OCBS founding member, Jeff Liskay, has been a self-admitted steelhead junkie for nearly four decades. From his home base in northern Ohio, Liskay has fished across the entire Great Lakes and is now reaching into Alaska, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and beyond. He is well recognized for both his two-hand casting and fishing skills and is a regular on the Spey fishing gathering circuit as both an observer and a presenter.
OCBS founding member, Jeff Liskay, has been a self-admitted steelhead junkie for nearly four decades. From his home base in northern Ohio, Liskay has fished across the entire Great Lakes and is now reaching into Alaska, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and beyond. He is well recognized for both his two-hand casting and fishing skills and is a regular on the Spey fishing gathering circuit as both an observer and a presenter.
Jeff spends the warmer months prowling Great Lakes shoreline areas chasing warm-water species on the fly, but as the weather cools steelhead take over. He is considered one of the top guides on Ohio’s Lake Erie tributaries and is also in high demand as a Spey casting instructor. He is an established speaker and presenter, giving numerous club and show programs each year.
Jeff is also a talented fly tier- his creations are generally simple, functional, fish catchers.
Jeff is a Patagonia Fly Fishing Ambassador and a Pro Staff member for a number of companies, including Scientific Anglers and Scott Fly Rods. He has been featured in books and magazines, on television, and in podcasts for his angling skills. Liskay owns and operates Great Lakes Fly Fishing Guide Service and Instruction, where he focuses on the use of two-hand rods and swung flies for migratory fish.
Jeff is a great speaker with over 50 years of steelhead fishing knowledge and steelheading adventures that he wants to share with his fellow OCBS club members and friends at our February 2026 meeting. His presentation will cover both gear and fly fishing techniques.
This will be another excellent meeting you will not want to miss. I hope you can attend.
Location: Firehouse Pub and Grille
2768 Stark Drive
Willoughby Hills, OH 44094
Time: Doors open at 6:00 PM; Meeting Starts at 7:30 PM
Back by popular demand, Roger Hinchcliff will be the speaker at our March 26, 2026 membership meeting. As a way of sharing his knowledge, Roger is a featured speaker, a popular blogger, rod designer for Lamiglas and the successful author of many published magazine articles. Roger also has several instructional videos on his YouTube Channel, Steelhead Manifesto.
Considered an authority on steelhead fishing, Roger loves to share his expertise with other anglers. He speaks more than 20 times per year, to crowds of 60-400 people, at fishing clubs and retail events. He is also a pro staffer and consultant for many fishing companies.
Roger now spends every weekend-10 months each year-chasing and catching steelhead in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Alaska, the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, and Michigan.
Roger will make a presentation focused on spring float fishing for drop back Great Lakes steelhead. He will also provide some basic fundamentals to help you become a better and more proficient steelhead angler.
Be sure to put this meeting on your calendar. You do not want to miss it.
Location: Emerald Necklace Marina Cafe
1500 Scenic Park Dr.
Lakewood, OH 44107
Time: Doors open at 6:00 PM; Meeting Starts at 7:30 PM
Zak Slagle, a fisheries biologist with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), is leading a multi‑year research effort to understand how smallmouth bass move in Lake Erie. The project uses acoustic telemetry—tagging fish with ultrasonic transmitters and tracking them through a network of more than 400 receivers.
This work is part of an Ohio Sea Grant–funded project and is one of the most comprehensive movement studies ever done on Lake Erie smallmouth.
Zak will share the results of this ground breaking smallmouth movement and behavior study with OCBS members at our April Meeting.
This is another great educational meeting that you do not want to miss.
Location: Firehouse Pub and Grille
2768 Stark Drive
Willoughby Hills, OH 44094
Time: Doors open at 6:00 PM; Meeting Starts at 7:30 PM
Leg 3 of the OCBS “Members Only” Steelhead Tournament was held on Sunday 21 December 2025. It was a partly cloudy day with air temps in the twenties and wind chills in the teens.
Anglers had to contend with icy rod guides, elevated stream flows, slushy conditions, and water temps in the low thirties.
The cold-water temps contributed to the low catch rate as those fish in the river systems were lethargic and had lockjaw.
A total of 6 fish were checked-in by 4 steelheaders. A tough day on Steelhead Alley
Congratulations to Chris Dietrich who placed First with two fish totaling 50.75 inches in length.
The 4th Tournament Leg will take place on Sunday 1 March 2026; be sure to save the date.
John Beedlow Jr
Tournament Director
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.
A record 218 anglers attended a Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby fundraiser on Saturday March 30, 2025
Several steelhead were caught by anglers who persevered. Jason Lawson took first place with a 29.0 inch steelhead. In second was Kevin Kolesar with a 28.25 inch steelhead and Sam Gibson was the 3rd place finisher with a 26.25 inch steelhead. The “coveted” biggest sucker award went to Marcus During with a 21.625 inch white sucker catch.
Everyone enjoyed the cookout and went home with a full belly and a 38 folks won some great raffle prizes.
We raised a new event record $16,460 for our Metroparks Fishing Fund in the process (we’ve raised $79K for public fishing over the past 10 years of these events!).
A huge thank you to all our volunteers who helped pull this off, our awesome sponsors, and Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders for hosting the raffle portion (which a good chunk of the proceeds). Additionally, OCBS awarded Cleveland Metroparks a grant check for $4,400 from the Ohio Division of Wildlife and OCBS to support our Spring Children’s Fishing Derbies coming up on May 17 & 18, netting a grand total of just shy of $21K for public fishing for the day.
Mike Durkalec
Cleveland Metroparks
