THE 33rd ANNUAL OPEN SUMMER CONTEST was held at Salt Fork Lake the weekend of Aug.2nd & 3rd 2003.As always the event was open to the public. Headquarters was set up at the Salt Fork beach area. On Saturday the weather started with lightning in the distance and then light rain. Five muskies were caught that day. On Sunday the day started with storms all around with light rain turning into some very heavy rain all day until about 3PM. The winning muskie was caught on Sunday. Special thanks to Gene, assistant manager of Salt fork for park permission to have the event and for all the park workers for their help in getting us set up. And thank you who ever was in charge of the weather for letting the rain stop during the ceremony.
Also
for the lake patrol who also did some safety checks. That always helps keeping
our anglers safe. We hosted 143 Muskie anglers From Ohio, PA, and WV. In pursuit
of the mighty Muskie. Some big muskies were caught.
A total of 143 anglers registered to fish the two-day event with 8
muskies being caught and 8 released to fight again. There were no winners in our
Trophy Division. The Sportsman Division
the First place winner was Durand
Brown, Charleston, WV with a
49.00-inch muskie. Second place went to Ray
(Grandpa) Elkins, East Canton, Ohio with a 47.50-inch muskie. Our third place winner was Donald
Gragg, South Salem.Ohio with a
44-50-inch Muskie. There was no
winner of the Most Released Division (2 muskies or more caught by the same
angler and released qualified). The other muskies caught were a 43.75-inch by
Fred Lederer, a 39.50-inch by Tim Warner, a 27-inch by Phillip Cummings, a 25
inch- by George Kokinakis muskie not allowed, scale sample came in late, good
release any way. A 23-inch by Ed Eckerly.
We also drew the raffle tickers for the Grand prize and all the poster
prizes at this event.
Kevin
Garner of Canton, Ohio was the lucky winner of the 16-1/2 foot Crestliner
Boat with a 9.9 HP Johnson Four Stroke Motor, complete with the custom built
Tennessee Trailer, The Crestliner boat package and the numbered tickets was
courtesy of North Star Marine. The winning ticket was sold at the OHMC Canton
civic center boat show. Our outing raffles were won by, the 50/50 ($198.50)
Fred Lederer. New club member Gloria Roberts won the Okuma
Magda MA20DX Pro Reel with Okuma 8’ classic pro rod. Barbara Weaver won
the Beckman Pro Muskie Net. Gordon Selden won the JRC-VHF 200 Marine DSC Radio
with Shakespeare 8” antenna. Betty Denny won the Cabala’s Tackle Box. Thanks
to all the people whom bought tickets to support the event. Also thanks to all
the club sponsors for donating some of these prizes and to all the other club
supporters who donated door prizes. All
the anglers who registered for the event and was around at the ceremony got a
door prize. Without all of our sponsors this event would not be possible. Get
out and patronize these OHMC supporters A list to long to print but I would like
to thank all of you whom helped me again make this contest a success. Without
that help, it would not happen. The
winners of club merchandise for their outstanding efforts in selling of the
poster prize raffle tickets were as follows.
SOLD $100.00 TO $200.00 IN TICKET SALES GETS A CLUB HAT!!!
Mike Cline
$124.00
Denny Braun $126.00
Rusty Hudecek
$137.00
Don Weaver $140.00
Aaron Kirkingburg
$151.00
Elmer McClure
$157.00
George Kokinaks
$160.00
Petersburg Marina
$162.00
Gordon Selden $185.00
SOLD
$200.00 TO $300.00 IN TICKET SALES GETS A CLUB HAT AND TEE SHIRT!!
Tom Geary $205.00
Fred Lederer $215.00
Mike Darr
$258.00
SOLD
$300.00 TO $400.00 IN TICKET SALES GETS A CLUB HAT AND SWEATSHIRT!!
Mike Hepker $304.00
Piedmont Marina
$330.00
And
the most in ticket sells was Piedmont Lake and Board of trustee member Mike
Hepker coming in second.
