2013 Belwood Lions Pike Derby Results
Wind, cold temperatures, and muddy water greeted anglers this past weekend for the 2013 Belwood Lions Pike Derby at Belwood Lake. With less than optimal conditions on the lake, fish were hard to come by, especially the targeted pike.
The pike derby is a fun event that Darrell and I enjoy fishing in each year. Normally we spend the entire weekend on the lake, get far too much sun, and catch a pile of small pike mixed with some walleye. We head home on the Sunday night completely exhausted, but happier for the experience. This year our pike derby was shortened to one day as a previous commitment kept us off of the water on Saturday. However, the boat was loaded up and ready to go first thing Sunday morning, as were the dogs.
Despite the chilly weather, it was a beautiful day on Belwood.
Since the dogs spend so much time alone during the week, we decided they would join us on Sunday for their first ever pike derby. I swear Jack knew he was going long before I put his collar on and let him in the truck. There is nothing that dog loves as much as going fishing with us. With the wind already blowing and the forecast calling for stronger gusts as the day went on, we decided to bypass the launch at the Belwood Lake Conservation Area in favor of the one in town. This put us closer to the spots we planned to fish, and made for an easier day if the wind kicked up. With our 12-foot tinny we don’t have the power to handle very rough water, so we’re very cautious of the weather.
The dogs were happy to be out, especially Jack.
Getting on the water shortly before 6am, we found sunny skies and several eager anglers. Finding a way to fit our gear in the boat, plus the two dogs was a bit of a challenge and Molly was determined to not make things easy. She can never sit still, and with her tendency to jump overboard and go for a swim, I was kept busy keeping her occupied and preventing any jumps into the frigid water. The wind had dropped the water temperature drastically from last weekend. On our last trip we had a high temp of 67F, now we were down to 54-55F.
Jack was just chilling and enjoying the day.
The muddy water changed our game plan and we started by tossing brightly colored jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, and crankbaits. When those failed to elicit a response we tried drop-shotting and jigging. We fished high-percentage areas that almost always yield pike and a few walleye, then moved on to other areas that we thought may be an alternative. Shallow or deep, in the sticks or in open water, trolling or casting – we just couldn’t get anything to bite.
Darrell’s biggest catch of the day was this log. He actually managed to pull it to the boat.
Hoping to find warmer, and possibly clearer water, we ran out to Gull Island. There the water warmed up a degree or two and we could finally see our baits a few feet out. However, the wind did not feel like giving us a break and it wasn’t long before we gave up on that spot. We worked our way back to the launch, stopping to fish a spot when the finder marked something. But it wasn’t our day. Not even a perch wanted to bite our baits.
Gull Island. Can you tell how it got its name? They were everywhere! Molly loved this spot and spent the time bird-watching.
Fortunately, not everyone suffered from the skunk over the weekend. With the minimum length being dropped to 22-inches this year, there was a little more leeway for catching a qualifying pike. I was not able to attend the prize ceremony so I’m not sure what other anglers were catching their fish on, but a total of nine fish made it on the board. Being a catch-and-release derby, all those fish will stand the chance to get bigger and be caught again next year.
The 2013 results.
Congratulations to the winner, Roy Smith of Guelph, with a winning pike of 28-inches! In a difficult year of fishing, that fish must have looked pretty big. I would also like to send congratulations to the Belwood Lions Club for another fun event, and to all the anglers who hit the water and spent time outside, even in adverse conditions. Good job!
argosgirl
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Gosh, disappointing, as I know you were really looking forward to this event. Figured I would pick up a few more pointers from you. Somedays the fish win, and, somedays Mother Nature takes care of business. On the other days, it is our turn!
As you say, sometimes Mother Nature and the fish win. I prefer the days when I win 🙂 But it was a nice day on the water and we learned that Molly could handle being in the boat with the gas motor running. It’s amazing how much that combined 90 lbs of dog weighs down the boat! We’ll get back out there to target the big girl I almost caught last year. She haunts me.
Spent 17 ours on the water between Saturday and Sunday, and 1 19 inch pike between two of us…rough weekend to say the least. Till next year!
That’s dedication! At least you caught something – any pike would have made my day. Thanks for visiting!
Curious to know if you find more luck down by the dam in the bay, gull island, the river, deep or shallow, what’s your belwood pattern for pike and walleye?
We always have more luck by the river, usually along weed edges near drop-offs. Big spinnerbaits for pike and Rapala Husky Jerks (in Tennessee Shad & Fire Tiger) for walleye work well for us. Morning seems best for the walleye but the pike will hit all day. Most of our Belwood fishing is done in the spring. The few times we hit it later in the year, we end up doing a lot of searching.