2011 Tournaments:

John Fisher Tournament Results (April 30 - May 1)

The Central Ohio Chapter held the annual John Fisher Memorial Tournament this past weekend 4/30-5/1 at Clear Fork Lake. There were seven legal fish caught by 38 participants. Six trolling and one casting. The results are as follows:

1st Place - Cliff Honeycutt 37.5" and 32.75"
2nd Place - Maurice Potvin 37.75"
3rd Place - Fred Lederer 37.5"
Brian Vinson 30.25", Greg Hastings 30", Gary Soloman 30"

Chapter Challunge at Salt Fork Results (May 14 - 15)

We had another great Chapter challunge. Lots of rain, but other than late Sat afternoon, we had pretty decent fishing conditions. The lake came up nearly a foot by Sunday am and some of the upper creek arms were muddy.
There were 73 people registered to fish, with 20 from Central Ohio chapter. 10 fish were turned in, with 4 over 40".  
Chapter 19, Akron-Canton won the the challunge. They only won by a 1/4" over Central Ohio, so it was very close. 

Mike Ellis caught 2 fish, a 35" and a 36", 1 casting and 1 trolling to win the challunge for chapter 19.
Robert Smart from Central Ohio chapter got the big fish prize trolling, a nice 44.75"er. Other Central Ohio fish caught was Robert Nevilles 38.25".
The shore lunch was very good, Guy Bechter and Kevin Proffit grilled up Hamburgs, Dogs and Brats. There was a variety of tasty dishes on the table and if you went away hungry it was your own fault. Many thanks to Guy, Kevin and all the other folks who brought the side dishes.

Russ Dodridge Tournament at Alum Creek (June 4-5)

The Central Ohio Chapter of Muskies Inc. held the Russ Dodridge Memorial Tournament on Alum Creek Lake June 4-5, 2011. With the extensive flooding and massive water releases that preceded the tournament, 31 pessimistic anglers and 5 youth (36 total) hit the water. Everyone left quite optimistic about the Alum fishery, as the tournament recorded a total of 38 legal muskies by 19 of the anglers. There were reports, as well, of many sub-legal fish and at least two reports of huskies lost.

It's a good tournament when two guys with five fish each have to add to the inches to figure out who won, a youth member quadruples and wins a rod and reel, a triple takes fourth, and five guys that doubled don't even make the top five. To my knowledge, all fish were caught trolling.

The Saturday shore lunch was a good time with good food, and it was great to see everyone take a break from the heat and sun and enjoy some time in the shade with good people. My wife, Jodi, took care of rounding up a good fare from Shane's BBQ, and she commented to me that night that everyone was very appreciative and she enjoyed taking care of that for the club.

The minnow fund 50/50 drawn at the shore lunch raised another $100 for the Statewide Minnow Fund.

The tournament results are as follows:

1st Place: Rob VanGorder 38.5", 35.5", 35.25", 33.75", 32.75"
2nd Place: Bob Smart 39.75", 35", 33.75", 32.25", 32.25"
3rd Place: Kyle Honeycutt 37", 33", 33", 31"
4th Place: Bill Lambert 35", 33.25", 33"
5th Place: Robert Neville 35.5", 33.5"

Jack Worline 35", 33"
Jerry Stayer 35", 32.75"
George Smart 34", 33.75"
Greg Hastings 34.5", 32"
Neil O'Brien 33.5", 31"
Ron Murdock 38.25"
Randy Parker 36"
Chuck Wilbert 35.25"
Lou Spezio 33"
Bob Sisson 33"
Tony Crisp 32.5"
Brian Culbertson 32"
Jarrod Bailes 32"
Gary Soloman 31.5"

Nite Bite Outing at Alum Creek (June 17)

22 Members hit the water tonight at 6 PM for the Nite Bite Outing. Mother Nature took over about 7:30 PM and sent everyone to the nearest docks. Very scary stuff. By 10 PM or so the lightning had not stopped and even the die-hards waiting it out at the ramps decided to call it a night.  There were two fish caught before the storm. Since we won't all get back together at midnight as planned and don't know if anyone was planning to come back late, we'll call these results unofficial in the event there are fish caught not yet reported to George. We'll update the results if we get any late reports considering the circumstances.  The winner of the infamous "invisible plaque" this year looks to be Mike Stumph with a 34.25".  Dan Walker caught a 32.25" right before the storm hit. 

Ray Demers Tournament at Lake St. Clair (June 24 - 26)

We had 79 people sign up to fish the Ray Demers Can Am at Lake St Clair.

1st, Kody Dickson, 53.5"
2nd, Doug Grahl, 50.5" Central Ohio
3rd, Margaret Pauling, 50" Central Ohio
4th, Mike Yerman, 49.5" Three Rivers
5th, Ben Sommers, 49.5" Central Ohio

Youth Division, Kody Dickson 53.5"
Chapter Challunge winner, Central Ohio

The wind was brutal on Saturday morning, and some went out and stayed out. The wind subsided some by late morning and kept decreasing all afternoon. It was calm by 5 pm. When I tallied the fish turned in, I noticed that many of the bigger fish were caught between 5:30 pm and 7 pm on Saturday. There was definitely a window for big fish right there.
There were 14 legal fish(44"+) caught.
Other Central Ohio folks who caught legal fish;
Chuck Wilbert, 47"
Tim Graber, 45"

Fishermen donated 1300 cans of Food items for the Lakeshore Food Bank.
The Saturday Pig roast lunch was the best one so far, everything was very good.
The weather was great on Sunday and we finished off the remaining pork roast at the Awards ceremony.
There were many fish caught in the 30-40" range.
Manny Farley couldn't attend due to health problems and we sure missed him being there.
I want to thank all our Canadian friends, especially Bruce and Anita Bauer, who helped Manny and I make this happen. We couldn't have done it without their help - Mark

October 8 - 9 Fall Shoot-Out at Alum Creek 

The Central Ohio Chapter of Muskies Inc held its annual Fall Shoot-Out on Alum Creek Lake on October 8-9, 2011. 31 Anglers (2 youth) signed up to fish the event. There were nine legal fish reported and several sub-legals (and at least one bass) caught as well.

The club was served a feast of a shore lunch on Saturday, as the Boy Scouts of Troop 387 put on a burger and brat cookout.

A 50/50 drawing was held at lunch for the minnow fund raising $130 with Ron Fisher holding the winning ticket.

Thanks to George Smart for putting together another fine tournament event.

The results are as follows:

1st Place: Rob VanGorder, 38" and 39.5"
2nd Place: Chuck Wilbert, 44.25"
3rd Place: Chris Novatny, 38.25"
4th Place: Rich Wrather, 36"
5th Place: Cliff Honeycutt, 35.75"
6th Place: Luke VanGorder (youth), 34.5"
7th Place: Bill Lambert, 34"
8th Place: William Neville (youth), 33"

2010 Tournament Results:

John Fisher Memorial Tournament Results (April 24 - 25, 2010)

1st Place - Thurman Adair (39" and 43")
2nd Place - Ron Fisher (43")
3rd Place - Kevin Short (42")
4th Place - Tim Graber (31.75")
5th Place - Mark Steinert (31")

Russ Dodridge Tournament Results (June 5 - 6, 2010)

1st Place - Jack Worline (35 and 32.5)
2nd Place - Elmer Heyob (34 and 32.5)
3rd Place - Mark Steinert (34 and 31.5)
4th Place - Cliff Honeycutt (37)
5th Place - John Ratcliff (37)

Ray Demers Can Am at St. Clair (June 26-27, 2010)

102 people signed up to fish, including 8 youths.
17 legal fish, 44"+ were turned in.
1st - 53.25", Mary Arndt, Central Ohio
2nd - 51", Matt Middlemiss
3rd - 50.75", Rob Van Gorder, Central Ohio
4th - 49.75", Doug Grahl, Central Ohio
5th - 49.25", Dale Dinney

Youth Division, 51", Matt Middlemiss from Belle River
Chapter Challunge winner, Central Ohio

Central Ohio chapter folks won 1st, 3rd, and 4th places, thats a pretty good showing.
Other Central Ohio fish caught,
48" Bill Lambert
46" Jerry Stayer
45.5" Sharon Potvin
45.5" Maurice Potvin
44" Thurman Adair

Nite Bite at Alum Creek (September 24, 2010)

We had 11 people show up last night which is not bad considering the wind we had earlier in the day. Fortunately it died down a little and was really not a bad evening to be out. There were 3 fish turned in... Jack Worline got a 34.25" and a 34" and Elmer Heyob got a 34".

Fall Shoot-Out at Alum Creek (October 9 - 10, 2010)