The Harlan tournament on April 23-24 was far from normal.  On day one, the 40mph winds out of the Southeast put the fishermen to the test. The first place team Fiala and Norder caught 5 fish weighing 13.72lbs using live bait in 8-10 ft. of water west of the dock.

The remainder of the field that caught fish did so using a mix of fishing with live bait and trolling crankbaits.  In total, there were around 70 fish brought to the scale. The largest was a 8.63lb lunker caught by the Werner team.

Not much changed on day two except the wind died down.  About 70 fish were brought to the scales and day one leaders, Fiala and Norder, came out on top.  The largest fish was 6.44lbs caught by the team of Green and and Anderson.

Special thanks to the Navigators and the Island owners, as well as, everyone who helped at the meeting, with the food and at the weigh-in; couldn’t have done it without your support.

*** Reminder, this is my last year to run these tournaments.  I really don’t want to see a great club vanish; please let me know if you’re interested as it would be easier to learn the system now for next year.

Now a word about safety. A boat filled with water in the high winds and rolled over by the docks the first day.  They were our tournament anglers.  No one was hurt. But, there were reports the passengers might not have been wearing lifejackets.  We can`t police the lake all the time and with that cold water you would not last long.  So, use common sense and stay safe. I watched divers pull a young woman out of the water at Lake Mac back in the mid-70s. This could be any of us; just one mistake is all it takes. If you see something that doesn’t look right, say something.   We are the people that fish when the wind is blowing hard, so we need to help protect each other.

The Ohio Walleye Federation held its first tournament of the 2016 season on Sunday April 17 at Mosquito Lake.  Thirty five teams took to the water to compete for $5,400 in prize money.

After a mild winter, and having snow and cold the weekend before, high pressure and warm weather set the stage for Sunday’s event.  Water temperatures  were in the mid to upper 50 degree mark, and the walleyes were on verge of finishing their post spawn resting period to beginning their pre-summer feeding patterns.  Some fish were caught in deep water in the early part of week, but as outside temperatures warmed to 60 to 70 degrees, walleye began their migration into the warming shallow water the day prior to the tournament.  This transition kept anglers off balance while they pre-fished. Continue reading