Phil grew up in Northern Michigan and learned to fish on the rivers and lakes of Northern Lower Michigan, as well as along the banks of his family cabin on the banks of the famed Au Sable River. He started tying Wooly Buggers for a local coffee shop at age 13, and has been in the fly-fishing industry to one degree or another ever since.
Having seen things through the eyes of a full-time fishing guide, a Fly Shop Manager, a Customer Service Representative at Scientific Anglers, and now currently an Independent Sales Representative for several major manufacturers, Phil offers a unique perspective on the inner-workings of the fly-fishing industry.
As expected Phil’s passion is fishing…for anything and everything. New water, new species, and new methods is what keeps him up at night, tying flies, rigging gear, rigging boats, and generally living with fish on the brain.
Most of his time the past few years chasing silver fish has involved big water and big fun across the state of Michigan, in the big lakes and in the tailwaters that feed them. These fisheries will be the focus of the presentation.
Phil has a lot of excellent information to share with OCBS members about fishing for big Michigan steelhead trout. This should be an excellent and informative meeting that you do not want to miss.
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
We will be holding our annual OCBS Christmas Party on Thursday, December 11, 2025 at the Winking Lizard Party Center located at 25200 Miles Road Bedford Heights, OH from 6 PM to 10 PM.
We will celebrate the holiday season with a delicious catered buffet dinner featuring a menu of:
Prime Rib
Chicken Piccata
Garden Salad
Roasted Red Skin Potatoes
Green Beans
Dinner rolls, Soft drinks and coffee
The cost for dinner is only $30 per person, which is significantly les than our cost or $48 per dinner including tax and gratuities. We want to make the dinner affordable for all members.
There will be a cash bar featuring a good selection of craft beer, wine and mixed drinks.
Reservations are Required to be Made by November 30 Reservations are required to attend the Christmas Party. We need to communicate the number of attendees to the Winking Lizard by November 30. To make reservations, please either text message Tom Blotzer at 216-701-4227 or email OCBS at Ohiosteelheaders@outlook.com by November 30th with names of attendees. You will also need to pay for your dinner ($30 per person) when making reservations by either sending a check to: OCBS PO Box 29577 Parma, OH 44129 or pay with a credit card using the following QR Code or secure link to the Square App: https://square.link/u/iqWEVSnz |
Christmas Party Agenda
6 PM – Cocktail Hour with a Cash Bar
7 PM – Dinner will be served
9 PM – Raffles will be conducted
Christmas Party Location
Winking Lizard Party Center
25200 Miles Road
Bedford Hts., OH 44146
Raffles
50/50 Raffle
Fisherman’s Raffle
and
Card Raffle featuring a Choice of the below Prizes
Nautilus Fly Reel
St Croix 10 Foot 7 Weight Fly Rod
Lamiglas 11’ 6” Premium Spinning Rod
King Pin Center Pin Reel
G Loomis IMX Center Pin Rod
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 14, 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
