Pike party: Houston derby nets massive haul of northerns

HOUSTON — What’s a pile of 835 dead pike smell like?

In Houston, it smells like cash.

And fireworks.

Palmer’s Bob Witz took home $1,000 for winning two categories in the ConocoPhillips Mat-Su Pike Derby, which also netted more than a grand for both the Houston Chamber of Commerce and the Houston Lion’s Club.

“It was better than we could have ever hoped,” derby organizer Nancy Sult said Saturday.

Prizes of $500 (and a handmade pike decoy “trophy” from Buschwhacker Decoys) were awarded for first place in seven different categories, while second-place winners got $250 in fireworks from Gorilla Fireworks in Houston and third-place anglers took home a $75 gift card from Sportsman’s Warehouse in Wasilla.

Witz won for turning in both the shortest pike in the derby (just more than 7 inches), and for turning in the most number of pike, with 124 fish.

The heaviest pike caught in the month-long derby was hauled in by Wasilla’s Jacie Hart (26.6 pounds), while Anchorage’s Peter Aftreth and Eagle River’s Dan Markgraf shared the prize for longest fish when they each entered 41-inch pike. Both Markgraf and Aftereth speared their fish through the ice with Arrowhead Outfitters guide service.

The three largest fish in the derby all weighed at least seven pounds heavier than the 15-pound criteria set by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to be certified as trophy pike.

One of the derby’s primary goals was to catch and kill as many pike as possible, as the fish are considered to be an invasive species in Mat-Su waterways and are blamed for declining salmon and trout populations in some lakes and streams.

While biologists say it would be difficult for human anglers to make much of a dent in the pike infestation, anglers in this year’s inaugural derby certainly did their best to try. The top three individual anglers in the contest pulled out 283 fish between them, and Sult said more than 200 fish came in just in the final two days of the derby.

Other winners included Wasilla’s Patrick Merrigan for catching the lightest pike (six ounces), Bob Jones for the largest haul of fish in weight (206.5 pounds), and Wasilla’s Clark Myers, who won for the most total length by turning in more than 200 feet worth of pike.

“We did the best we could,” Sult said.

In addition to getting a large turnout from local anglers, Sult said the unorthodox derby has attracted the attention of a Minnesota fishing publication, which is planning its own feature story about the derby.

“We’re going to market it Outside a little bit next year,” she said.    

Unlike in Minnesota, there is no limit on the number of pike anglers can catch in the Valley, with the lone exception of Alexander Lake, where pike between 22 and 30 inches must be returned to the water and only one pike over 30 inches in length may be kept per day.

Sult said she’s already heard from people in the pike-crazy “Land of 10,000 Lakes” who can’t believe such a no-holds-barred fishery even exists.

“They don’t really get to go out and get a whole bunch of ‘em like that,” Sult said.

She’s hoping the success of this year’s derby, coupled with a little favorable press coverage in the Lower 48, could help the derby raise its profile significantly in the coming years and lead to increased business opportunities for vendors.

“This is turning into another good business endeavor for the Valley here,” she said.

Some local businesses are already taking advantage of the fishery’s growing popularity. Arrowhead Outfitters’ fly-out pike fishing guides have taken advantage of what could prove to be a major sports fishery in the Valley, where pike are an unwanted species that appears to be in no hurry to go away.

Deb Moore, who runs Arrohead with her fiancee, Howard Tieden, said the couple has already booked trips for next year’s season, inclduing a party of four Minnesota doctors.

“I think we’re going to find this as a vacation spot for ice fishing,” Moore said Monday.

And while the derby is now over, Howard Tieden said ice fishing for pike is still going strong on local lakes.

“W# just caught a 20-pounder today,” he said.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com

Mat-Su Pike Derby

Final results

(Names available for first-place only)

Longest — 1. (tie) Peter Aftreth, Anchorage, and Dan Markgraf, Eagle River, 41 inches; 3. 39 inches

Heaviest — 1. Jaci Hart, Wasilla, 26.6 pounds; 2. 22 pounds, 5 ounces; 3. 22 pounds.

Shortest — 1. Bob Witz, Palmer, 7 1/8 inches; 2. (tie) 12 inches

Lightest — 1. Patrick Merrigan, Wasilla, 6 ounces; 2. 7 ounces; 3. 8 ounces

Most — 1. Bob Witz, Palmer, 124; 2. 98; 3. 61

Most pounds — 1. Bob Jones, Big Lake, 206.5 pounds; 2. 96 pounds; 3. 90.4 pounds

Total length — 1. Clark Myers, Wasilla, 2,415.75 inches; 2. 1,008 inches; 3. 702 inches