COEUR d'ALENE - Andrew Downs-Kuespert sported cool shades and a radiant smile as he stood onstage and held up a beautiful, 1.6-pound pike for a cheering crowd.

"It feels good to be a winner," the 7-year-old fisherman said after his moment of glory, climbing back into the boat to release his catch.

Andrew, of Hayden, won the youth competition for biggest pike Saturday during the Reel Weekend outdoor expo and Strike King Open fishing tournament in McEuen Park and on Lake Coeur d'Alene.

He and his dad, Stewart Kuespert, and their friend, Dave Frank, hit the water at 6:30 a.m. to compete for the $2,000 top bass prize, the $1,500 first-place pike prize or the top youth prizes of up to $500 in cash and gift cards. Andrew reeled in the fish - and the winnings - using spinner bait and a very realistic-looking frog lure.

"Andrew got a lot of bites. Dave and I didn't get that many bites," Stewart said. "I guess we weren't patient enough."

A fleet of about 40 boats with two-person teams and some with 12-and-younger teammates spent half of the day on the lake, hoping to find the winning catch. John Merriman of Post Falls said it was a nice day, but the recent hot weather may have affected the fish's appetites.

"We didn't do very good today," he said. "It was a lot harder today than it was the past couple weeks when we were practicing."

Merriman usually fishes on Twin Lakes or fly fishes the Coeur d'Alene River.

He shared a story of how he and his dad once caught a 16-pound Chinook salmon when he was a boy, and he explained the thrill of when a fisherman begins to feel a tug at the end of his line.

"You don't know what it could be," Merriman said. "It could be any species, you don't know what the size of it's going to be."

He said he was excited to see what the competition brought to the weigh in, and that for the inaugural event, he thought Reel Weekend was a success.

"It's awesome for our community because this is a clean and healthy sport," he said. "You're not littering or messing stuff up or vandalizing anything."

The event was spread throughout McEuen and featured merchandise and food vendors, boats and outdoor recreational vehicles on the lawn for spectators to admire, bounce houses and inflatable slides galore, a beer garden and a fish weigh-in stage near the Veterans Memorial Plaza.

Production crews for Reel Sportsman TV recorded much of the day's action for two episodes of the "Reel Sportsman" show on the Pursuit Channel, set to air in January. Show CEO, producer and host Brett Surplus of Coeur d'Alene organized Reel Weekend and said it will return bigger and better next year.

"We're rated in the top 10 as far as lakes are concerned as far as fishing-wise," he said. "The majority of it's all over the East Coast. A lot of the guys weren't doing any of the bigger circuit stuff over here, so I wanted to do something different that was going to actually be more of a presentation."

He said the event's fishing tournament was the first dual-species tournament the Fish and Game has allowed.

"Typically, they're only one species," Surplus said.

Surplus said Reel Weekend is much more than just a fishing tournament.

"It's going to help promote for new fisherman, outdoorsman," he said. "It's not just a fishing tournament, that's just one big part of it."

Fish weigh-in announcer Tony McCalmant of Post Falls is the vice president of the Panhandle Bass Anglers and pro staff with Reel Sportsman TV. He said the entire point of the show is to engage kids, especially underprivileged children, and introduce them to the outdoors.

"I get my most enjoyment out of seeing those kids come up and weigh fish," he said. "That's what it's all about."

McCalmant said final results for the fishing tournament should be online at www.reelsportsmantv.com within a few days.