For Immediate Release
2024 Ohio Walleye Federation
Qualifier #1 Mosquito Lake
The Ohio Walleye Federation presented by Erie Marine Sales held their first tournament of the year on 4/28/2022 at the recently fickle Mosquito Lake. Teams were faced with an uncertain bite as the bite at Mosquito the past few years has been spotty at best. Many teams reported having very little success in pre-fish. As is typical for Ohio spring’s April has seen multiple days with temperatures in the 80’s as well as days with highs in the 40’s. Tournament Day fortunately brought one of those beautiful spring 80-degree days. The weather was about the only thing that was playing nice for most teams, as recent reports have shown that the walleye population is in a drastic decline. 
With only 5 teams weighing a 5 fish limit, there was a very tight battle for the top spot. 1st place and 5th place were separated by 2.65 pounds with 2nd and 5th separated by only 1.58 pounds. In total, there were 16 teams weighing fish with some very nice ones weighed in showing that if you can crack the code at Mosquito Lake, you can find some good fish.
The team of David Hoisington and Dan Uber were able to come home with the victory this year. After finishing what they described as a disappointing 2nd place last year at Mosquito, it was nice to see them get some redemption. Their 5 fish bag topped the scales at 23.92 pounds, anchored by a 5.62-pound big fish. David and Dan said that they fished the same area as last year. However, this year, they utilized forward facing sonar technology to target the fish in 13-16 feet of water. They were casting blade baits at fish that they first spotted with their graphs. Dave and Dan were very effective at what they were doing as they reported catching an estimated 30 fish in about an hour and a half time frame. With the win, David and Dan took home 1st place plaques and 1st place prize money of $2,500.
The 2nd place team of Jim Leigh and Shane Doughty trolled leadcore in 13-16 feet of water to pull in a 5 fish limit that weighed an impressive 22.85 pounds good for 2nd place plaques and $1,300. Jim and Shane reported pulling Berkley Flicker Shads in 13-16 feet of water right near the winner and 3rd place team. Jim reported at weigh-ins that dark colors worked best the first part of the morning, and lighter colors were better after about 8. All but one of the team’s fish was caught from 7:00 a.m. and 8:30. The team did report getting a crucial 1-pound upgrade at 2:40 that propelled them to 2nd place.
In 3rd place, that paid out $850 was the team of Andy Travis and Joe Papalia with 5 fish that weighed 22.58 pounds. Like the winners, Andy and Joe utilized forward facing sonar and blade baits to cast to their fish in 13-16 feet of water. Andy and Joe also reported catching over 20 fish throughout the morning.
In 4th place, with 5 fish for 21.72 pounds with the 2nd biggest fish of the event of 5.64 pounds was Erick and Ed Williams, they won $650. For their 4th place effort and a $50.00 gift certificate to sponsor Presta Marine for their 2nd big fish. Erick reported that they caught their fish trolling Berkley Flicker Shads on monofilament line behind planer boards in 12-14 feet of water. Erick was able to utilize his electronics to see where the fish were sitting in in order to keep his baits in the right zone.
Rounding out the top 5 was the team of Steve Booher and David Schmidt with 5 fish for 21.27 pounds good for $500. Steve and David also caught the big fish of the day with a 6.56-pound giant that paid $400 to catch. They reported catching all their fish jigging blade baits in 14-16 feet of water.
The OWF season is in full swing with a few weeks between qualifiers to allow all our team’s time to go fish the National Team Championship in Lorain, Ohio. Good luck to all the teams from the club fishing in the event. Our 2nd qualifier is on May 19th at Pymatuning Lake. Make sure to get your registrations in for that event.
The Ohio Walleye Federation would like to thank our title sponsor, Erie Marine Sales, for all the support that they provide to us. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t be able to provide 100% payout at all tournaments. For 2024 we would also like to thank our other sponsors of Whitetails Unlimited, Walleye Nations Creations, Ego Nets, Presta Marine, Church Tackle, Flynn’s Tire and Auto Service, Snakebite Snap weights, FishUSA, Fisherman’s Central, Runzo’s Outdoors and Kerr’s Automotive.
For additional information or to sign up for an event, please check us out on Facebook – Ohio Walleye Federation or on our website; www.ohiowalleyefederation.com.
