Author: David Simmons

Are you ready to BATTLE in the OHMC’s first ever ONLINE Muskie Tournament!?  The BATTLE FOR OHIO online event takes place Friday, June 7th through Sunday June 9th.  This event is open to ALL, and ALL WATER in OHIO is eligible.

So how does this statewide online tournament work exactly?  Beginning at 3 PM on Friday June 7, all the way through 9 PM on Sunday June 9, you may choose ANY one, or multiple bodies of water in OHIO to fish from.  In this weekend-long points tournament, your TOP FIVE muskies submitted, 30″ or longer, will earn you points.  Submit every muskie you catch, 30″ or better, and we will apply your best FIVE to your final score.  Fish must be photographed on a bump board with identifier code clearly visible, and then submitted to tournament director (TD) via text no later than 9:30 PM on Sunday night.  The identifier code, and TD text number will be released on Friday before the start of legal fishing.

So, join in the statewide BATTLE to see how you fare against the other muskie anglers all across OHIO!  Portions of the proceeds donated to the Minnow Fund to help support the cost of stocking muskies in Ohio.

Winners will be announced Monday morning after all fish submissions are reviewed and scored by our judges.  All top three anglers with the most points at the end of legal fishing time will be awarded trophies and brand new muskie baits at our awards banquet.

 

The entry fee will be $25 with no big fish entry pool.  Proceeds of this event will help fund the OHMC’s contribution to the Minnow Fund.

 

We prefer you register for the event 1 of 2 ways:

• Register online at
  • Event Registration
  • Online registration includes payment through PayPal.
• Via postal mail
  • OHMC, 17712 Edgewater, Lakewood, Ohio 44107
• Registration closes when the event starts.

Once registered, you can launch from any public launch the day of the event once the event has started.

 

Please read the rules for the tournament below:

Event Rules and Regulations

The competition was fierce with 49 anglers battling it out on Piedmont Lake.  A total of 20 fish found themselves being photographed in hopes of grabbing that first-place trophy and Big Fish pot.  But there could only be one first place winner and today that was Troy Oliver with a total of 43.25 points, landing 4 of the 20 fish.  Rounding out the top three, and also receiving trophies were Cooper Marshall in second place with 30 points and Rich Daniels in third place with 18 points.  Rich also had the largest fish of the day measuring 44” which won him the $430 Big Fish pot of which he donated $100 back to the club.  Thanks a lot, Rich!

 

Lures from Cross Bone Baits, Six2Noon, Churning Waters Bait Co., and others were raffled off during the weigh in.  Anglers were also treated to some hot tasty pizza.  A big thanks to Piedmont Lake Marina for allowing us to hang out and present our awards, eat some pizza, and enjoy each other’s company.

 

Congrats to our winners and all who were able to put a fish on the board!

 

Troy Oliver                35.25”, 39”, 38, and 35”

Cooper Marshall       37”, 36”, and 35”

Rich Daniels               44”

Dan Aubihl                37.5” and 32.75”

Gary Andreis             43.25”

Mike Ayers                43”

Lisa Gutshall              36.5” and 31.25”

Cody Proffitt             37.25”

Bryce Henry              36.5”

Brad Evans                35”

Bryan Messer            33”

Chris Daniels             32.25”

Dave White               32”

 

Troy Oliver

Troy Oliver

Troy Oliver

Troy Oliver

Cooper Marshall

Cooper Marshall

Cooper Marshall

Rich Daniels

Gary Andreis

Mike Ayers

Lisa Gutshall

Lisa Gutshall

Cody Proffitt

Tim Smith

Dave White

Spring has sprung and now it is time to go after those post spawn muskies!  Our May Madness Tournament is at Piedmont Lake on Saturday May 18th.  The muskies can always be muskies, but we should be putting lures in front of hungry fish fully recovered from the spawn with shad spawning on shoreline cover everywhere.

Please join us at weigh-in following a fun (and hopefully, successful) day on the water for some pizza and to share some fish stories as we also present the tournament winners with their trophies.  For participating in our May Madness Tournament, each participant will receive a free musky lure ticket at weigh-in to enter into a raffle featuring baits from Six2Noon Lures and others.

This is a single day points tournament, (with an optional Big Fish side pot), which will run from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm, Saturday.  All catch entries must be photographed on a bump board with the assigned identifier code visible and turned into the Tournament Director (TD) by 5:30 pm at the marina, or via the TD cell phone number(s) that is provided. Any fish must measure at least 30” to be submitted.  Scoring in this points system awards 4 points for a 30” fish plus 1 additional point is given for every inch over 30”.   For example, a 42.5” fish would earn 4 points plus 12.5 points for a total of 16.5 points.  The winner will be the highest total points for the day.  First, second, and third place will receive trophies at the check-in.

We prefer you register for the event 1 of 2 ways:

• Register online at
  • Event Registration
  • Online registration includes payment thru PayPal.
• Via postal mail
  • OHMC, 17712 Edgewater, Lakewood, Ohio 44107

** We can allow for in-person registration the day of the event, but the entrant must make contact with a TD no later than 30 minutes after the start of the event, and then arrange to meet the TD to hand over the entry fee.

The entry fee will be $25 with a $10 big fish entry pool.  Proceeds of this event will help fund the OHMC’s contribution to the Minnow Fund.

Once registered, you can launch from any public launch the day of the event. We look forward to seeing you!

Please read the rules for the tournament below:

Event Rules and Regulations

New for 2024 and going forward: 

• All in-person event plaques will now be given to the winner at the designated in-person fish “weigh-in” location.  If any angler receiving a plaque is unable to make it to the “weigh-in” location, it is that angler’s responsibility to pick it up at a later date.  Plaques will not be mailed out going forward. Plaques will be forfeited after the following year’s banquet.

It was a brutally cold and windy day out on Leesville Lake, but that didn’t stop the 43 anglers who entered our Icebreaker event.  The bitter cold definitely did not result in a hot bite, but we did have seven anglers score eight fish in the event.  Colton Harmon claimed the victory with his two fish scoring a total of 33.5 points!  Not only was Colton the only angler to land two muskies on this day, but he also caught the biggest, measuring in at 47 inches!  This monster muskie was Colton’s new personal best, and it won him the $420 Big Fish pot.  Rounding out the top three, and also receiving trophies, were Dave White in second place with 14.25 points, and Gary Andreis in third with 12.5 points.

After being blasted with icy cold winds all day, it was great to gather in the warm and cozy Leesville Lake South Fork Marina for dinner and our final check-in.  As we refueled on the tasty food and drink, we also raffled off our door prize muskie baits including some beautiful bucktails from Six2noon Lures, and awarded the top three anglers their trophies.  The weather wasn’t all that nice to us, but all in all it was a great event.  We appreciate all of you anglers that braved the cold to come out in support of the OHMC and to raise money for the Minnow Fund.  Congratulations once again to all of our winners!  Be sure to mark your calendars now for our next event on May 18th at Piedmont.  There will be more details to come.

Thank you to Leesville Lake South Fork Marina a for hosting us again! Such a great place for us to gather for our events on Leesville.  Be sure to visit them before or after your day on the water for supplies and some great food and beverages.  Also, thank you to Six2noon Lures for generously providing bucktails for our door prize raffle!  Check out their site to grab some finely crafted baits of your own.

 

Congrats to our winners and all who were able to put a fish on the board in these tough conditions.

 

Colton Harmon 47″ and 38.5″

Dave White 40.25″

Gary Andreis 38.5″

Derek Halas 38.5″

Donnie Klauss 38.25″

Dean McConnell 35″

Reid Miller 30″

 

Colton Harmon 47″

Colton Harmon 38.5″

Colton Harmon 1st Place Trophy

Dave White 40.25″

Dave White 2nd Place Trophy

Gary Andreis 38.5″

Gary Andreis 3rd Place Trophy

Derek Halas 38.5″

Donnie Klauss 38.25″

Dean McConnell 35″

Leesville Lake South Fork Marina

OHMC Trophies

 

The time has finally come to dust off those rods and reels and get back to chasing some muskies!  We will kick off our 2024 tournament season with the Icebreaker at Leesville Lake on Saturday March 23^rd.  Plenty of anglers have taken advantage of the very mild Winter and landed some real monsters already, including on Leesville!  Hopefully that trend continues and we see decent weather and plenty of action as we come together to raise some money to be put towards the Minnow Fund.  Help us kick this season off right and come join us for a fun day on one of Ohio’s top producing musky lakes.

 

South Fork Marina has generously offered to host us once again for our fish check-in and will have some dinner available to us.  OHMC will provide each tournament-registered angler with a $5 credit towards any food purchase.  So, please join us and support our awesome sponsor, South Fork Marina, for a hot meal and to share some fish stories as we also present the tournament winners with their trophies.

 

This is a single day points tournament, (with an optional Big Fish side pot), which will run from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm, Saturday.  All catch entries must be photographed on a bump board with the assigned identifier code visible and turned into the Tournament Director (TD) by 5:30 pm at the South Fork Marina, or via the TD cell phone number(s) that is provided. Any fish must measure at least 30” to be submitted.  Scoring in this points system awards 4 points for a 30” fish plus 1 additional point is given for every inch over 30”.   For example, a 42.5” fish would earn 4 points plus 12.5 points for a total of 16.5 points.  The winner will be the highest total points for the day.  First, second, and third place will receive trophies at the check-in.

 

We prefer you register for the event 1 of 2 ways:

• Register online at
  • Event Registration
  • Online registration includes payment thru PayPal.
• Via postal mail
  • OHMC, 17712 Edgewater, Lakewood, Ohio 44107

 

**  We can allow for in-person registration the day of the event, but the entrant must make contact with a TD no later than 30 minutes after the start of the event, and then arrange to meet the TD to hand over entry fee.

 

Once registered, or have contacted a TD to meet for registration, you can launch from any public launch.

The entry fee will be $25 with a $10 big fish entry pool.  Proceeds of this event will help fund the OHMC’s contribution to the Minnow Fund.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Here are the rules for the event.

Point System Rules and Regulations

 

New for 2024 and going forward:

• All in-person event plaques will now be given to the winner at the designated in-person fish “weigh-in” location. If any angler receiving a plaque is unable to make it to the “weigh-in” location, it is that angler’s responsibility to pick it up at a later date.  Plaques will not be mailed out going forward. Plaques will be forfeited after the following year’s banquet.