Pike, Inc. Update

[Lucius]

So as it turns out to get Pike, Inc. off the ground it is going to take about $1000+. $595 for the founding documents from Legal Zoom and $400 to file the paper with the Feds (at some point we will have to fork out another $450 when the club income is over $10,000 for a three year time span and when we want to have multiple states/chapters that will cost $3000 to file with the feds). Anyway I think I have a solution that can help depending on how much you guys all love pike. I say host a pike tournament on POR as soon as possible (hopefully this month) where %80 of the winnings are kept pay the $1000 or part of it and %20 is paid out for big fish or %90 and %10? What do you guys think? One last HOORAH! to try and make this happen. We would need 24 teams at $50 per team or 12 teams at $100 a team to hit the mark. What say you pike lovers?

[Natebg1]

Hey Lucius and Pike Lovers,

I am in on this idea, just think about the popularity of the Northern Pike. It's not just a North American Fish, it is an international Fish that spans the globe all thru Europe and is World renowned. The possibilities for success of PIKE INC not just locally but also internationally are endless. How cool would it be to be a part of the very First PIKE INC! Also this would be a great opportunity to get schools involved around the local region and maybe even start fishing teams within the Middle and High School level! I am all in!!! Where do I sign?

Nate The Pike Baron
PIKE "Passion In Knowing Esox"

[YJ Guide Service]

You can count Mel amd myself in, you know that....We need to keep haivng people either email us with there complaints on what tere doing with the Pike reclassification or they need to send them into WDFW themselves...Know the facts before you pass judgement on anything having teeth it just might bite you in the ass in the end....Power to the Pike.....Pike Guru...

[sparky1doug]

I'll take a spot. If we wait too long we'll be ice fishing. That sounds like fun too.

[YJ Guide Service]

Well its going to happen, a Pike Club here in Washington and Colorado combo. If your interested in helping or joining this club contact myself, lucious, natebg1, or sparky1doug all members here on Washington Lakes and we will get you info. This is going to be ground breaking history here in Washington State. If you love to fish for Pike and are concerned about the Pike on the Pend Oreille River then now is the time to unite. We are looking for people that have a passion for Pike and love to catch these toothy fish. Power to the Pike......Pike Guru

[muskyhunter]

Would like to say good luck to you guys on this endeavor. Now here is where you may not like me very much. But I am entitled to my opinion. Most if not all of you guys are in a musky/muskie club and hardly fish for that species. Except for Craig who does put a hell of a lot of hours on muskie or Northern pike waters which I give out much props to. And does catch a lot of all species. A couple of you dudes come across as posers. Talk alot about it but don't actually get on the water. As far as this Pike, Inc being ground breaking in Washington. I know there is a group North Idaho Pike Association. Based in both Washington State and Idaho. And fish lakes in Montana. Those guys and girls fish Northerns. And are very good at doing it. And have been incorporated since 2005. In my opinion you'd be disrepecting that group. And they'd probably laugh at you guys. They spend hours and hours on the water. And for some westsiders to throw their "expertise" into this pool is laughable at best. And I know a few of you Eastsiders that are fishing the northerns are also probably saying "say what"? Those same NIPA guys and girls fished both M.I. and CMA Musky Tournaments. They would be considered friends no ? I would recommend talking to those folks and see what they think of your brilliant idea. I know a bunch of those guys and they're not to big on the idea of a huge incorporated conglomerate coming into their waters and taking their fish that they are as passionate if not more passionate than a couple of you guys are posing to be. Adios

[sparky1doug]

Thank you on the wish of good luck. You enlightned me to a few things I wasn't aware of. I did not know membership in a fishing club or passion for a species is dictated by time on the water, years of experience or ability to learn. That would certainly make it very hard to recruit new members or tolerate the youth and the elderly. I realize you are speaking from experience as you have been envolved with starting a new club where one existed and have had to deal with complications and misunderstanding from the uninformed. I respect everyone's right to their opinion and freedom to express it, I hope you do as well. Allow me to share my opinion: Follow your passion no matter your ability (it grows), knowledge becomes wisdom (you can never have enough), think carefully before you speak (others are listening), respect for others begins with yourself (be satisfied with and excepting of who you are). Good luck and good fishing. >:"":> >:"":> >:"":>

[muskyhunter]

Thanks Dougy no fish..lol You are a good guy. Good luck catching those salmoniods..talk at you soon. Todd

[kevinb]

Its a good concept but maybe start with a more localized club. Depending on the success of Washington and Colorado,you could then merge the club(s). $1,000 seems a bit steep right out of the gate. Maybe even chat with NIPA and Montana Pike Masters to see if they would want to get involved. Just an idea is all. Eitherway is a positive for the pike fishery.

Would this club be strictly for northerns and only include the POR fishery?
Is there an affiliation with Pike Inc and Muskies Inc/or just a similar namesake?

Doug- We share the same passion for the northern pike but time on the water should be of some consideration.
I've logged many pike trips this season alone,only to drift in this forum from a long drive and see plenty of pike talk but not much in pike fishing. I've spent $2,000(estimate) this summer just to hook a few pike and I'm sure folks on the Eastside spend way more than that. This doesn't qualify for expert status but I certainly have an investment in the POR/CDA pike fisheries. As MH stated,I know your a good dude and I've had the pleasure of chatting with you through emails but I disagree with "time on the water" or lack thereof.
With that being said,I appreciate your support on the fishery and one of these days we'll get out there. I'm more than likely
finished chasing northerns for the year but will be back at it in the spring.Your more than welcome to hitch a ride with me
or even fish locally.

[Natebg1]

Well I see that obviously this is beginning to gain traction and some are not necessarily going to be onboard with the idea. Many people were not onboard with the idea of Muskie Inc or B.A.S.S but over time as more people became educated on the idea and how these clubs would help on both a local and national level they began to become accepted. Now I can say that from my 20+ years of fishing for Northern Pike back in the Mid-West even people back their had a discontent for the Pike over the years. A lot of anglers hated the idea of a Giant Pike fishery because of the fact of what they were doing to the Walleye and panfishing. However, once more education was put in place to regulate and manage the Northerns more anglers have begun to be more acceptable of them. Now, I respect opinions such as Todds and others, however calling those wanting to learn more about fishing "Posers" and knocking them for time not spent on the water is pretty self centered. Let's not forget that their are those that are not as fortunate as you or I with having the time to fish like we both do. Part of being a great angler is not judging others for the time they spend fishing and instead taking the time to help give those people the opportunity instead. PIKE Inc would give those people that chance and would help them find a new sense of passion with fishing altogether! Some may not think this is the greatest of ideas however nobody ever got anywhere by listening to opinions and not following their passion first. Doug You said it best and I am sure glad that You have brought such educated reasoning to this plan and are onboard to help make this a reality. For those that are onboard it could be a great opportunity that in the end could bring a new found respect for the Northern Pike in Washington State! Good luck fishing and we will see everyone out on the water!

Nate The Pike Baron
PIKE Inc (Power In Knowing ESOX)

Nate The Pike Baron
PIKE Inc (Power In Knowing ESOX)

[Mark K]

I love the idea of a Pike club of some sort, but thousands of dollars to start one seems crazy. There has to be an easier, and cheaper, way to do this. Club or no club right now though we do need to get organized and show up to these public WDFW meetings and present our side. While we sit here and talk about how were going to come up with all this money, the Kalispells are moving one step closer to destroying this fishery we all love. What we need to do is put some boots on the ground now or "Pike Inc" will have nothing to fish for.

Just my 2 cents.

[kevinb]

Other than a few mild disagreements,were all on the same page. Mark K is right,if anything is going to happen,it needs to happen fast. Its time to be proactive and less reactive.
Should the tribe get there way,I have no reasons to spend my money in Pend Oreille County. Granted,my money is small potatoes but they won't get a dime from me. End rant.................

[sparky1doug]

Todd, Nate, Kevin and Mark it is "crunch time" in the fight for Northern Pike fishery in Washington . Whether Pike Inc. is formed today, next year or never, it does not matter. What is required here is dedicated, knowledgable, and determined Pike anglers to organize their efforts and passions to put forth the strongest show of support for a sustainable fishery. Rest assured gentleman there is work going on through the appropriate channels to further effective resistance to rule changes and eradication practices. It is vitally importent to attend all the upcoming open meetings on rule changes and speak to the common goal of a responsibly managed, quality Northern Pike Fishery. I believe all sides (Anglers, WDFW, Kalispels) can agree on 4 main topics. The pike are impossible to completly remove from the Pend Oreille. The first being true, the population in the Pend Oreille River needs to managed at resonable levels. Angler pressure alone cannot control todays escalating numbers of pike. Pike could be a threat to salmon and steelhead populations down stream if not managed properly in their current habitate.
Here are the 3 topics which passionate Pike anglers disagree with the Kalispel Tribe and WDFW. The economic impact of the Pend Oreille pike fishery is absolutly important to anglers and communities which it benefits. Current survey/population erradication practices will not result (gill netting of the large pike, leaving the "hammer handles") in a manageable or desirable fishery. Nor will it meet thier goals of population control. The public was promised to be heard and included in a joint effort to establish Northern Pike management goals which achieve a controled, reasonable and desirable fishery. (this has clearly not happened or I would not have to write this).
I do believe the WDFW and Kalispels will find that like the Pike the support for this fishery is not going away anytime soon. In a time of extreme budget cuts for the WDFW you must ask yourself as one of the tax payers, is this project money well spent? I believe most will agree it is not. I would like to see my hard earned money spent rearing salmon and steelhead also preserving the vitally importent jobs of those people at WDFW whom (despite some disagreement on this topic) are very much appriciated for thier work.

[Lucius]

Where to start....
Pike, Inc. is not meant to interfere or take away from other established clubs. I personally know Steve and Bob from North Idaho Pike Association and think they are doing a fantastic job with their club in Idaho. I am also aware of Pike Masters in Montana and Northerns, Inc. in Minnesota, but they are all local clubs for their respective states. I would encourage and welcome teaming up with either one of their clubs on any given issue at anytime. But one thing we want to do that they have not is expand nationally and then internationally. Those guys have chosen to stay local and I respect that. But I haven't seen any of them try and be an active player in combating the declassification of pike as a game fish in Washington State. I haven't seen them try and petition to have the management rules of pike changed on the POR. Now I am not saying they don't care about pike but they are in a different states and have their own issues to deal with, so I don't expect them to fight Washington's fight. Now if they are wanting to team up and help us, like I said we are more than willing. In fact the more people we get demonstrating they like the pike fishery in Washington state, the better chances we have.

As for officially getting this off the ground, yes it does cost that kind of money unfortunately and just to get established sooner, we are going the cheapest rout. With that said Pike, Inc. would operate as one entity both in Washington and Colorado to start. I posted the fishing tournament idea down here as well and planned on having the same rules and combining the money to get established. In order to become a multiple chapter entity/multiple state, we have to fork out $3000 to the feds and file additional paperwork (one time fee that is) and our intention is to use some of the membership dues and other money generated to pay for that once enough is saved up (taking in slow, you can't create an empire in one day). Until then we would focus on Washington and Colorado and have fun fishing for pike and enjoy the camaraderie it brings sharing the same passion. Our intention is to run Pike, Inc. similarly to Muskies, Inc. We would like to have an annual chapter challenge (to start washington vs colorado) tournaments anywhere in the country and canada. Pike, Inc. would not be bounded to just local waters, it would be up to the respective board and membership. For example I can see Pike, Inc. in washington having tournaments in Washington, Idaho, and Montana and if you guys are up for the 17+/- hour drive to North Dakota. In fact some of the soon to be board members are planning a trip to Canada the first week in June (drive to place) for a week long pike fishing trip. If anyone is interested in coming you can contact myself, Nate, sparky or Craig for more details.

Lucius (as in Esox Lucius)

[Natebg1]

Canadian Pike here we come!!! This is going to be an amazing trip, and will certainly give us all a Huge BANG for our Buck!!!

Well fellow Pike anglers, for those that are interested in the idea of Pike Inc, here is a little background. I will tell you on a personal note that this has been a LONG TIME in the making and is something that wasn't just thrown together and put out on the table. Many months of research, approval, and getting deep into the legal background of starting up an organization was done. Many people behind the scenes who don't even have anything to do with Washingtonlakes.com or Washington fishing in general have been helping with this. Lawyers, Tax Advisors, and other people within the fishing community have gone to great lengths to help with ensuring that this would not only be possible, but they have taken our same passion and applied it to their own backgrounds and used this to our advantage. Lucky for all of us, these same people are just as passionate about Pike as we are and are sitting in the background willing and able to help anywhere they can from a legal standpoint. Due to the fact that they are representing us in a way, they are not allowed to fund anything which is why we are obviously having to take the route of coming up with a game plan to actually make this work financially. From this standpoint this is where the passion for the Pike comes into play and if people in Washington, Colorado and thru out the nation are serious in wanting to protect the Pike population within their respective areas and be able to have great fisheries this is where PIKE INC would come into play. This club is not a revolt against the Pend Oreille problem, this club is being put together to educate and to team up with other respective Pike Organizations, Local Schools and Communities to have a voice not just locally but also nationally and hopefully one day globally!!! Some may say, their is NO WAY this will ever happen and some may laugh at it and make rude comments on the idea, but nobody has ever reached the top by listening to the nay sayers and letting comments change their direction. I will say this, if anything this just adds fuel to the fire and makes all of us who are working on this and serious about this want to work that much harder to make this a reality, so keep the comments coming and help drive this inspiration all the way home! Anyone would certainly be welcome to this club including those that may currently hate the idea or think it is crazy, our goal is to bring fishing in general to a completely new level from an educated standpoint and show others the truths and realities behind many different types of fishing with an emphasize on Northern Pike all over the country and world. We are hoping that many of you out their feel the same way and want to see this become reality just like we do. Tight Lines and Good Fishing!!!

Nate "The Pike Baron"
PIKE (Passion In Knowing Esox)

[Lucius]

Let the tournaments begin. We have a tentative tournament down here in Colorado for Mid February to help contribute and get Pike, Inc. off the ground. We are anticipating 15 boats or so. The tournament will be hosted on Navajo Reservoir. Dynamic Lures will be our first sponsor and also one of their prostaffers is securing the permit for the tournament. We are slowly gaining traction!!

[YellowBear]

The idea of Washington and Colorado teaming up to support a Pike fishery is kind of cool, but when the Pike get into the Columbia, will Colorado help with the cost to protect the Salmon and Steelhead from yet another preditor?

[Mark K]

The idea of Washington and Colorado teaming up to support a Pike fishery is kind of cool, but when the Pike get into the Columbia, will Colorado help with the cost to protect the Salmon and Steelhead from yet another preditor?

And how do you know the Pike won't help the Salmon/Steelhead fishery by preying on Pikeminnow?

[Lucius]

The plan is to operate as one entity....but separate. Besides, I think the club will be big enough by that time each state will have it's own chapter.

[Lucius]

mark brings up a good point as well. The salmon and steelhead fishery will most likely be helped if northern pike get into the columbia, because they will prey on the pikeminnow and from the sound of it....there is plenty of pikeminnow for the pike to eat.