April OCBS Membership Meeting
Firehouse Grille and Pub Willoughby Hills, OH
Thursday April 18, 2024
Speaker: Mike Durkalec, Cleveland metroparks Aquatic Biologist
Topic: Musky Fishing at Lake St. Clair and Ohio Lakes

Mike Durkalec, Aquatic Biologist at the Cleveland Metropark and top local Musky fisherman will share some of his secrets to catching these monster fish in Lake St Clair in Michigan and Ohio lakes.

Mike has an excellent presentation with lots of musky catching information to share with his fellow OCBS members at our April meeting.

This will be another great meeting that you will not want to miss.

Volunteers needed for
Spring 2024 Steelhead River Clean ups

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.

Ashtabula River: April 13, 2024
Conneaut Creek: May 4, 2024
Grand River: May 18, 2024
Rocky River: June 1, 2024

We will pass around a volunteer signup sheet for the cleanups at our March and April meetings.

You can also sign up by phone, text or email to Tom Blotzer at 216-701-4227 or ohiosteelheaders@outlook.com

OCBS in Action

OCBS will run the fishing tackle raffle again this year. If you do not fish the tournament, please feel free to stop by and buy some tickets for the raffle to support the Cleveland Metroparks Fishing Fund.

We will have about 37 great prize packages loaded with high end fishing equipment and other great prizes valued at over $8,900.

 

OCBS Member Photos

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OCBS "Members Only" David K. Esner memorial
Steelhead Fishing Tournament
Sponsored by erie outfitters

2023 to 2024 OCBS Championship Steelhead Tournament
Sponsored by Erie Outfitters
Final Overall Results

Please see the Steelhead Tournament tab for complete results of this year’s Steelhead Championship Tournament Series Results

2023-2024 OCBS “Members Only”
David K. Esner Memorial Tournament
Sponsored by Erie Outfitters

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 5, 2023
November 19, 2023
December 10, 2023
March 10, 2024
March 24, 2024

Dave Esner - Always Our Friend

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:

  1. US Postal Service: Print the below registration form, fill it out and mail with check for payment to OCBS PO Box 29577 Parma, OH 44129.
  2.  Online: Complete online registration form and credit card payment on our tournament page. Click here to go to online registration.
  3. OCBS Meetings: You can register and pay in person at our monthly meetings.

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.

Click Here for OCBS Tournament Registration Form to use to register via US Postal Service

2023-2024 OCBS Championship Tournament Series
Winners

Ken Harper, the OCBS 2023 – 2024 Steelhead Tournament winner releasing a huge, alpha male steelhead. Congratulations Ken!

John Rhoades, second place winner in the 2023 – 2024 OCBS Steelhead Championship Fishing Series with a nice fresh run fall steelhead.

Casey Smith, third place winner in the 2023 – 2024 OCBS Steelhead Tournament Series with a beautiful, dime bright, female steelhead.

THANKS to our OCBS Sponsors!

Erie Outfitters - Sheffield OH
Backpackers Shop - Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders