One of our club’s primary objectives is conservation of Lake Erie and the tributaries that we all love to fish for steelhead. Our great Ohio Steelhead fishery is dependent on clean water and a healthy ecosystem.
OCBS members should be stewards of our Lake Erie tributaries and take responsibility to protect and enhance them. Each year OCBS participates in river clean ups on Conneaut Creek, Grand River, Ashtabula River and Rocky River. These are great opportunities to give a few hours of your time back to the steelhead fishery by picking up trash on the river banks.
This spring we are looking for a strong turnout of club members for each of the Ohio river clean ups. I challenge each of you to pick at least one clean up event, mark it on your calendar and show up for a few hours to help remove the trash from our steelhead rivers. We need all of your help to protect and preserve our steelhead fishery.
5th Annual Ashtabula River Cleanup: April 18, 2026
23rd Annual Conneaut Creek Cleanup: May 9 2026
28th Annual Grand River Cleanup: May 16, 2026
24th Annual Rocky River Cleanup: June 6, 2026
All are welcome. You do not need to be an OCBS Member to attend these cleanups. We need and appreciate all the help anyone can contribute.
If you can help, please register for a cleanup by phone, text or email to Tom Blotzer at 216-701-4227 or ohiosteelheaders@outlook.com
The Ohio Department of Wildlife Fish Management will provide their annual update on the Ohio Steelhead Program at our September meeting.
They will have a lot of good current information to share with OCBS members on our steelhead stocking numbers and returns.
Matt Hainzey with a beautiful 32 inch alpha male steelhead caught in the March 13, 2022 OCBS Tournament. Well done Matt!
This season’s OCBS Steelhead Tournament is dedicated to the memory of David K. Esner, a long-time Ohio Steelheader who passed away on May 6, 2018.
FISHING DATES:
November 2, 2025
November 23, 2025
December 21, 2025
March 1, 2026
March 22, 2026
Our annual OCBS Steelhead Fishing tournament, sponsored by Erie Outfitters, is for OCBS members only. If not a member, you are welcome to join OCBS in order to register for the tournament.
Members can register for this year’s tournament as follows:
All participants are required to fish with another OCBS member who is in the tournament and is responsible for verifying the length of each fish checked in.
Check in has been modified to permit members to call or text their catch to the Tournament Director.
Entry fee is $20.00 per participant.
Be certain to read the tournament rules.
The 11th annual Barbie Rod Tournament was held on Saturday March 28. had 184 registered participants and netted a whopping $15,050 to benefit local public fishing. This brings the cumulative event fundraising total since 2015 up to $93,900.
2026 Barbie Rod Tournament Winners
1st Place Trout – Connor Floyd 17.25″
2nd Place Trout- Josh Hall 14.75″
3rd Place Trout – Drew Rogers 14.25″
Biggest Sucker – Darren McNeil 19.0″
OCBS ran the fishing equipment and 50/50 raffles at the Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby on raising $5,035 for the Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Fund.
Special thanks to the following OCBS members who volunteered their Saturday to run the raffle: Joe Sokol, Bob Hajek, Scott Grossnickle, John Beedlow, Jr, Joe Moravec, John Beedlow III, Jim Berryman, John Brochue, Tom Blotzer and Ben Mott.
Ben Mott, OCBS Grant Director, also presented a $3,725 check to the Cleveland Metroparks as financial support for the two spring Kids Fishing Derbies which will be held at Wallace Lake on Saturday May 16 and at the Ohio and Lake Erie Canal on Sunday May 17. These funds are a combination of ODNR Division of Wildlife Grants and OCBS club funds.
