All fish over 26" were released unharmed except for one 29" that was a little too aggressive and took a bait deep in the throat. I have included some pictures from the tournament. Hopes this gets though pike juices flowing for you guys up there. Oh and on Sunday, I got 3" of snow in the boat in 1.5 hours!!!

The point difference between 1st and 3rd was 6 points. 2nd was 2 points behind 1st.

That's awesome Buddy! Some nice fish there! Congrats on a successful tourney.

What would you say the Pike population in that water is? Any similarities to the POR? How much back water is there, and what are summer water temps? It just seems like a really great fishery you have there. How does the State manage Pike? (If they even do) Just curious because it would be nice to see size like that in the POR.

The pike population in the lake is no where near that in the Pend Orielle as the lake is a canyon reservoir so there is very few weed beds. We were fishing flats that are go to like 30ft deep and then you hit the cliff and it drops to 250+ feet deep in some areas. Most of the fish were caught in 4-24 feet of water. The big girl was caught in like 4-10 of water. The summer water temps get wll into the 70's as this place is a high plains dessert, but with the deep drop offs the pike can find cool refuge. The state is very similar to Washington in that they are very trout oriented...although they have been dealing with pike since the 50's when they stocked them in a few reserviors for roughage fish control. We have about 15 pike waters here in the state but only 1 water had a protected slot limit of 26-34" and that reservoir is actually where my wife caught her trophy back in 2002....44" and 27lbs. It definitely produces some nice fish every year and I think Navajo will do the same as the majority of the anglers that catch he big girls release them. The pend orielle has the poetential as Ithrowsaws showed us last year, it just needs to be managed and taken care of as you all know because those big girls are suseptable to overharvest and can quickly vanish from an ecosystem a lot faster than anyone thinks as Minnesota can atest to. With the gillnetting it will only expedite the vanishing of the big pike especially during the spawn and big pike in washington will be a thing of the past.

Aj's Dad,
I did not put a fish in the boat. I missed my one and only chance on Saturday and the secret lure did not see the water for any action. I guess that was my problem. I will deploy the secret lure sometime in the fall for a good test run.

[YJ Guide Service]

Great job Lucius!!!!!! one down many more to go for Pike Inc.

[Rosann G]

Congrats Buddy, looks like you all had a good, fun tournament. You are diehards though to fish in Sunday's weather!

[Lucius]

You know it definitely crossed my mind to quit a few times, but with no fish in the boat certainly kept the motor running. One team did not even show up on Sunday and numerous teams went in early and waited in their warm trucks for us nuts to come in. The bad part was not when we were fishing but when we were moving. There was at one point, I thought I might be stuck on the lake for a while because the wind was blowing the snow right in my eyes and when I tried to use my clothing to help minimize that, my sunglasses would get fogged up and would not become unfogged even though I removed them from my face. I started to head down a long cove (5miles +) and luckily realized I was heading in the wrong direction by confirming with my GPS on my fish finder....that could have been bad.