Category: Misc

42 anglers BATTLED in boats, kayaks, rafts, and on foot across Ohio in first ever The BATTLE For OHIO online Muskie tournament.  70 fish were submitted in this event, but who caught the biggest five??  Well, presenting the first ever BATTLE For OHIO Champion, Kyle Jones, with a massive 95.75 points.  Kyle had an all Huskie Muskie top five score measuring in at 42.5″, 43.25″, 46″, 46.25″, and 47.75″!  Impressive!  Congrats Kyle on being the victor in The BATTLE For OHIO!

Mikel Smiddy snuck in second place with 78.5 total points and his best 5 fish measuring in at 38.75″, 40.5″, and three Huskie Muskies of 42.75″, 42.75″, and 43.75″.  Congrats Mikel on the great catches!  Not far behind was Jesse Wolford placing third with 77.75 total points and his best 5 fish measuring in at 39.5″, 40.25″, 40.5″, 41.5″ and a Big 46″ Huskie.  Well done, Jesse!

Awesome job to everyone that participated in the event.  We thank each and every one of you that help contribute back to the Muskie stocking program by joining these events to help ensure our continued success.  Here’s how the other anglers who landed fish ranked when it was all said and done.

 

Kyle Jones 95.75 Points  47.75″, 46.25″, 46″, 43.25″, 42.5″

Mikel Smiddy 78.5 Points  43.75″, 42.75″, 42.75″, 40.5″, 38.75″

Jesse Wolford 77.75 Points  46″, 41.5″, 40.5″, 40.25″, 39.5″

Brad Evans 76.5 Points  48.5″, 41.5″, 40″, 38.5″, 38″

Steve Randall 67.5 Points  44″, 42″, 38.75″, 37″, 35.75″

Rick Thorpe 58.5 Points  46.5″, 40.75″, 40.5″, 35″

Carl Conrad 55.25 Points  43″, 36.75″, 36.75″, 35.5″, 33.25″

Dana Lavy 52.75 Points  44.25″, 37.25″, 35″, 34.25″, 32″

John Proch 42.75 Points  40″, 38.5″, 34.25″, 34″

Corey Zelinski 36 Points  39.25″, 38.25″, 36.5″

Matt Davies 32 Points  43.25″, 40.75″

Cash Naftzger 22.5 Pts  39″, 35.5″

Marnie Williams 12.75 Points  38.75″

Kevin Proffitt 11.25 Points  37.25″

Matt Ford 11.25 Points  37.25″

Tom Garrity 10.5 Points  36.5″

Dave White 10.25 Points  36.25″

Derek Halas 8 Points  34″

Tyler Lynn 4.75 Points  30.75″

David Noel 4 Points  30″

 

Kyle Jones 47.75″

Kyle Jones 46.25″

Kyle Jones 46″

Kyle Jones 43.25″

Mikel Smiddy 43.75″

Mikel Smiddy 42.75″

Mikel Smiddy 40.5″

Jesse Wolford 46″

Jesse Wolford 40.5″

Jesse Wolford 40.25″

Brad Evans 48.5″

Rick Thorpe 46.25″

Rick Thorpe 40.75″

Rick Thorpe 40.5″

Rick Thorpe 35″

Carl Conrad 43″

Dana Lavy 44.25″

John Proch 40″

Corey Zelinski 39.25″

Corey Zelinski 38.25″

Corey Zelinski 36.5″

Matt Davies 43.25″

Matt Davies 40.75″

Kevin Proffitt 37.25″

Matt Ford 37.25″

Tom Garrity 36.5″

Tyler Lynn 30.75″

David Noel 30″

 

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