Author: Kelly Dearwester

TrophyBassmasters.com

Results for Lake Loramie

Loramie Winners 7/5/26
Don Ratcliff 1st Place and Big Bass,
Larry Pennington 2nd Place,
Boyd Downey 3rd Place

Trophy Bassmasters stayed close to home this holiday weekend to fish the 12th club tournament of the 2026 season at Lake Loramie. The weather cooperated, but the fish did not. Two members were able to collect a 5 bass limit.

Don Ratcliff won back-to-back tournaments with this win and jumped into first place in the Angler of the Year race beating Virgil Grant who held this spot most of the year. Don also earned big bass with a nice 2.26 pound bass.

Larry Pennington caught the only other limit to finish close behind Don, while Boyd Downey caught 3 for 3rd place.

Next Club Meeting

Wednesday, August 5th, 2026. 7pm
Kenton Masonic Temple

We will draw for 2 tournaments at that meeting.

TrophyBassmasters.com

Results for Lake St Clair

St Clair Winners 6/27/26
Boyd Downey 1st Place and Big Bass,
Virgil Grant 2nd Place,
Bert Grubbs 3rd Place

St Clair Winners 6/28/26
Don Ratcliff 1st Place and Big Bass,
Virgil Grant 2nd Place,
Bert Grubbs 3rd Place

Next Club Meeting

Wednesday, July 1st, 2026. 7pm
Kenton Masonic Temple

We will draw for 3 tournaments at that meeting.

TrophyBassmasters.com

Results for Indian Lake

Indian Lake Winners 6/14/26
Bert Grubbs 1st Place and Big Bass,
Larry Pennington 2nd Place,
Don Ratcliff 3rd Place

Next Club Meeting

Wednesday, July 1st, 2026. 7pm
Kenton Masonic Temple

We will draw for 3 tournaments at that meeting.

TrophyBassmasters.com

Results for Knox Lake

Knox Lake Winners 6/7/26
Don Ratcliff and Big Bass 1st Place,
Bert Grubbs 2nd Place,
Steve Ganger 3rd Place

Next Club Meeting

Wednesday, July 1st, 2026. 7pm
Kenton Masonic Temple

We will draw for 3 tournaments at that meeting.

TrophyBassmasters.com

Meeting Minutes 6/3/26

Following the meeting the boat draw for 4 tournaments was completed.

Results are posted on the website.

Next Club Meeting

Wednesday, July 1st, 2026. 7pm
Kenton Masonic Temple

We will draw for 3 tournaments at that meeting.

TrophyBassmasters.com

Alum Creek Winners 5/31/26
Logan Barker 1st Place,
Chad Asel 2nd Place and Big Bass,
Virgil Grant 3rd Place

The 7th points tournament of 2026 is in the books and results are available.

Next Club Meeting

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2026. 7pm
Masonic Temple

We will draw for 4 tournaments at that meeting.

TrophyBassmasters.com

The 6th points tournament of 2026 is in the books and results are available.

Next Club Meeting

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2026. 7pm
Masonic Temple

We will draw for 4 tournaments at that meeting.

TrophyBassmasters.com

The Trophy Bassmasters ran into a 2nd tough fishery in a row as the traveled to Grand Lake St. Marys following Buckeye Lake last Sunday. The big waters of St Marys have posed a problem for the club for several years prompting being left off the schedule many times. Noted for developing an ugly algae bloom as soon as the water temps start rising once again held true. One angler described it as green paint covering the surface of the lake. Coupled with a large tournament scheduled at the same time and place had most of the more popular productive spots picked over.

The 11 anglers only managed to bring in 13 keeper bass with nobody netting more than 2. Steve Ganger had the heaviest weight as his 2 largemouth totaled 3.91lbs to earn him the win. Boyd Downey also had 2 bass weighing 3.51lbs for the runner up spot. Virgil Grant continues his top finishes this year as he placed 3rd with 2.71lbs in 2 fish. Don Ratcliff nailed the big bass for the day. Ratcliff’s lunker weighed 2.54lbs. Hopefully the club will see better success at the next event which will be at Lake Erie.

Upcoming Tournaments

• Lake Erie
• Alum Creek

Next Club Meeting

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2026. 7pm
Masonic Temple

We will draw for 4 tournaments at that meeting.

TrophyBassmasters.com

Price McElroy Funeral Home Obituary Page

Another member of our small group passed away on May 10, 2026. Although he had not been actively fishing for several years, he attended our meetings and banquets as his health allowed. Paul fished 5 tournaments in 2005 and 4 tournaments in 2006 when he finished in 20th place.

Paul holds the record for the biggest bass ever caught in a Trophy Bassmasters club tournament. He caught a 6 # 10 oz Largemouth Bass on Lake Logan in 1975. The annual Big Bass Traveling trophy bears his name and is a tribute to his early years of bass fishing.

Funeral services for Paul will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Monday, May 18, 2026, at the Price-McElroy Funeral Home in Kenton with Pastor Mark Bishop officiating. Burial will follow at Grove Cemetery. Friends and family may visit from 1:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. on Sunday, May 17, 2026, at the funeral home.

Paul’s Memorial Page has been added to our website.

Upcoming Tournaments

• Grand Lake St Marys
• Lake Erie
• Alum Creek

Next Club Meeting

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2026. 7pm
Masonic Temple

We will draw for 4 tournaments at that meeting.

TrophyBassmasters.com

5/6/26 Club Meeting

There are a lot of updated reports on the website for AOY, Heavy Hitters, and payments and refunds. Please check them out.

Meeting minutes have been posted on our website.

Club Meeting Minutes 5/6/26 – Trophy Bassmasters

Next Tournaments

Boat draws for the next 3 tournaments were completed following the meeting.

• Grand Lake St Marys
• Lake Erie
• Alum Creek

Big Bass 2026

We now have 21 members entered in our Big Bass pot for 2026. The total pot is $105. Please pay Bert Grubs before the tournament year starts. The membership list has been updated to reflect whether or not you have paid your big bass entry. Mike Johnson is leading the race with a giant 5.90 Smallmouth again this year. It will take another giant smallmouth to win this year.

Heavy Hitters

As of now we have 16 members paid for the Heavy Hitters tournament. 9 members have already qualified with a 3-pound bass or better. Remember the bass are sorted by size to determine your boat number on take-off.

First place will pay $228 if there are no witdrawals.

The location for this tournament will be West Harbor on Lake Erie.

Next Club Meeting

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2026. 7pm
Masonic Temple

We will draw for 4 tournaments at that meeting.