Jeff Smith

My son-in-law from Chicago, Jeff Smith, caught this four pound plus smallmouth bass in late May at Lake St. Clair.

Bill Tench, Buckeye Lake

Bill Tench displays the lure that he used to take second place at Buckeye Lake.

Colton Blanton

Colton Blanton used a dropshot rig to catch Lake Erie smallmouth bass that were swimming close to the shoreline on Rattlesnake Island.

Barry Davis & Karl Guegold, Delaware Lake

Barry Davis (on left) is the ABA Central Division Director which means he is the weighmaster at every tournament. He is weighing Karl Guegold’s day 2 catch at Delaware Lake.

Tony Cannon, Delaware Lake

Tony Cannon displays three of the five bass he caught on the tournament’s second day. His five bass limit allowed him to take first place for the two day event at Delaware Lake.

Gov. Mike DeWine, Alum Creek Lake

Gov. Mike DeWine and grandsons had a great day on the water at Alum Creek Lake during Inland Fish Ohio Day.

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Alum Creek Lake

A couple days after Inland Fish Ohio Day, I returned to Alum Creek Lake and met this angler fishing on the bank for crappies. As you can see, this guy was dialed into the crappies!

Top 3, Delaware Lake

Pictured are the top three anglers in the ABA tournament held at Delaware Lake on August 17 & 18 (L-R) Tony Cannon, 1st place: Dave Slonaker, III, 2nd place; and Seth Brandfass, 3rd place.

Inland Fish Ohio Day Winners, Alum Creek Lake

The prize winners on Inland Fish Ohio Day included (L-R): Tadgh Dudukovich, Camden Baker, and Solomon Curtis.

Alan Wayne, Rocky Fork Lake

Alan Wayne holds two of the three bass he caught to take third place at Rocky Fork Lake.

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Ed Snider had a great day at Alum Creek Lake when he won the Perry County Anglers club tournament.

Casey Coffey, Burr Oak Lake

Always a good policy to stay employed is showing your boss with a big bass. Casey Coffey, superintendent of New Lexington School District, has the “hourly winner” weighed during the Big Bass Bash at Burr Oak Lake.

Ed Snider & Rich Carter, Delaware Lake

Two ABA competitors, (L-R) Ed Snider of Somerset, Ohio and Rich Carter of Grandview Heights fished day two in Carter’s Ranger bass boat. Both anglers had two fish on the tournament’s second day.

Doug with Perry Co Sheriff

Makala Hamilton; Chief Deputy Erick Hoskinson; Sheriff William R. Barker; Doug Clifford; Amanda Danison; and Sandy Leckrone. (not pictured Lt. Brandon Forester)

Doug Clifford, Lake Erie

Pro anglers say a color change can put more fish in the boat. I changed hat color and style with minimal results.

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Jordan & Jeff, Buckeye Lake

Jordan Wayne (L) and Jeff Redfern (R) handled the brief weighing duties at the Buckeye Lake tournament.

Karl Guegold, Delaware Lake

Karl Guegold landed four bass on the second day of the tournament and that effort catapulted him to win the coveted ABA Angler of the Year title.

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Rich Zweifel, Alum Creek Lake

Rich Zweifel, my partner on Inland Fish Ohio Day, landed four keeper bass including this one!

Doug with Eleanor, Lake Champlain

Nothing like catching your first smallmouth bass when it’s a 3 lb 15 oz Lake Champlain beauty. Eleanor Farnsworth did the catching while I “guided” her to angling glory.

Ab Reed, Rocky Fork Lake

First place winner, Ab Reed, hoists two of the five bass he caught at Rocky Fork Lake during the Perry County Anglers first tournament of the season.

Rich Carter, Alum Creek

Former “Fish Chief” for the Ohio Division of Wildlife, Rich Carter led us on a fishing adventure to Alum Creek Lake last November where we landed 14 largemouth bass all above the 12 inch keeper size. The bait that caught every bass was a JackHammer bladed jig.

Doug Clifford, Lake Erie

A friendly West Harbor bass hammered a Berkley Squarebull 5.5 crankbait on my third cast of the day.

Bill Fulton, Buckeye Lake

Bill Fulton holds his winning catch for the Perry County Anglers Buckeye Lake tournament.

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Jordan Wayne, Rocky Fork Lake

Obviously Jordan Wayne, who took 4th place, lost a side bet in the wardrobe category.

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Perry County Sheriff William R. Barker recognizes a winner from the 2023 Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs event.

Jacob Wayne, Rocky Fork Lake

Jacob Wayne displays two of the bass that helped him secure second place at the Perry County Anglers opening event at Rocky Fork Lake.

Barry Davis, Delaware Lake

Barry Davis has been the ABA Central Division Director for 28 years. Davis also competed in the event at Delaware Lake.

Doug Clifford, Lake Champlain

Low budget smallmouth bass! Forget high performance bass boats, cutting edge electronics, and all the bells and whistles associated with modern bass fishing. I caught this Malletts Bay (Lake Champlain) smallie as I stood in my boat that was tied securely to the dock. Water depth was a whopping two feet.

Doug Clifford, Alum Creek

Former “Fish Chief ” for the Ohio Division of Wildlife, Rich Carter led us on a fishing adventure to Alum Creek Lake last November where we landed 14 largemouth bass all above the 12 inch keeper size. The bait that caught every bass was a JackHammer bladed jig.

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Smallmouth Bass

This lip grip is on a smallmouth bass that hangs around Middle Bass Island.

Dustin Karns

You might even see the owner of Venom Lures, Dustin Karns, fishing at Lake Erie at one of his secret spots.

Doug Clifford

Sometimes you have to deal with the uninvited muskie at Lake St. Clair like the one I’m holding or maybe it’s holding me.

Mike Baughman

Mike Baughman with a nice Lake Erie largemouth bass.

Will Presley, Delaware Lake

Will Presley caught this 3.1 pound largemouth bass on the first day of the ABA Delaware Lake tournament.

Wes Clutter, Rocky Fork Lake

Wes Clutter caught this Rocky Fork Lake largemouth bass on a Berkley Stunna jerkbait.

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Kendra Wecker, Alum Creek Lake

Chief of the Division of Wildlife , Kendra Wecker, showed her “lake creds” when she returned to the marina with plenty of keeper crappies on Inland Fish Ohio Day.

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Nice smallmouth bass!

14″ Bass, Burr Oak Lake

This 14 inch bass was caught on the Will Boss soft plastic lure seen in the photo.

Seth Brandfass, Delaware Lake

Seth Brandfass took big bass honors with this 3.8 pound largemouth bass.