This article from The York Region Newspaper was sent over to Norma by the 1st. Place Winner, Dave Chong,  Ree. our recent June Pike Tournament.

York tandem big winners in northern pike tournament

Sports

June 19, 2009 04:19 PM

michael hayakawa

When Dave Chong and Ted Filippou first wet their lines in the June pike tournament on Lake Nosbonsing in 2006, they finished 16th.

The next year, the York Region angling tandem exhibited a noticeable improvement, placing eighth.

Their progression, however, didn't stop there.

Last year, Chong, who lives in Aurora, and Filippou, a Woodbridge resident, finished fourth.

This year, they struck the mother lode.

Competing in a field of 129 two-angler teams last weekend, Chong and Filippou caught their five-fish quota, measuring 167.25 inches in total length.

It was good enough for the winning pair to drive off with a nice paycheque of $12,400.

"Once we figured out how we could catch them, we didn't deviate from what we were doing," an elated Chong said.

While northern pike can be caught on a variety of artificial offerings, their best success stemmed from tossing hard jerk baits including models manufactured by Lucky Craft and Mega bass, Chong said.

In retail outlets, these baits aren't cheap, but to win tournaments where money is on the line, the costs of these baits aren't a factor, Chong said.

"People who don't believe baits worth $20 to $25 apiece can make a difference. Well, they do," he said.

Angling the day of the tourney was challenging as just 20 of the 129 teams measured their five-fish limit and another 50 teams did not weigh anything.

Four of the five fish caught by the local team came from one specific area of Lake Nosbonsing, Chong said.

Upon landing their fifth northern pike, Chong felt they could be in the hunt for the big prize. This they based on the winning lengths from past events.

"When we measured our fish, we knew from previous years' tournaments, we had what it would take to win it," Chong said.

"But you can't control what everyone else does. Someone could have had a phenomenal day on the water. Anything can happen and there were some big fish caught that day."

While Chong and Filippou's longest northern measured 27.25 inches, longer fish were caught.

But they weren't enough to overtake the overall numbers recorded by Chong and Filippou.

"Fishing was tough," said Chong, a fishing guide and co-host of the upcoming angling TV series Fish City.

http://www.yorkregion.com/News/Sports/article/93474

Posted by Dave Chong