The 28th Annual Ice Out Northern Pike Tournament on Zippel Bay took place on the weekend of May 3-4 this year at the famous Lake of the Woods. Anglers had planned well for the event and the success didn’t disappoint. Temperatures cooperated this year as well with some ice still on the lake but temps in the 70’s and teasing the 80’s found anglers even fishing in shorts.

The tourney is made up of two person teams and is a two day tournament based on weight. This is a fun tournament for locals and visitors alike coming together to target big toothy.

Most teams troll and cast crankbaits. Others use dead bait under a bobber in 1 – 8 feet of water. Most years, dozens and sometimes hundreds of pike are weighed in and many more caught in the slot (30-40 inches) that were not weighed in but immediately released.

The mantra of this year’s tournament was “great timing and lots of big pike”. According to Zippel Bay Resort owner Nick Painovich, “It was a really good year. The big females were done spawning and were in the bay eating and gaining strength back.” With that said, there were big fish in the Bay and a lot of nice fish caught.

1st Place Winners this year were Joey Shaw and Beau Keagle of Roseau with fish weighing in at 56 lb. 8 oz. 2nd Place was taken by Dale Baroos and Ed Castle of Roseau with 48 lb. 8 oz of fish. And 3rd Place was taken by Ross Perrin of Fargo with Larry Ferrie of Moorhead as a team with fish weighing in at 46 lb. 12 oz. Jason Svir of Cando, ND with Stacy Svir of Mankato took 4^th Place with 43 lb 11lz of Northern and Ron Wickham of Fort Ripley with Paul Wickham of Pillager took 5^th Place with 40 lb 7 oz of fish.

Ten Northerns over 40 inches were weighed in and many slot fish were caught. A total of 571 fish were weighed in and that totaled 1507 lbs of fish.  $4,000.00 Cash Prizes were Given out.  Wow! That’s a lot of fish!!! And that’s some great prizes!!!

Pike season on Lake of the Woods never ends. As we are border water with Canada, our pike season is continuous or another way of saying it is it goes all year long. This gives anglers a fantastic opportunity in April and early May to take advantage of monster pike who are somewhere along in their spawning ritual. And in Lake of the Woods, there are a lot of big pike!

Pike anglers pull nice pike out of various bays on the lake all spring and Zippel Bay is definitely a go to spot. Sometimes mother nature can throw some cold curve balls in the spring month but that’s what makes this stretch of water so special. Zippel Bay is quite secluded from the main lake, making it easier to hide from cold winds, and anglers don’t require the larger boats like on the main lake.

Lake of the Woods has a year round season on pike and a length limit as well. Anglers are allowed to keep three per day. Fish between 30-40 inches must be released with anglers able to keep one fish over 40 inches. This slot limit is one of the many reasons Lake of the Woods is a trophy northern pike destination.

Pike don’t receive a ton of attention on Lake of the Woods as the walleyes garner most of the love. March tip up fishing and a little bit of spring fishing is when anglers target these green spotted predators most often. They are in good abundance, are usually willing to bite and are great to eat once you get the “Y” bone out.

According to the MN DNR, there is often a pattern of lakes in MN that have big walleyes and pike have something in common, a good population of tulibees. Lake of the Woods fits the bill in this regard. When both walleyes and pike get to be larger, tulibees become a staple part of their diet. They also cause fish that eat them to get big quickly.

Congratulations goes out to Zipple Bay Resort for hosting and running this tournament each year.

For more information see: www.lakeofthewoodsmn.com

For lodging see: www.lakeofthewoodsmn.com/lodging

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