Pend Oreille River Pike tournament

[dougw]

Thanks Doug. I felt pretty great about it! Craig, Mel and Alishia also got their pics in the issue! Like Craig said, makes us feel good and that we are doing something right getting the chapter going!

[Anonymous]

Chapter 60 rocks!
Pretty cool to have all that press in a national magazine, huh.
Chapter #57 was HAPPY to get you to the gate, but all the work since then is to YOUR credit.
WTG, guys and gals.
I guess we are lucky ... LOL... to have such awesome members in both Chapters - makes the fishing and the camaraderie between the two, double the fun.
Looking forward to your continued success and meeting-up as often as time and distance allows.
Hope the pike are biting this weekend!!!

[dougw]

I think we will have fun either way on Saturday! I am hoping more for another tiger tomorrow! I have the day off and time to chase a tiger or two by myself..... Not to mention, with two new lures to test...

[KUP]

If you catch a muskie on either of those monster lures.... you will be elevated into the clouds... again:)
HOW many inches are those lures?????
Never mind, I don't want to know.. it might scare me.

[dougw]

Let's put it this way KUP, I won't be able to use them for the pike tournament... They are longer than most of the pike in the POR!!! Okay maybe not that big, but they are big!

So much for me going to bed early. I went to bed at 8, thinking I had everything ready that I needed. Woke up in a cold sweat at 11 remembering I forgot to print a form off..... :( So, I am up printing them off.

I was very humbled today. After the last two good outings, I figured today there was no way I wasn't putting a fish in the boat.... I saw only one..... Talked with one boat that put a 35" and a 46.5" in the boat today in a couple of hours, and had multiple follows. Wasn't in my cards, I guess. Threw almost everything I had.....

[bad esox]

Good-Luck today everyone! Have a great time... and watch out for snow in the Pass on the way home on Sunday!

[cudaman]

so lets hear how it went im dyin to hear details

[dougw]

Don't do it. Don't tell. Let them wonder and wish they were here!!!!

Honestly, it was a miserable, cold, wet, blustery day. I saw two boats with duck hunters that left before us, if that is any indication. They weren't leaving with limits either.

Fishing was not bad. I think everyone except one person caught at least one fish. The winner caught 171" of pike (I think that is what the number was). 30" was the biggest pike caught. Some good fish were seen, one possibly 40+". All said and done we had a good time. 6 boats showed to fish, with 12 total anglers participated. 8 were from chapter 60 and 4 came over from the west side.

Hope everyone had a safe drive home!

Doug

[sparky1doug]

Doug you had numbers right. When I left the cabin at the Blue Slide Resort at 5:30am it was 33 degrees and foggy. That was as nice as it got. By the time the tourney got started it was 40 degrees raining and wind blowing 10-15 mph. Wind chill at 35. The water temp. stayed at 51 so the fish were warmer then us, ouch! There were plenty of Pike and the action was very good but hook ups were hard to come by. The fish were not hitting hard at all. 35 fish were landed and many more lost at the boat. I saw the largest Pike I've ever seen. A 42-44" brut followed my Cudaman Bucktail right to the boat, my knees were shaking and not from the cold. It was close enough to me to see the WDFW red tag on its back and believe I saw it "flip me the fin" as it slowly swam away. Considering the conditions it was a successful tourney and the Gades's proved there is no substitue for experience. They took "big fish" and greatest length. Chuck put it in a nut shell, fishing is "90% luck and the rest is all skill". Thanks to all those Chapter 60 folks who are true blue fisherman, literally this day. Thanks to the die hard Chapter 57 boys who made the long trek to the beautiful Pend Oreille River.

[Natebg1]

Hello Doug and Chapter 57 Members,

First time post for me on here, but I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about the Pike tournament on the Pend Oreille. I have had some great days fishing for Pike in my life growing up in the Midwest, however the Quality within the numbers of the Pike within this River is PHENOMINAL!!!! I owe Doug a great deal of Thanks for getting me over to this tournament and really do appreciate him bringing me to a great fishing hole. Let's just say my day fishing with Doug and my son Hunter wasn't bad, especially considering that this was my first Pike Tournament on this body of water. Talk about a challenge, not even adding in the weather conditions, just being able to use my knowledge and experience from 20 + years of Pike fishing in the Mid-West and coming to somewhere completely new. Wow, was I impressed!!!! These fish here are no joke and they certainly have me begging for more, so let's just say that if everything works out, I DEFINITELY plan on attending the Spring 2011 Pike Tournament back at Pend Oreille. Plus, I owe another great day of fishing to my son Hunter and if Doug is up for a second round, the boat is certainly open for a second Captain!!!! Plus I want to see that 40 + incher on his hook this time!!! Thanks again everyone involved with this tournament, it was a real treat and something that I won't soon forget!!! By the way the Pictures are also a huge hit, Thanks for putting those together Doug, I really owe you one, a certain bait will be in store as my way of saying thanks again.

Nate G.
Musky Inc Ch. 57 NW Tiger Pac

[bad esox]

Nate,

Welcome to WashingtonLakes.com! Welcome to the Muskie forum also!

It sounds like you guys had great time over there on the "Eastside" chasing old "Mr. Spots" Esox around...LOL. I think the only thing that tourney was missing was our ol' friend Mr. Buddy... I bet he was there in spirit! He does love those Pike!

Great pictures by the way.

[YJ Guide Service]

Hopefully we can get alot of people to show up for the Saturday March 26th 2011 Pend Oreille River Pike Slam. This tournament will be a Open tournament put on by Chapter 60 Mountain Muskies. We welcome everyone to come and support and join us at this tournament. It will be the first tournament Chapter 60 has in 2011. Hopefully we can get a few of our coastal friends to come back over and try the Pike fishing in the spring. Support your local Muskie Chapters, join Muskies Inc now. Long live the Tiger Muskie and Chapter 60 Mountain Muskies......Welcome and thank you Nate from Chapter 60

[Natebg1]

Hello Fellow Ch. 57 and Ch. 60 Mbr's,

Again it was a real pleasure to come over to the East Side and take on the Challenge of the Pend Oreille River for some Pike. I certainly plan on coming back over to represent Ch. 57 this Spring in the First Tournament of the Season as long as I get to take a few home with me to eat. I will say I cooked up the last batch from the Tournament and they turned out absolutely AMAZING!!!. The 51 degree water certainly kept there flesh a little more firm for eating, not so much like up in the Mid-West where they usually are a little less firm. There was even a little better taste to them as well. I just finished pickling the last batch and will be bringing them to the Chapter 57 Meeting next week on the 18th for everyone to try. I learned this recipe from my Grandmother who is a big fan of Pickled Pike, YUM!!!! This spring I am going to bring a Smoker with me for the Tournament and will be more than happy to fillet some up right there at the dock and smoke em for everyone who might be interested. If you like Walleye or Perch then be prepared to enjoy a great flavor with Pike, especially smoked. Look forward to this Spring and hope to see everyone real soon back at the Pend Oreille or if at all possible over on the West Side for some Tiger's!!!! Keep those lures warm thru the winter and we will see everyone in the spring. Take it easy!!!!

Nate Ch. 57

[dougw]

Nate,
Glad to have met you at the tournament. It was a great time! Pike are one of the most under-rated eating fish in my opinion. Very good, if you get rid of the bones. Really every bit as good as walleye. I can't wait to see all of those 22" pike next year after they put on a few more inches and some girth. Give that fishery 2-3 years and we will have a lot of fine fish in that system!

[Natebg1]

Doug,

It was a real treat to meet You and all of your fellow Ch. 60 member's. You are right on with Pike being an underrated fish for eating, especially when they are caught in 51 degree water. I actually Pickled some of my Pike that I fillet up and they are just something else, there flesh is a little bit firmer too which makes it even better. I am use to Mid-West Pike where the flesh isn't as firm so they are a little different in taste, but they are still good. You are right on too about the taste between them and Walleye if they are cooked right. I went a little different route with a few of the fillets and I left the skin on the back side and put some cajun spice on them with some hot sauce and baked them in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes and they turned out phenominal!!! I would almost say it was some of the best fish I have ever had and that is saying a lot!!! I agree that there is going to be a great fishery in the Pend Oreille if there isn't already. Just like I was telling Doug P on our way back from the tournament, I think that there may very well be a possibility of an average Pike ranging between 45 to 50 inches in the next few years the way that the Pend Oreille fishery is. It seems from my experiences that the Pike at Pend Oreille compared to the Mid-West have a much better food source and have a much healthier environment in which to grow. Since they don't have to compete with Musky, Walleye, and the occasional Sturgeon the Pike at Pend Oreille are KING!!! Some people would say that this is a bad thing, but I would have to say that if people were more open to the idea of the Pike they might find out just how much fun they really can be to catch. I would however love to see the Fishing Game and Wildlife put some Walleye and maybe some mature largemouth bass in the River so that it would open up the possibility for a more diverse fishery. The Smallmouth and the occasional largemouth are great to catch, however I do believe that the population of Pike could be leveled out a little if there was some more aggressive fish like Largemouth and Walleye in the River system. Plus that might help the other native fish to have a chance to replenish themselves since Bass eat Pike fingerlings and Walleye eat Bass Fingerlings. Just an idea, but man I can't say anything bad about the Pike fishing on the Pend Oreille, it is a tremendous fishery and I certainly look forward to coming back. Keep in touch and let me know if you guys get back out this year, I would be curious to hear the reports. Keep the lines tight and the lures wet, have a good one.

Nate

[YJ Guide Service]

Natebg1,

There use to be almost exclusively largemouth bass in the PO River as far as bass go. Since the introduction from somewhere of the Smallmouth the Largemouth populations have suffered. The Smallmouth is a pack feeder and the Largemouth are solitary feeders and because of this the Smallmouth have pushed the Largemouth out of the river. This has also happened on Long Lake as well. The Kalispels have a Largemouth Bass hatchery and have planted fish from what I've heard. As long as the Smallmouth numbers are way up on the river you wont see as many Largemouth which is a shame. I'm not saying there arent Largemouth just not as many as there were 10 years ago. I love the Pike and hope someday that this body of water becomes a trophy fishery, but as long as people can kill those big fish its going to be hard to do that. I wish they would do away with bobber fishing since the effects on fish from this type of fishing makes them hard to release since they tend to swallow the treble hooks. I hope people keep as many small fish as they want to eat and they put them big fish back. Long live Chapter 60 Mountain Muskies. Help support the Muskie and support your local chapter of Muskies Inc.