An Outdoorsman's Journal

Tip-Up Pike Jam 8/As fun as it Gets

Hello friends,

   I am sorry to my sturgeon spearing comrades. This year Tip-Up Pike Jam was held the same weekend as the start of sturgeon spearing season and since I am a past winner, I am addicted to this extremely fun weekend that is held on the shores of the Wisconsin River just north of Stevens Point at Waters Pub and Pier.

   Saturday, February 14th
   High 46, low 23

   As usual, my buddy Doug Cibulka would be my partner on this two night winter camping expedition. To sum up, this 100 person event is as fun as it gets, tip up only, northern pike, winner takes all $1000, with no electronics, music festival. The last 3 years, not counting today we have taken 2nd twice and 1st once but to be honest, we just want to have fun.
   The fun would start at 9:00 this morning but actually the fun started at noon yesterday when Doug and I hit the ice to build a comfortable “Eskimo Shack" kind of a camp and prefished until dark. Though we did not catch any hog's we were onto the fish and at dark we headed to shore where a great night of festivities with about 6 of the bands that would make up much of the next day’s concerts would do short jam sessions.
   My friend Alex Dalnodar is a musician in the band Dig Deep and is also the man that puts most of this immense event together. Tonight we listened to music, drank some barley pop and mingled with 300 to 400 very cool people that were all having a great night.
   Doug and I felt no need to get up before the sun and when we did look out the shack we had a lot of company setting up day camps, drilling holes and perhaps enjoying barley pops as well. To be perfectly honest I really like to see folks living largely and enjoying the outdoors.
   One of our neighbors’ camps had a fella come visit both yesterday and today and drive his Harley on the ice.
   Another camp was made up of my good buddy Brock Berndt and several friends including Mason Kraimer. I met these guys four years ago, Brock who attends UWSP and may be a game warden someday is a total go for it ice fishermen who won Pike Jam 4 years ago and his group is very skilled at catching gators, walleye and having a powerful shing ding.
   Another group of 2 gals, Alexa Messmer and Emmy Geister from Green Bay and Stevens Point may be the most hard core gals that I have ever seen fish. Both Alexa and Emmy are very into the fishing club Wi Women Fish. Two weekends in a row they prefished here and I just loved watching how they were very into moving tip ups occasionally catching fish, having a campfire and enjoying themselves. Alexa would have the tournament’s first fish which was 28.5 inches.
   Everything is done by a yard stick that is issued to each team, a picture is taken and then sent to Alex and he keeps tabs throughout the day and posts results on a board near the concert tent which keeps the crowd into it.
   Shortly after Alexa's fish, Brock caught a 31.5 inch fish which I was not aware of at first as Doug had a flag on a brand new Patriotic, Beaver Dam tip up that I bought him for as a retirement gift. This was Doug's first fish with it and it was a chunky 32-inch gator that for now would put us in the lead.
   As I have mentioned, I really enjoy seeing people enjoy the outdoors and another group near us "The Racine Boys" was having a bunch of fun and also catching some fish, especially one of their group. Pat Konkol, who lives at Burlington, is on his 5th and final year as a journeymen plumber and from what I could see very much so knows how the catch fish.
   Doug had first place from about 10:00 until 3:30 when Pat had a flag and hoisted a 36.5-inch gator from down below and had now caught 2 impressive walleye and what would end up being the winning gator for Pike Jam 8.
   At 5:00 the fishing part of this day ended, we were happy with another 2nd and we headed to shore to listen to music, visit with fun people and make the best out of a Valentines Day on the ice which would be pretty hard to top.
   I hope sturgeon spearing is not this same weekend next year but I’m sure it might be and about all I can say is that I will be at Pike Jam 9 if it is!

   Sunset