2016 OHMC Banquet
55th ANNUAL AWARDS BANQUET
March 19th, 2016
The 55th Ohio Huskie Muskie Club Annual Awards Banquet was held on March 19, 2016 at McCalls Banquet Center in Canton, Ohio. The attendance increased relative to recent years and all those in attendance were treated to good food, friends and laughter. A total of 130 OHMC members and guests along with 5 vendors were in attendance. Every person in attendance received a door prize consisting of one of three custom painted baits created by Greg Them of Xtreme Muskie Lures.
During the business meeting, members voted on the lake nominations for our 47th Annual Open Summer Contest in 2017. The winner was Salt Fork Lake, with the event to be tentatively held on July 15th and 16th pending park approval. Elections for officer positions were held during the business meeting. The OHMC officers for 2015 are as follows; Paul Anderson, President; Jeff Ferjutz, 1st Vice-President; Rick Simpson, 2nd Vice-President; Tim Smith, Secretary; John Ringenbach, Treasurer. Also, during our business meeting, the membership voted to modify the 10-or-more release award to lift the size requirement. Now, any fish you catch regardless of size will count towards your release award, so long as the fish is turned in to the MAL. This was done in attempt to increase the percentage of fish less than 30” turned in to the MAL.
Before the banquet meal started there was a pause for a moment of silence for all the club members whom had passed last year and for those individuals that are in the military and may be away from their families. Next, we took a moment for a blessing of the meal by club member Mary Jill Brown. The food was very good with a buffet that included Baked Chicken, Sausage and Peppers, McCalls Signature Potatoes, Green Beans, Rigatoni, a Garden Salad, Rolls, and Cake. We all had a great time and lots of fun with the fish stories that were being told.
ODNR attendees were: Curt Wagner, Fisheries Biologist, District 3 (Akron); Phil Hillman, Fish Management Supervisor, District 3 (Akron); Mike Greenlee, Fish Management Supervisor, District 4 (Athens); Debra Walters, Fish Management Supervisor, District 5 (Xenia); Ed Lewis, Fisheries Biologist, District 2 (Findlay); Kevin Kayle, Acting Fish Hatchery Program Administrator, Central Office; Kevin Page, Fisheries Biologist, Inland Fisheries Research Unit (Hebron); Rich Carter, Executive Administrator Fish Management and Research Group; and Scott Hale, Acting Assistant Chief, Central Office.
Scott spoke about a recent muskie symposium that several ODNR representatives had attended and given presentations in Minnesota. He also made several general remarks about the partnership of ODNR with OHMC and described how “We are YOU”, meaning the Staff are dedicated outdoorsman themselves. Next, Kevin Kayle gave a presentation on Ohio’s muskie program
Special thanks go out to all the vendors that set up a booth at the banquet this year, and also all of the Ohio Huskie Muskie Club supporters who donated to the club. Please patronize these companies as they make our events a success.
AWARD RESULTS FOR OHIO LAKES, MUSKIES CAUGHT
Ohio Huskie Muskie Club Inc. Annual Banquet Awards Winners, for club member’s recognition of outstanding catches and achievements in the 2015 season.
H.E. Pooch Curry Award (Largest musky by length only) This year we had a tie for the award: The winners were Mr. Chuck Harmon with a 51 inch muskie caught at West Branch and Mr. Dennis Mitchell with a 51 inch muskie caught at Piedmont.
The Matthew Smith Memorial Awards for Junior Members
Boys “Trophy Division” – Jordon Foose – 35.50”
Girls “Released Division” – Ashley McCartney – 39.00”
Boys “Released Division” – Fisher Himes – 47.00”
The Royalty Awards
Queen “Trophy Division” – Anna Fisher – 48.50”
Queen “Released Division” – Stephanie Neville – 47.50”
King “Released Division” – Dennis Mitchell – 51.00”
King “Released Division” – Chuck Harmon – 51.00”
Mr. Muskie Award – Fred Lederer
Woman of the Year Award – Stephanie Neville
Overall Tournament Champion – Chad Harmon
Dr. Dunmire Plaque Awards
There were (34) Dr. L. G. Dunmire Plaque Awards recognized by the club for those anglers whom caught at least three Huskie muskies measuring 42.00-inches in length or longer. Patrick Klingensmith (43), Chuck Harmon (34), Greg Bozick (33), David Baio (26), Kevin LaRoche (21), Beau Chumley (15), Bob Marshall (14), Chad Harmon (12), John Ringenbach (12), David Brown (10), George Weber (9), Ray Elkins (8), Robert McCloud (8), Robert Basic (7), Dennis Mitchell (7), Richard Reeves (7), Sam Reichenbach (7), Richard Welk (7), Charlotte Fuchs (5), Jason Chalmers (4), Sherman Champlin (4), Mary Jill Harshey (4), Lee Himes (4), Kathy Mitchell (4), John Savu (4), Bill Schultz Jr. (4), Mike Firth (3), Raymond Hinchcliff Sr. (3), Josh Marshall (3), Philip Ringenbach (3), Rick Simpson (3), Tim Smith (3), Linda Hannen (3), Tom Hannen (3)
10 Or More Release Awards
There were (46) Plaques Awards recognized by the club for those anglers whom caught 10 or more muskies 30-inches in length or longer and released all of them. Pat Klingensmith (221), Chuck Harmon (174), Greg Bozick (129), David Baio (110), Kevin LaRoche (95), Bob Marshall (80), Beau Chumley (71), Bill Schultz, Jr. (64), Ray Elkins (57), John Ringenbach (47), George Weber (47), Chuck McKnight (45), Timothy Ritter (45), Robert Basic (38), Chad Harmon (35), David Brown (34), Josh Marshall (34), Sam Reichenbach (36), Jason Chalmers (26), Bill Brant (25), Charlotte Fuchs (25), Robert McCloud (25), Nicholas Smith (23), Lee Himes (20), Tim Smith (20), David Nabb (19), Jason Basic (15), Kathy Mitchell (15), Dennis Mitchell (15), Richard Reeves (15), Rick Simpson (15), Tony Crisp (14), Scott Hale (14), Phillip Jarvis (14), Mike Firth (13), James Cook (13), Raymond Hinchcliff (13), Jerry Rice (13), Rich Welk (13), Dennis Braun (12), Elmer Heyob, Jr. (12), Thomas Johnson (12), Guy Bechter (11), Chuck Land, Sr. (11), Charles Neville (11), Sherman Champlin (10)
Raffles:
The Business Meeting 50/50 was won by Rich Daniels. The Banquet 50/50 was won by Sally Parr. The Lure board was won by Elmer Heyob. The Rod and Reel was won by Paul Shepard. The Blanket was won by Bob Basic.
The banquet is now history and it is now time to start some actual muskie fishing, Thank you to everyone that attended and to all of those people that helped make the event such a great success.
