Cranberry contest at Dillon

Forty-two members of Cranberry Marsh Bass Club endured the heat Sunday to fish the club tournament at Dillon. Of those, 30 weighed in a total of 97 bass. Not a bad day.
Larry Schwartz won the contest with five bass weighing 8.13 pounds, followed by Adam Richards with five bass at 7.59 pounds.
Rick Miller took third with five bass weighing 6.54 pounds and Barry Spangler finished fourth with four bass weighing 6.24 pounds. Brett Richards was fifth with five bass weighing 6.19 pounds.
Rick McDonald took big bass honors with a 3.98-pound fish and Nate Swihart won the Junior Division with a .82-pound fish.
With his victory, Adam Richards moved into first place in the club standings at the halfway point of the tournament season. Jerry Mossman, who led after the first two tournaments, is now in second. He finished eighth Sunday.

Y-City O'Shaughnessy results

It was an Allen family affair at the top of the Y-City Bass Club results at O'Shaughnessy Reservoir Sunday, June 27 as three family members finished in the top five.
Dave Allen won the contest with five bas weighing 9 .25 pounds, while twin brother Dan took third with five bass weighing 7.57 pounds and Dan's son Drew finished fourth with five fish weighing 6.99 pounds.
Mark Lasure interrupted the Allen parade by finishing second with five fish weighing 8.12 pounds.
Doug Rothert placed fifth with five bass weighing 6.96 pounds ands Shane Miracle took big bass honors with a 3.75-pound fish.
A total of eight limits were weighed in as 23 out of 28 members competing weighed in 68 bass.
The club's next tournament is scheduled for July 11 at Seneca.

Knox Lake survey

If your fishing at Knox Lake, look near the boat ramps for a box containing an angler survey about the lake. I don't remember everything in the survey, but one of the things it asks about is a potential change in the length regulations.
The Division of Wildlife wants t know what anglers would think of switching from the present 18-inch length limit to a slot limit. What is suggested would be a slot of 15 to 20 inches that would be protected. You could then keep two fish under 15 inches long and one over 20 inches.
It wouldn't change my bass fishing at Knox because everything I do there is catch and release. However, you may have feelings or opinions and this is the opportunity to let the biologists know what you think. Fill out the survey ad drop it in the box that is also there for replies.

S.O.B. Hoover results

Despite the heat and wind Sunday, June 27, and the thunderstorm that blew through Saturday night, The Southern Ohio club had a surprisingly good weigh-in at Hoover Reservoir.At least the other guys did, I couldn't by a fish.
Kenny Fulks won the tournament with five bass that weighed 11 pounds, 15 ounces, and took big bass honors with a 3-pound, 14.8-ounce bass. First place, big bass and 10-pound pot -- that makes a pretty good day!
Terry Ryan also had five bass, but at 8 pounds, 4.2 ounces he had to settle for second place.
Debbie Woodrow had only three bass, but they were nice ones that weighed in at 8 pounds, 2.2 ounces for third pace. Tom Sherfy took fourth with five bass weighing 7 pounds, 5.4 ounces and Eric Woodrow was fifth with three bass weighing 4 pounds, 7.6 ounces.
Overall, 20 club members fished, with 6 weighing in a total of 38 bass. Unfortunately, I was one of the four without a keeper.
Since the storm had only slightly discolored the water, I thought I could still find at least a few fish on the shallow pattern I had found Thursday. Nothing.
So I tried some deeper areas nearby. Still nothing. I moved to a causeway where I have often caught keepers during the summer and had only a couple half-hearted hits from small fish. The other area I had caught fish was occupied, so I headed downlake to a cove where I have caught fish in the past and would be mercifully out of the strong south wind for a while. Nothing. Back out on the main lake and some deep and shallow areas. More of the same until the tournament was mercifully over.
From what I could determine, most of the good catches were caught farther up the lake than I ventured. I thought I could find something without spending a lot of time traveling.
I also learned that a good number of fish were caught on crankbaits and tubes, both deep and shallow, so whether I fished the wrong depths, too fast or too slow is hard to say.
I just hope I have better luck at our next tournament, which is July 11 at Seneca.

MOTOR TROUBLE RESOLVED
One good thing that happened Sunday is that my 9.9 outboard is running again. It had refused to start Thursday and didn't seem to be generating any spark.
I talked to a boat mechanic Friday, who said it was probably the power pack (ignition coil) and I could get one at the local NAPA store. The folks at NAPA were helpful and found one at their distribution center in Columbus. I could have it Saturday morning.
Saturday morning came and no part. It was part of a order that was recorded as having been sent out, but it hadn't arrived. Nor had it showed up at any other stores in the area.
I had figured there was no way any boat shop in the area would be able to check out the motor in time to get it ready for Sunday, but now I figured I better call around and see if one had the part, even though it would probably cost more. Turns out I was lucky the part hadn't arrived.
The first call made was the one I should have made in the first place, to Jim Carter's Marina at Buckeye Lake. They had a used one I could buy.
When I went out, Jimmy was there and said it was very unusual for a coil to go out and mentioned a couple other things that should be checked. I described what had happened and he asked if I wanted him to check it out. Since I had the motor in the truck, I jumped at the chance.
In about two minutes, he hooked up a device to the motor, fired it and determined it was generating a spark. He pointed at the kill switch and said "Your problem's right there."
So I bought a switch, took it home and installed it that afternoon. The motor fired on the first pull.
I told Carter I should have called him in the first place, but I figured there was no way he would be able to look at it right away.
He had a very practical answer: "You don't know unless you ask."

July 4 fireworks at MWCD

If you like fireworks, here's a list of shows planned at Muskingum Watershed lakes July 3 and 4:
Atwood Lake - Sunday, July 4 - Dark (ignited near Atwood Lodge, visible from much of lake region)
Charles Mill Lake Park - Saturday, July 3 - Dark
Seneca Lake Park - Saturday, July 3 - Dark
Tappan Lake Park - Saturday, July 3 - Dark
A few years ago, a friend and I were fishing at Seneca near the July 4 holiday. As we were heading for the ramp near dusk, we encountered a huge number of boats anchored on the lake. They were waiting for the fireworks display, which was to be set off from one of the islands.
That would have been a greagt view of the show!

Buckeye Tuesday results

Robin Cross reports the fishing is getting tougher at Buckeye. The winning weights in the Tuesday night tournament this week were about the same as previous weeks, but the number of keepers being weighed in is dropping.
Bob Conway and Randy Swinhart with five fish that weighted 6.77 pounds, while Will Englefield and Chris Cooper were close behind in second with five fish that weighed 6.72 pounds.
Dave Mockus and Frank Tipton finished third with two bass that weighed 45.14 pounds and took big bass honors with a 3.37-pound fish.
Jermy Parrish and Fawn Hall took fourth with two fish that weighed 3.9 pounds and Robin Cross and Jack Miller were fifth with two bass that weighed 1.78 pounds.
In all, 19 bass were weighed in by the 29 anglers competing.

Knox and Kokosing

The weekend proved to be a mixed bag. I didn't plan to go fishing Saturday, but my wife decided to go to Knox County with my daughter, who was judging a 4-H dog match. So I figured "why not go?" and headed north as well. Since I wouldn't have a lot of time on the water, I decided to visit Kokosing Reservoir, a small lake I never fished before.
In the three hours or so I had to fish, I worked around most of the lake (except for the dam). The lake is shallow -- the deepest water I found was 8 feet (towards the dam), a despite having the electric almost as shallow as it will go, spent a lot of time kicking up mud or even digging into the bottom.
Still, I found some fish around the shallow cover (nothing big) and caught four on hand-poured Senko-type baits, so I considered it a decent evening n a new lake. April would be a better time to visit, especially if the water is a little high.
Since it was dark, I turned on the lights and the trailer lights went out again. After I lost the lights coming back from Rush Creek Thursday, I thought I had fixed them. Obviously I hadn't found the right problem.
With the help of another fisherman I tried to find the real problem, but couldn't and had to drive home without trailer lights.
But the worst thing was what I discovered when I crawled under the back of the truck to check the wiring there. Didn't find any problem there, but it slowly dawned on me that I wasn't seeing something I should -- my spare tire was missing! The cable that holds up the tire was cut, clean as a whistle. Someone had stolen the spare.
I don't know if someone stole it while I was on the water or if it had been stolen earlier, either at Rush Creek or at home. I did hear from a fellow member on the OGF site that he had had some problems with thefts at Kokosing and I've alo heard of some problems at Rush Creek, but there were a number of people around at both sites, so who knows?
Sunday, I simply redid all the trailer wiring connections and that fixed the main light problem, so my daughter, Lindsey, and I finally took off on our planned afternoon fishing excursion to Knox Lake.
Because of the trailer work, we didn't get there until 6 p;m., but we caught fish.
I caught two 17-inch and one 15-inch bass, as well as some smaller fish, while Lindsey boated a 16-incher. All the fish hit hand-poured Senkos from Bob's Outdoor Supply in Newark. She was using the black/blue flake I've been catching most of my fish on recently and I used a green pumpkin/purple flake version.
All the fish were very shallow except one, and it was in only about five feet of water.
Not a bad afternoon, especially since I got to fish with Lindsey, who has been fishing with me for 20 years Unfortunately, she doesn't have the chance to go with me very often these days, so I really enjoy it when it happens.

Good evening at Rush Creek

I finally got back to Rush Creek Thursday evening (June 17) and despite some motor trouble -- my 9.9 quit and wouldn't restart so I didn't have time to get to some areas I wanted to fish -- it was a good evening.
I started at 4:30 p.m. and didn't catch much for the first hour. But in the next three hours I boated 13 largemouth and lost or missed about six others. The biggest was better than 19 inches long and fat, which would have put its weight at about 4.25 pounds. I also caught a 16, a 15 and two 14s. Only three were less than 12 inches. Of course, they have to be 15 inches to be keepers at Rush, but since I wasn't keeping anything, it doesn't matter.
Every one was caught on the same lure: a black/blue flake hand-poured Senko from Bob's Outdoor Supply, and they were all caught shallow near wood (what else would they be around at Rush Creek?) I might have had one hit on a crankbait and I lost one fish on a Yum Dinger that took me behind a stump.
I had heard bass were being caught in deep water where the channel runs close to the bank in the main lake, but they had certainly moved shallow in the areas where I fished.
Now if I could only catch fish like that in a tournament! It made even the motor aggravation and the loss of my trailer lights on the way home seem unimportant.
(I lost the lights because of a blown fuse -- I don't know yet what caused it; and the motor problem may have been something as simple as loose gas connection or a clogged vent cap, because I was able to get it started Friday.)
Now I'd like to get to Hoover before my tournament there Sunday, but I'd also like to get to Knox soon. We'll have to see how it goes.

Fishing tougher at Buckeye

Tournament organizer Robin Cross reports the fishing is getting a little tougher at the Tuesday night contests at Buckeye Lake, but the turnout is still good.
This week, Mike Watson and Brett Smith took first for the second week in a row with a catch of five bass weighing 6.6 pounds. Dustin and Wayne Baker were a close second with five bass weighing 6.19 pounds, while Mark and Zeb Fouty were a close third with five bass weighing 5.54 pounds.
Ryan Miskell and Kevin Sharock finished fourth with two bass weighing 3.26 pounds, including a 2.52-pound fish tht took big bass honors.
Doug Buzard was fifth with three bass weighing 3.15 pounds.
Thirty-two anglers competed and weighed in 33 keeper bass.

S.O.B. Pleasant Hill contest

The Southwern Ohio Bassmasters club tournament at Pleasant Hill Saturday, June 12 was one of those contests where almost everybody caught fish. The key was catching better fish, although no lunkers were weighed in. Out of 26 members entered, 24 weighed in 91 keeper bass. Eleven five-fish limits were recorded.
Greg Montgomery found the most good fsh and won with 8 pounds, 2.6 ounces, just over a pound ahead of Mike Baughman, who had 7 pounds, 1.4 ounces.
Chris Lighthizer was a close third with 7 pounds, 0.4 ounces and took big bass honors with a 2-pound, 12.4-ounce bass.
Kenny Fulks took fourth with 5 pounds, 14.2 ounces and Mark Hardesty was fifth with 5 pounds, 12.8 ounces.
Only a pound separated fifth from 12th. Unfortunately, I was the one in 12th with 4 pounds, 12.4 ounces, one of seven members who couldn't put that fifth keeper in the boat.
It was an interesting tournament. I talked to members who reported catching bass on buzzbaits, Pop-Rs, crankbaits, creature baits and other plastics. I saw plenty of people throwing spinnerbaits as well, so I imagine they produced some fish also. I love to fish surface lures, but I had only three half-hearted hits on buzzbaits and none on a Chug Bug or Hub's Chub.For some reason, I never threw a Pop-R. I had no hits on a crankbait or spinnerbait. All of my keepers hit a black/blue flake hand-poured Senko-type worm sold at Bob's Outdoor supply in Newark. A couple small fish came on a 4-inch Yum Dinger.
The lake had been high earlier in the week, but it was still generally clear and was only a few inches above normal, yet the fish I caught were still quite shallow. By Snday evening, however, I noticed on the Corps of Engineers site, the lake level had risen by about 20 inches.
Our next tournament is June 27 at Hoover. I certainly hope my cold spell on surface lures ends by then, as surface lures produced most of the good fish I caught at Hoover last year.

Bass on the surface

Last weekend brought heavy rains that muddied up rivers and raised the levels of most lakes, especially flood control reservoirs.In at least one case that was good news, as Hoover Reservoir came almost back up to normal pool.
As of Wednesday night, all of the Muskingum basin flood control dams were holding back various amounts of extra water, but only Leesville was listed as being at alert pool. In that case, the lake was about five feet above normal. Dillon and Seneca were almost down to normal summer pool and Pleasant Hill was only a foot high.
In the Scioto drainage, all of the lakes were only minimally above normal by Wednesday. How muddy they might be, however, I don't know.
Despite all that, reports I've heard from Buckeye, Knox and Pleasant Hill in the past couple days indicate the bass are active and feeding. The best news for bass fishermen is that bass are hitting surface lures. I don't know what is being most used, but I've heard Hub's Chubs, Pop-Rs and buzzbaits mentioned. At Dillon, bass were reported jumping on surface lures before the lake went up about three feet, but since it came back down, I haven't talked to anyone who has fished it.
Unless the weather takes a dramatic turn for the worse, the next few days promise to offer some good bass fishing prospects and especially the prospect of surface action. Is there any more fun way to catch bass?
Good sunfish prospects would also continue. They've been spawning in most lakes and if you can find beds, fly rod lures such as black or red ants, sponge rubber spiders and poppers, as well as small jigs and tubes, can produce a quick mess of fish.
Have fun.

Y-City Tappan results

The Y-City Bass Club had a good day at Tappan Lake Sunday, June 6, as 26 out of 29 members competing weighed in 70 bass, including five limits.
Bob Hammer won the tournament with five bass weighing 8.67 pounds, while Dave Blackstone took second with five fish weighing 7.85 pounds. Mike King came in third and took big bass honors. His four bass weighed 6.76 pounds and the big bass weighed 3 pounds.
Steve Miracle finished fourth with five bass weighing 6.69 pounds and Tyler Shawger took fifth with five bass weighing 6.62 pounds.
The other limit was caught by Wesley Hammer, who finished seventh.
The club's next tournament will be June 27 at O'Shaughnesy Reservoir.

Tuesday results at Buckeye

The results at Buckeye Lake Tuesday evening were still good, despite all the rain over the weekend. The top three teams all weighed in five-fish limits and big bass was over three pounds.
Mike Watson and Brett Smith took first place with five bass that weighed 9.28 pounds, almost three pounds ahead of the second-place team of Rob and Keith Myers, who had 6.64 pounds.
Scott Clark and Jason Abella finished third with five fish that weighed 6.03 pounds, Doug Buzzard and Jim Kughn placed fourth with three bass that weighed 5.66 pounds, including the big bass of 3.33 pounds..
Robert Nauer and Toby Welker were fifth with two bass that weighed 5.64 pounds.
A total of 38 bass were weighed by the 35 anglers competing.

Charles Mill results

After driving through nasty thunderstorms around Mount Vernon and Bellville, I wondered what kind of conditions we would have to deal with in our Southern Ohio Bassmasters club tournament at Charles Mill Saturday, June 5. Surprisingly, the weather settled down and most of the day wasn't bad at all. But about 1:30 or so, Mother Nature decided to make up for that.
The tournament wasn't over until 2 p.m., but an approaching storm sent most of us heading for the ramp early. I beached the boat and was in line with the trailer before the worst of the rain hit. Watching the rain from inside the truck was far better than being out in it, but I sure wish I could have turned on the bilge pump. By the time it was my turn to load the rain had eased off, but by that time there was a lot of water in the boat. The bilge pump was still pumping long after I had the boat back in the parking lot.
When we started at 6 a.m., the lake was muddy down to the bridge near the ramp. By the time I came back up the lake i'd say it had advanced at least a third of the way from thee to the dam. After the afternoon storm, it looked like the lake was rising and a lot of debris was coming down the lake. The road back to Rt. 603 was even blocked by high water when we left. By Sunday night, the lake was 2.83-feet above normal, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Despite al that, the fishing was quite good. Alan Fulks of Nashport won the event with a catch of five bass weighing 10 pounds, 10 ounces. He also took big bass honors with a 2-pound, 12.8-ounce fish.
Randy Brownrigg of McConnelsville was less than three ounces behind with five bass weighing 10 pounds, 7.4 ounces. Terry Kimble, fishing with Alan, finished third with five bass weighing 7 pounds, 13.2 ounces, while Greg Montgomery took fourth with five bass weighing 7 pounds, .6 ounce. Kenny Fulks of Nashport was fifth with five bass weighing 6 pounds, 7.2 ounces.
I have no idea where any of the top finishers caught their fish as I didn't see any of them all day except Kenny, who I passed about mid-day.
A total of 47 bass were weighed in by 15 of the 19 members competing.
As for me, I finished sixth with four fish as I couldn't complete my limit. I caught one fish in the muddy water near the ramp and three in the cleaner water downlake. All of my fish hit Senko-type lures, either a Yum Dinger or the hand-poured version from Bob's Outdoor Supply in Newark.
Our next tournament is this Saturday, June 12, at Pleasant Hill. I just hope the lake has a chance to settle down, although it promises to be a busy day on that lake, thanks to the 2010 North Central Ohio Safe Boating and Fishing Festival, which will include free boat rides and fishing activities at the park.
Boating and Fishing Festival
An announcement about the festival was sent out by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District and included the following information:
Admission to the park (which I believe includes the marina and beach area across the bay from the boat ramp) will be free for the festival, which will be held from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the park located at 3431 Rt. 95 at Perrysville.
The festival will feature free pontoon boat rides, free motorboat rides and free sailboat rides. Free kayak rides also will be available courtesy of Fin Feather and Fur. Safe boating displays and information also will be presented and officials from numerous organizations will be on hand to answer questions and distribute information.
The Ohio Division of Wildlife will provide an area near the marina for free fishing for children, providing poles, bait and instruction. A casting contest also will be held for children ages 7 to 14.
The Mansfield Power Squadron and the Division of Watercraft will offer an opportunity to pass the Ohio Boater Education exam. Ohio law requires that all persons born on or after Jan. 1, 1982, to complete an approved safe boating course in order to operate a powerboat of greater than 10 horsepower. Successful completion of the test at the festival will fulfill the legal requirement.
For more information or a complete schedule of activities all summer at Pleasant Hill Lake Park, contact the park at (419) 938-7884. More details about the park also are available at www.mwcd.org on the Internet. Pleasant Hill Lake Park is located at 3431 State Rt. 95, Perrysville, and is easily accessible by Rts. 39 or 603.

Buckeye Tuesday results

Two teams came in with five-fish limits at Buckeye Lake Tuesday evening, but they didn't win the tournament. That was done by Shaun Magers and Dana Moran, who had three bass weighing 6.77 pounds, including a 2.83-pound fish that took big bass honors.
Will Englefield and Chris Cooper finished second with five bass weighing 5.41 pounds, while the other team with a five-fish limit, Scott Clark and Jason Abella, placed third with 5.4 pounds.
Skip Yates and Jim Watson took fourth with four bass weighing 4.78 pounds, and Jeremy Parrish and Bob Futz were fifth with three bass weighing 4.14 pounds.
A total of 37 bass were weighed in by the 31 anglers competing.
Tournament organizer Robin Cross said a few anglers reported losing nice fish during the tournament -- including himself.

Catfish tournaments

A series of catfish tournaments is being held at Dillon Reservoir this summer. The first two were held in May, but more are scheduled for June 12 and 26, July 10 and 24, Aug. 14 and 28 and Sept. 11 and 28.
Entry fee is $12 and registration takes place from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the marina. Weigh-in is at 7 a.m. A grand prize will be awarded after the last tournament.
If you have questions, call (740) 252-0950.