Ohio Huskie Muskie Club, Inc

How often do we get the opportunity to try out a new Ohio muskie lake? We had members from across the state come to the Cincinnati area to test this newest program lake.  Members drove from Toledo, Cleveland, Lima, Akron, Steubenville, Columbus, Dayton, Rogers, and other areas.  We also had some local anglers register and we even gained some new OHMC members over the weekend.  The weather was picture perfect from Thursday through Sunday with temperatures ranging from 50 to 80 degrees.  The water temperatures were warmer than some may have expected with those numbers being 72 to 76 degrees.

The campground came to life starting on Thursday as some of us decided to make a long weekend out of the event.   By Friday the area filled in nicely and soon we were enjoying campfires, great food, beautiful clear starlight skies, and the laughter of friends getting together.   We had registration on Friday evening and Saturday morning and were pleasantly surprised to have 30 anglers for the event.

As the fishing got underway it was apparent that these muskies are not hurting for food. I have never seen balls of shad like those at East Fork.  There was what seemed like billions of shad in the lake.  We also saw several majestic bald eagles, a couple of otters, successful hawks catching fish, oh and did I mention…we saw shad.  The lake has quite a bit of deep water and loads of standing timber.

There were a few catfish caught, one bluegill that I know of, and even a row boat that got caught, but the muskies did not show up in any of our nets. It was not for a lack of effort as there were a wide variety of techniques that the participants attempted to coax a fish to strike.

As we gathered on Sunday afternoon for the event closing, I think most of us were shocked that no fish were caught. We conducted a 50/50 raffle which was won by Jerry Rice.  That was a fitting reward for someone that had generously donated baits to our raffle and had once again done a fantastic job of cooking our steaks for the weekend.  We also had a door prize drawing for every person that was at the closing as a small token of appreciation for coming out.  Thank you to Mr. Ray McMaster who also showed up to fish and donated baits for use in our raffle.

Ohio Division of Wildlife Inland Fisheries Program Administrator, Mr. Scott Hale made the drive down East Fork for the closing on Sunday and had many very kind remarks for the group. He reminded us that some lakes take longer than others to develop as viable fisheries and pointed to the early years of Alum Creek and Caesars Creek as prime examples where patience in the program has paid great dividends.

 I have to thank our board of trustees for showing up such a long distance from home to participate in the event.  Most importantly, Thank You to the anglers that came out in support of both the club and the stocking program.

The OHMC and Muskies Inc. Chapter 19 held our 2014 Annual PM Bite joint event on August 23^rd at Petersburg Marina of Leesville Lake.  The event started off with registration beginning at 10:00 and the shore lunch beginning at 11:00.  We had a bait raffle and a 50/50 raffle.  There were some very nice prizes on the table, including a walleye charter for Lake Erie donated by Petersburg Marina.  The 50/50 paid out $73 to our winner Mark Porter.  We had some fantastic grilled goodies served up by our host Mr. Elmer McClure.  There were lots of good side dishes and some nice cold refreshments to wash them down with.  It was a new way to kick off the event and seemed to be well received by all those in attendance.  Thanks to everyone that brought all the great food!

We had 40 anglers register and head out to tame the beast.  The weather was ideal with mostly sunny conditions that made for a great day on the lake.  The fish were not impressed with the weather and for many anglers we were left without any slime to show for our efforts.  Not all entrants struggled though, as they were able to crack the code and catch some fish.  We also had some really nice salad bowls caught along with the ever present tree and rock snags and even a volleyball caught by a UFO boat.

When the event concluded at midnight, we met back up at the ramp to tally the results.  Our big fish for the event was witnessed and photographed by myself.  As it turns out, I have witnessed the big fish caught for every OHMC event this year.  I may not be any good at catching fish, but my timing for trolling near the eventual big fish winner is impeccable.

Russ Roberts caught a 40.00” fish worth 14.00 points and unfortunately lost a second fish out of the net which therefore did not count since it was not measured.  Sorry for the bad luck buddy, but at least you got to catch the fish.

George Kourkounakis landed a 42.25” huskie worth 16.25 points and a Third Place finish.

David Baio got two subs along with three more at 41.00”, 38.00”, and 31.00” for a total of 32.00 points which earned him a Second Place finish.

OHMC Secretary Tim Smith landed a third huskie for the season that secured his first Dunmire Award.  He had a 44.50” fish and a 40.00” fish to go with it for a total of 32.50 points and a First Place finish.  He also won the big fish side pot of $190 for his trolling efforts.  As with our Spring and Fall outings, we will award our First and Second place trophies at next years’ banquet.  Congratulations to all those that caught fish!

Thanks to everyone that came out to support the clubs and enjoy the good times that are always present when we get together.  The talk of “dreams”, meeting new friends, stories by Grandpa and many others, taking time to enjoy a sandwich on the lake, poking fun at each other, and of course the sound of the clicker; these are the things that make these events really fun and I look forward to the next one.

 

The 44th annual OHMC Summer Contest was held on July 12th and 13th 2014 at Salt Fork Lake. The weekend started off with registration and a few slushy beverages at the campground on a warm Friday evening. There were lots of members and visitors hanging around and as usual, there were stories, laughter, and lots of smiles. We were all glad to be blessed to be able to come out and enjoy the fun of chasing toothy critters.

The 2nd half of the registration was held at the old marina on Saturday morning with pancakes and coffee along with the anticipation that is ever present when anglers prepare to launch the boats. Soon the air had warmed into what would eventually become an oppressive 90 degree day with humidity that made it feel more like Florida than Ohio.

Sporadic fish reports filtered over the radio and it seemed as though all the anglers were intently focused on trying to repeat past success. We had casters working feverishly, persons jigging the bottom, trollers in open water, and some that tried all three strategies.

Sunday started off with the fear of the impending storms and had everyone break camp early in an attempt to avoid having to do so during a potential mid-day storm. We had a mixed bag of fishing success with a few anglers getting multiple fish and a few ‘skunks’ being taken. By the time closing ceremonies arrived, we were fortunate to just finish our activities before the skies broke open and luckily no one got wet.

We had 36 anglers fish the event with 12 fish caught. There was a trend towards the fish that were caught being nice fish and I know of two anglers that caught their personal best (Greg Eichen and Gloria Roberts).

First place went to Phil Cummins with two fish sizes 44.00” and 37.75” worth a total of 29.75 points.
Second place and Big Fish went to Gloria Roberts with one fish of 45.00” worth 19.00 points.
Third place went to Junior member Charles Neville with one fish of 43.50” worth 17.50 points.

Other anglers that caught fish were:
Syl Trunkett – 42.50” (16.50 points)
Jeff Ferjutz – 34.25” and 33.50” (15.75 points)
Greg Eichen – 41.50” (15.50) points)
Elmer McClure – 40.00” (14.00 points)
Russ Roberts – 34.00” and 32.00” (14.00 points)
Paul Andeson – 36” (Club President not registered for event)

We are now half way to determining our annual event winner and Junior member Charles Neville has jumped out to a big lead with his first place finish at the spring outing and his third place finish at the summer contest. With two events remaining, the award is definitely still up for grabs though.

The door prize and raffle drawings were held during the closing and the winners were as follows: Angelo Maniglia won the 50/50 and donated his winnings to the Minnow Fund. (THANK YOU !) Jeff Clark won the camera sunglasses door prize for the longest distance traveled (3.5 hours). Tim Smith won the Lure Board. Anna Land won the Rod and Reel. The grand prize Sony PS4 was won by Alicia Anderson.

Thank you to everyone that helped make the event successful. Jeff Ferjutz, Rick Simpson, Tim Smith, John Ringenbach, Phil Ringenbach, Jerry Rice, and Alicia Anderson. We also had other trustees that were there, but had to exit early due to other commitments. Jake Lederer, Fred Lederer, Mike Reed, and Chirs Silverthorn. We are truly blessed to have such a great group of trustees. If you are able to help our club as a trustee, we still have several positions available and we would really appreciate any additional assistance that you might be able to offer.

We welcomed our newest OHMC Life Member Jim McConnell to the event and had had several other members that had not previously been to Salt Fork. It was nice to see some new faces and I hope you had an enjoyable time and felt welcomed as part of our group.

Thanks to all that showed up and I look forward to seeing you at the Nite Bite in August with our joint sponsor MI Chapter 19.