Northwest Fishing Reports

As some of you know, I recently started Gone Fishin' Lure Co. It will be kicking off this spring. I figured what better way to do it than to sponsor/ hold the 1st annual pike tournament on the Pend Orielle River. As most of you know we pulled some pretty big hogs out of there last spring and I think the river is ready to produce some large fish for a tournament. The date is set for April 18-19. I believe I have Joe's Sports (formerly G.I. Joes) on board as a sponsor as well. There should be a lot of good stuff for give aways and raffle, not to mention prize money. I am going to try to set up some mini seminars on pike fishing in general, fishing the P.O. River, and filleting/ cooking pike. Pike fishing is a new thing for most people in this area so I would like to encourage beginning pike fisherman to come out and learn more in one weekend than most people would in a season. It should be a great time. I would also like to get some people from the chapter over to this side of the mountains to promote Tiger Muskies Inc. and get some east siders signed up. I will have more details available soon, but I thought I would give everyone a heads up.

Thats cool. Would like to ask is this a catch and release or catch and keep tourney? Is this a open tournament? Or do you have to be a member of a club to be in this tourney? I know its early but its now mid February, who does one contact. What is the cost to enter and where is the money going? thanks ,Todd

I've been thinking (hoping?) about getting over there this spring. I love catchin' pike! It's a long trip from Seattle, but I need to collect a bunch of Continuing Legal Education credits this year, and figure I might get some of them at Gonzaga Law School in Spokane, and of course bring my boat with me to do some fishing in between classroom days. Which would include getting acquainted with Silver Lake, and maybe paying Newman Lake a visit, too. Perhaps work all this into my customary May smallmouth trip to Banks Lake, with a side trip to Curlew? I also harbor a desire to fish Brownlee Reservoir for spring crappie -- I love eatin' crappie! None of this is a definite plan, though. Next month, I'm flying to Chicago for a family wedding; and I might try to drop in on the Cascade Musky Association's March 10 meeting, which is the day after I return to Seattle. After that, my plans are kind of up in the air. I usually don't do tournaments, but I do want to try the POR pike! I have Eloika bass on my travel list, too. Is May too late for the pike? Dunno if I can get away in April because of meetings, projects, and such.

muskyhunter,
To answer a few of your questions... I am working on trying to devise a plan for a catch and release tournament. It is difficult because a large pike does not fit in a normal livewell if any. Using a judge boat or boats is very difficult on this river because of the travel distance up and down the river. I will limit the fishing area but it still makes it difficult without having several judge boats. It is difficult to find enough people willing to use their boat to judge and not fish. I am working on a few ideas but none stand out as the best way to do it. If anybody has a good solution to this I would love to hear ideas. I REALLY don't want to have a catch and keep tourney for pike.

It will be an open tournament. As far as a contact person that is myself and I will have sign up information available soon. I believe we will have a sign up location set up at Joe's Sports in Spokane Valley. For those that would like to participate and are not in the Spokane area, the info may be available at other Joes locations on the west side or I can just mail or fax it to you. I am working on putting together info on possible lodging as well. I will make that available as soon as I have it. As far as cost, that has not been determined yet. The entry fees will be used for prize money and possible a donation made to a good, fishing related project. Any body have any suggestions on that one I would love to hear them as well.

Don,
It sounds like you have a very good lineup of fishing destinations set. I would be more than happy to help you get acquainted with Silver and Newman if you would like a tour. Silver is a great destination! As for the pike, May is not too late. I will be up there a lot in March, April, May, and most likely June as well. During the summer they are catchable but the action is very slow form what you get used to fishing in the spring. Once again if you would like a tour I would be more than happy to show you some hot spots.

If I get over there in mid-April, I'd be happy to be a non-fishing judge boat, but as I said above nothing is definite. My boat has a 60-inch livewell which comes in handy for reviving exhausted fish that can't be released directly back into the water.

I think the tourney sounds like a great time, and of course it is always good to see another opportunity to promote tiger muskies to our Eastern brethren. I think $20 should be a good fee, have a 75% payout for 1st -3rd and maybe a side bet for largest fish? The remainder of the money could either be donated to the WDFW in support of the musky stocking program or better yet, C.A.S.T. for kids. Don't forget to get a permit before going too public with this in case you haven't already got one.

Can't wait!

I have discussed doing something similar to the playing card thing. A photo would have to be taken with the playing card or logo card, the measuring stick and the fish all in the same pic. Scouts honor would be great for a club tourney but not when money is involved in an open tourney. This may be the way I go with it but Im still not certain it is the best way.

The tournament will be done with 2 people per boat. Depending on the number of participants and the program that is chosen for donation, there will most likely be 75% payback, with 15-20% to donation and 5-10% to cover some costs. There will be a side pot for largest fish as well as a raffle with lots of good stuff.

I would like more info on C.A.S.T. for kids if anybody has it. The muskie stocking program is also a good candidate. Any other ideas?

The permit for the tournament has already been obtained.

The muskie stocking program is fully funded and WDFW doesn't need donations to keep it going. C.A.S.T. For Kids probably needs donations -- and they also need warm bodies with boats for their events. You can find out more by reading their website, and if you still want to know more, give Jim Owens a call at 425-251-3214. http://www.castforkids.org/

Gone Fishin,
I beleave didgital cameras have a date function on them. I would make sure everyone has this turned on so the date shows up in the pic. This will help cut back on the time the fish is out of the water. The fewer things that have to be in the photo the faster it gets snapped and the faster the fish gets turned back. This would cut out the need for a judge boat and would add fishing time for the anglers.
I fished a on line tourny last year and they wanted the angler, the fish on the tape and the card, it took a bit of time to get it all in. Just a thought.

On the other hand, I am looking forward to your Pike tournament. This would be a good opportunity to gather some info on the Pike fishery.

YellowBear that's a good idea - one step futher - have a laptop and make sure guys bring their usb connections. At check in upload each person's fish picture to the lap top. That might be one way to do catch and release and still have the fish documented.

I'd love to get out and do a story on this unique fishery but those dates I have plans. Maybe we can get pics and a story written up for WL.com someone?

Gone Fishin--I am a novice tourney fisherman know photography ---- here is an idea combining the good suggestions posted.
1. All participants required to bring-digital camera with cord to download to laptop.
2. All ARE ISSUED-BIG ID card to go in pix with fish + a simple tourney measuring stick 5 ft long -made of 2 cheap 3ft yard sticks glue to make 5ft, with white line at mark and red lines at 6" or 1 ft mark. Winner is longest fish--not by weight
3. Photo must include ID card with a full view of fish and stick- fish must be BELOW stick (so you can read the yard stick)-head to Zero mark. I do not see why angler must be in it--card holder gets the prize. Angler must also complete a catch card with data that matches photo (date-time-fish length-angler ID # and name)
4. Catch cards can be ranked quickly and judges need to only look at photos on laptop of top fish to verify catch data. If measuring stick is not visible---it doesn't count. Laptop can zoom in on measuring stick to read scale.

I met you today at JOE's looking for floating worms--good idea--charitable cause--good luck

I would not mind compiling some photos and writing up a summary/story of the tourney. I must say though don't expect anything Shakespearean, I am no English major. How are things coming along with the planning Gone Fishin? Do you need some help with some things?

Looks like the PO river is going to get a lot more attention this year. Don't forget catch and release so we can keep this a great fishery. I have a buddy that lives up there and the Indian Res and some of the residents are keeping the Pike that they catch to protect the bass and pan fish so we need to make sure and do our part practicing catch and release to keep it a trophy fishery for Pike.

Hey GF

That time of year the pike should be slamming everything in sight.
I'm not sure if I can make it or not...we usually run recruits through North Bend around that time. I'll keep you posted
I will be over there in June meeting up with Lotech Joe and Marc.
As an avid pike angler myself,I'd be more than happy to promote and distribute flyers for the tourney,let me know
if you need any help.

tollefs wrote:Looks like the PO river is going to get a lot more attention this year. Don't forget catch and release so we can keep this a great fishery. I have a buddy that lives up there and the Indian Res and some of the residents are keeping the Pike that they catch to protect the bass and pan fish so we need to make sure and do our part practicing catch and release to keep it a trophy fishery for Pike.

Well said tollefs. I couldn't agree with you more. I know there can be a healthy population of pike as well as other fish without trying to kill all the Pike.

Fish on

Don't worry, catch and release is a very important thing to me. I do not want big fish killed. That is one reason I like using judge boats. They can make sure the fish is released and penalize if it is not. I am pretty certain that there will be a large penalty for dead fish. I will however encourage the harvest of fish under probably 28-30 inches. If we can teach people that the smaller ones are better eating and a better choice to keep, we can hopefuly save some of the bigger fish. I will also encourage people to consider replica fish rather than skin mounts. I almost scrapped the tournament because I wasn't sure that a catch and release pike tournament on that river was possible. I am fairly certain now that I can come up with a good system.

As far as how the picture system would work if that is the way I choose to go;
The time and date stamp is not reliable because the user sets the time and date.
The photo would require the ID card, the measuring stick and the fish all clearly in the picture.
If the measuring stick is not placed next to the fish or not fully visible it would not count.
It is possible but just an idea at this point, Im not sure how it would work but, I would like to find a way that the fish could be verified by another boat. This could be very difficult and probably wont be required.
A photo of the fisherman releasing the fish would not be required but greatly encouraged.
There will also be a minimum size on fish that can be recorded; I will take input on this but I am considering 30-36inches as a minimum.

A digital camera would be required for this event and must have either an SD card or the USB cord.

Lucius,
Planning is going fairly well. Still a lot to do but its coming along. I am working with Joe's right now on setting up more sponsors to the event. I will let you guys know if there is anything you can do to help.

Sounds good. Could be a lot of fun. Maybe you could round up some teenagers that are interested in fishing and draw out of a hat and have them ride along with ya. They could learn how to Pike fish by spending time with the anglers and they could be responsible for measuring and documenting fish. Might not work but just another idea.

Awsome idea Gone fishin! This done right might turn out to be big in the years to come. What location on the river are you planning to do this out of ?

[quoteThe entry fees will be used for prize money and possible a donation made to a good, fishing related project. Any body have any suggestions on that one I would love to hear them as well.[/quote]

WDFW wanted to purchase 2 fiberglass tanks for the tiger muskie rearing facility. Chapter 57 raised donations for 1 tank and WDFW planned to pay for the other. However, WDFW purchasing is frozen because of the state budget crisis, so private donations are needed for the 2nd tank, too. The tank costs about $900.

Why would you encourage anglers to release large fish but keep those under 28-30 inches?

Are there too many pike?

Just seems odd that you encourage the release of some fish and the killing of others. Little fish turn into big fish.

RM