Montana PikeMasters

January, 2007

Happy New Year Pikemasters!!!

What a super year it has been for our club! Our ’06 banquet was a sell-out a month in advance, kid’s fishing day brought an expected record number of kids to Laurel Pond, two tournaments were loads of fun, and the Swine Party at my place topped it all off. Several businesses and civic groups recognized our hard work by donations to our charity funds. Advertising in our Waterwolf magazine keeps getting easier to sell. What else have I missed? It has been a GOOD year!

Although we have a lot to be thankful for in ’06, there is one issue that we as Montana sportsmen and women have failed at. The inability to fund the Ft. Peck hatchery is an issue that I have taken personally. It is so frustrating when politics overrule common sense. I am sure none of the parties involved with the issue are completely happy with the fact that the hatchery will be operated at less than 40% of capacity for the next 3 or 4 years. My friends from Bismarck, Minot, Sioux Falls, Chamberlain, and Cabelas find it humorous that our state can’t fund the daily operations of the newest, and most advanced hatchery on the upper Missouri river system. We are too busy arguing among ourselves about trout vs. walleye. Everyone, including our illustrious Governor, needs to take a step back and realize how ridiculous the situation has become! I promise all of you that I will double my efforts to help resolve the whole problem.

I have received several excellent fishing reports in the last two weeks. Lots of big northerns and walleyes have come out of the ice at Fourchette Bay up at Fort Peck. It is a long trek on bad roads, but the drive may be worthwhile. My son came home from the Navy for Christmas this year. We had a super three days on the Missouri below Ft. Peck dam last week. Large trout were on the bite. For some reason, most of them were large brown trout. We caught several up to 7 or 8 pounds. I also finally discovered where the pike have been hiding. I was bitten off after a good fight by a real trophy. I almost broke my two-year pike jinx. For those of you also involved with the Walleyes Forever club, an ice fishing trip to Petrolia Res. is planned for Jan. 13. Everyone is welcome.

This is the time for some of us to make our new year’s resolutions for ’07. Since my retirement from Dodge last month, I resolve to use my new, and past, training to make my new boat repair business successful. Yes, Mark Henckel is at the forefront of my customer list. I now don’t have to work in my gravel driveway. I resolve to meet all the pike fishermen in the northwestern part of Montana, and spread the Pikemasters message to them. I resolve to explore the possibility of a pike tournament at Tiber. Our club has a lot of good friends up in Great Falls who would support us on this issue. I resolve to keep the hatchery mess at the top of our list of business when dealing with F&G. Last, I resolve to actually catch a northern pike in ’07.

I have only one big item of business at our meeting next Thursday. We have to get all our banquet tickets sold quickly. It seems that another fishing club has scheduled a banquet on Feb. 24. Why they did this is a mute point. They must know that there will be many disappointed fishermen who can’t attend both. From the many requests for tickets I have gotten, we will have another sell-out this year. The banquet committee has been busy with raffle prizes. Billings businesses have been extremely generous to us with lots of donated raffle prizes. We also have a bunch of new tackle for the raffle at our meeting next Thursday.

ee you all next Thursday, Jan. 4, 2007, 7:00 p.m., at the Elks Club.

Good luck in your fishing,

-- Tom Reiter

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