For Immediate Release

2023 Ohio Walleye Federation

Qualifier #2 Lake Milton

The Ohio Walleye Federation just concluded the second tournament of the season on Lake Milton. As is usually the case with the 1700 acre reservoir the anglers were concentrated to small areas and the fish were spread out throughout the lake.

Teams that got a chance to get out and pre-fish the few days before the event were rewarded with beautiful sunshine days and high sporadic clouds. Reports were given that there were many fish over the 15” minimum length being caught with a few of those fish 20”+ that would be needed as a “kicker” to push you from an average bag to being able to compete for a win.

After a minor boat ramp adjustment that was made at the last minute on Saturday evening, teams arrived to Millers Landing Boat ramp with some definite changing conditions. Clouds had filled the sky and the temperature in the morning was about 20 degrees warmer than had been the past few days. Looking at the weather forecast it was told rain was coming and they weren’t lying. Anglers were faced with a few hours of rain during the competition day.

The team of Anthony Naples and Christopher Durkin persevered  through the raindrops to pull out an impressive win. The team weighed 3 fish for 10.95 pounds with a Lake Milton giant kicker of 6.49 pounds. Naples and Durkin were 2 fish short of their tournament limit and still won by almost 3 pounds. Taking home $1700 for the day’s fishing. Talking to Christopher at weigh-in, he stated that they were fishing one of their favorite stretches in the river and jigging, live bait, either a minnow or night crawler on a jig. He said that they would cast up onto the bank and work the jig back to the boat that was sitting in roughly 12 feet of water. The team also wanted to give out a huge assist to Joe Yackmack for his lending them a landing net on tournament morning when it was realized that the team had left theirs at home. Durkin told the crowd that they would have never been able to land that big fish without borrowing that net.

The 2^nd place team of Rick Mulraney and Chaun Martin trolled leadcore in 10-14 foot of water to pull in a 5 fish limit that weighed in at 8.21 pounds good for 2^nd place plaques and $1050. Rick and Chaun were pulling flicker shads in a variety of colors on the lake’s south side. Rick was also the winning captain in qualifier #1 and after this impressive showing has taken commanding lead in the OWF points thru 2 events.

In 3^rd place, that paid out $800 was the always consistent team on Lake Milton of Bobby Honaker and Kevin Kalinowski with 5 fish that weighed 6.57 pounds. Bobby and Kevin said that they bounced around to multiple different spots looking for fish to jig up. They two used a combination of live bait, minnows and night crawlers. Bobby and Kevin were also the winners of event #2’s NTC Side Pot winning a paid entry into the 2024 Bass Pro Shops and Cabelas National Team Championship, presented by the TWF.

In 4^th place with 5 fish for 6.35 pounds was Dan DeBenedictis and Ciprian Donici they won $600. They were also jigging, and said that most of their fish came jigging boat docks with live bait. Dan stated that after a productive morning jigging they then switched to trolling to the shallow waters next to the boat docks as well. Dan stated that there was no particular lure or color that worked better when they were trolling.

Rounding out the top 5 was the team of Matt Simunick and Tommy Delvecchio with 5 fish for 6.09 pounds good for $400. This is Matt and Tommy’s 2^nd season fishing with the OWF and their first top 5. Good job gentlemen! Matt reported that he caught all of his fish trolling flicker shads on the south end of the lake as well. He said that his fish were all from 8-12 foot of water.  

In total the 26 teams fishing there were five 5 fish limits weighed in and a total of 67 fish with grand total of 97.91 pounds from Lake Milton.

The OWF season now moving its focus to Berlin Lake on May 21st. Berlin was the sight of last year’s Inland Lake Championship and there were some impressive bags weighed in. The OWF record for largest 1 day bag ever weighed of 31.54 pounds was pulled out of Berlin last summer.  Make sure to get your registrations in.

The Ohio Walleye Federation would like to thank our title sponsor Erie Marine Sales for all of 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 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.

2023 Ohio Walleye Federation

Qualifier #1 Mosquito Lake

The Ohio Walleye Federation held their first tournament of the year on 4/23/2023 at 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 unfortunately brought one of those 40-degree days. Although the reports were for tough fishing, 30 teams launched with high hopes in the morning.

Boy, did Mosquito NOT disappoint. We had a new all-time lake record for the largest 5 fish limit weighed in at Mosquito of 27.31 pounds. The team of Mosquito Lake stalwarts Rick Mulraney and Mitch Shipman took the top honors. This is now 2 out of the past 3 Mosquito Lake tournaments that they have won. Rick and Mitch reported going back to one of their favorite jigging spots for their fish. They reported catching fish early often. There were reports at weigh-in’s from one of their competitors that Rick and Mitch were putting on a walleye catching clinic first thing in the morning. Rick and Mitch reported that they caught most all of their weight from one spot casting, Vibe-e’s, Rippin Raps and bucktail jigs in 13-16 foot of water. With the win Rick and Mitch took home 1^st place plaques and 1^st place prize money of $2250.

The 2^nd place team of Daniel Uber and David Hoisington trolled leadcore in 14-16 foot of water to pull in a 5 fish limit that weighed an impressive 24.54 pounds good for 2^nd place plaques and $1250. Dan and Dave reported pulling Flicker minnows and flicker shads in 14-16 foot of water. David said at weigh-in’s that most of their fish came from a relatively small area.

In 3^rd place, that paid out $800 was the team of Tyler Berthold and Devin Phillips with 5 fish that weighed 23.99 pounds. Tyler and Devin caught their fish trolling leadcore in 14-16 foot of water. They used multiple different baits to catch their fish, but there were reports of a secret bass style crank bait in #5 size that was the hot bait for them. They would not divulge any additional information on that bait though.

In 4^th place with 5 fish for 20.95 pounds was Gordon Schmucker and Andy Wilson, they won $600. They reported catching all of their fish jigging blade baits in 14-16 foot of water.

Rounding out the top 5 was the team of Josh Janda and Alicia Keaton with 5 fish for 20.59 pounds good for $400. They reported catching all of their fish jigging blade baits in 14-16 foot of water as well. It was told at weigh-in’s that Alicia started the morning off with the team’s first and biggest fish, helping propel them to a top 5. Great job Alicia!

Big fish honors with a check for $400 went to the team of Dan Debenedicts and Randall Hoeppert with a 6.37-pound Mosquito Walleye that Randall caught casting a jigging spoon in 14 feet of water.

The OWF season is in full swing with our 2^nd qualifier right around the corner on May 7th at Lake Milton. Lake Milton is making a solid comeback as one of the best lakes for numbers in Northeastern Ohio. Last year when we were there many teams brought in their tournament limit of 5 fish with reports of many more fish being caught.

The Ohio Walleye Federation would like to thank our title sponsor Erie Marine Sales for all of 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 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.