Johnson lands winning pike

by Herald Staff Report

Article Last Updated; Friday, October 16, 2009 5:54AM

Photo by Courtesy photo

Kris Johnson shows a pike he landed at Vallecito last week. He won the Fall Pike Tournament at the reservoir in September.

Kris Johnson knows pike.

And Kris Johnson knows Vallecito Reservoir.

Put the two together, and you have a winner.

Johnson captured first place recently in the first Fall Pike Tournament at Vallecito.

Johnson edged fellow fisherman Eric Fenstermacher for the $100 first prize. Fenstermacher cashed a $50 check for finishing second in the fishing festival at Vallecito.

“It was slow fishing in the morning,” Johnson said. “I waited for the wind to come up. When the wind came up, the fishing was good.”

He said he landed his prize-winning fish way out in the middle of the lake.

“I fish there pretty much
every weekend,” said Johnson, of Durango.

“I had a good idea of where the fish would be,” he said.

He said winning the contest was no piece of cake: “I worked my butt off for ’em.”

Early in the day, he said, he thought he might have a big catch.

“I missed a really nice fish early,” Johnson said. Later, he said, he missed three or four more that wouldn’t take the hook.

He caught two contest fish in the same spot.

“That was enough to win,” he said.

“The whole thing for me … was one or two good bites,” he said. “I knew it would be really important to land those fish.”

Even with his fish, Johnson said he didn’t know if he would win the tournament.

But when the final figures came in, he was the winner with Fenstermacher, another longtime Vallecito fisherman, second.

Johnson has been working the water at Vallecito for nearly 12 years. That experience, plus his favored large lures, produced the tournament win.

The tournament was sponsored by the Vallecito Conservation and Sporting Association. More than 40 anglers participated.

In addition to cash prizes, there were numerous door prizes donated by local businesses.

Some of the prizes included a European mount, donated by Steve Vayre, a turkey hunt from Travis Leonard, a dinner for two from the Shank House, an overnight stay at the Valley of the Spruce, salon services from Up North Salon, breakfast from the Country Market, a Leatherman Tool from Foundation Specialists along with gifts from Pura Vida, Blue Spruce RV Park and the Dam Trading Post.

heraldsports@durangoherald.com