Website Updates 10/17/25

NOTICE: Change of schedule!

After contacting the membership for input, a decision was made to move this weekend’s Classic Tournament to Sunday, October 26. The weather forecast is for heavy rain and wind all day this Sunday. It was unclear how many would brave the elements.

Bob Flowers Memorial Classic Pairings for 10/26/25

The Scoresheet for the Classic has been updated on our website.

Several members have not paid their entry fees yet. The big bass pot has been increased by an additional $100 donated by Bob’s family.

Entries Not Paid

Refunds Due

Next Club Meeting is November 5, 2025

This will be a busy meeting to discuss the schedule for next year’s tournaments and updates to the tournament rules.

Suggested Changes / Improvements

There is a new menu item on our website to add suggested changes. Please check it out.

If you have additional suggestions, send them to me and I will add them.

Website Updates 10/06/25

The results of the 1st Annual Steve Barker Memorial Tournament have been posted on our website.

Bob Flowers Memorial Classic Pairings for 10/19/25

The Scoresheet for the Classic has been updated on our website.

Several members have not paid their entry fees yet. The big bass pot has been increased by an additional $100 donated by Bob’s family.

Entries Not Paid

Refunds Due

Next Club Meeting is November 5, 2025

This will be a busy meeting to discuss the schedule for next year’s tournaments and updates to the tournament rules.

Suggested Changes / Improvements

There is a new menu item on our website to add suggested changes. Please check it out.

If you have additional suggestions, send them to me and I will add them.

Website Updates 10/02/25

Steve Barker Memorial Lake Erie Pairings for 10/05/25

Our last tournament for 2025 is scheduled for Sunday, October 5 on Lake Erie. This tournament has been named the Steve Barker Memorial Tournament.

Bob Flowers Memorial Classic Pairings for 10/19/25

Eligible entries for this year’s classic have been tentatively posted subject to results from last club tournament. You must fish at least 6 club tournaments to participate.

Entries Not Paid

Refunds Due

Website Updates 9/29/25

Lake Erie Results

Lake Erie Results have been posted on our website for our tournament scheduled on 9/28/25.

We released 100% of the fish caught alive!

Trophy Bassmasters hosted their 17th tournament this year on Lake Erie departing from the West Harbor public boat launch. This leaves only 1 tournament remaining this year. Don Ratcliff notched a late season victory with big bass points to win his 4th event this year! Mathematically Don is a lock to be our 2025 Angler of the Year. Several of the top 10 spots are still too close to call. Virgil Grant moved back into 2nd place in the AOY race with a 2nd place finish. Jim Miller had his best finish this year to take 3rd place.

Congratulations to everyone on a successful tournament. Although several anglers tried their luck with smallmouth, none we able to locate the large schools that are known to inhabit Lake Erie. Boyd Downey was able to locate the lone “bronze back” caught today. All 32 bass were returned alive. We always strive for 100% live release. The slightly cooler water temperature was helpful with this issue.

Our last tournament for 2025 is scheduled for Sunday, October 5 on Lake Erie. Ramp and tournament hours will be voted on at the meeting on Wednesday, October 1, 2025.

Club Meeting Notes for Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Our next club meeting will be important and your should make every effort to attend or let someone know about your ideas. We will wrap up the tournament year and start planning for next year. To make a smooth start next year we will talk the following items:

  • Renaming the final tournament of the year for Steve Barker
  • Classic Lake choice, entry costs, prizes, start times, ramp details
  • 2026 Tournament Schedule
  • Changes to Tournament Rules
  • Bylaw change to add individual trophies for each points tournament winner.
  • Suggested Improvements (like sharing meeting minutes), etc.
  • Banquet Information
  • Club Membership Fees and tournament entry costs
  • Draw for the last tournament of the year.
  • Nominations for officers due at the November meeting.

Entries Not Paid

Refunds Due

Website Updates 9/15/25

Detroit River Results

Detroit River results have been posted on our website for our tournament scheduled for 9/14/25.

We released 100% of the fish caught alive!

Trophy Bassmasters of Kenton traveled over 2 hours one way to fish the Detroit River again. Conditions were mild with very little wind for the day. Fishing was difficult to say the least judging by the catches recorded.

Chad Asel received his third first place trophy this year to jump into second place in the AOY race just behind Don Ratcliff. Don managed a decent second place in this tournament to improve his lead over to pack by one point. Boyd Downey claimed the third place in this tournament and in the AOY race. Boyd has been moving up steadily in the later part of the year.

There are 2 points tournaments left for the 2025 season. Our next tournament is scheduled for Sunday, September 28 from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm. (Note: the weigh-in time has been moved to 3:30 pm) We will be using the West Harbor ramp.

Entries Not Paid

Refunds Due

Website Updates 9/7/25

Virgil Grant’s “Fun” Tournament is scheduled for 10/26/25. Rules have been updated on our website. See Vigil for any questions.

Indian Lake Results

Indian Lake Tournament results have been posted on our website for our tournament scheduled for 9/6/25.

We released 99% of the fish caught alive!

The Trophy Bassmasters traveled to Indian Lake on a rare Saturday tournament to fish their 15th tournament this year. This leaves only 3 club point tournaments remaining this year for the Angler of the Year race. Virgil Grant made a big move to 2nd place. Don Ratcliff is still the points leader, but his margin has lowered. This is a very competitive year for our club.

Indian Lake Statistics

Fishing conditions were mild but the overall lake conditions were not ideal for catching. The recent weed kill seems to have affected the catches with only 14 fish caught by 10 anglers. Someone always finds a way to catch a few, and Virgil Grant delivered 2 bass that were good enough for first place with a big bass of 2.90 lbs. Chad Asel was edged out by .21 lbs due to a penalty of .25 lbs and managed 2nd place with 4 smaller bass. Larry Pennington caught 3 bass which landed him in 3rd place.

Congratulations to everyone who showed up on the toughest tournament of the season to date. Anglers continued to show respect for the fish with a 99 percent live release. Penalty points of .25 lbs. are assessed for each fish that is not released alive.

Recommended Lodging

Our next club tournament is on the Detroit River.

Best Western Inn, Woodhaven, MI

Red Roof Inn, Taylor MI

Entries Not Paid

Refunds Due

Website Updates 9/4/25

September tournament drawings have been posted on our website.

Our next tournament is Indian Lake. Be aware that there are floating dredge pipes in the Turkeyfoot area around Fawn Island and Red Oak Island. Also the water is very shallow. The lake is down about a foot.

Entries Not Paid

Refunds Due

Website Updates 8/18/25

Glen Cronley 1st Place, Bert Grubbs 2nd Place, Steve Ganger 3rd Place, John Massara
Big Bass 4.06#

The Lake Erie tournament results have been posted on our website at www.trophybassmasters.com

We released 100% of the 49 fish caught alive!

The Trophy Bassmaster of Kenton traveled to Lake Erie on August 17th. This was the 14th club tournament of the year. The fishing area was not restricted and trailering to any ramp access to Lake Erie or its tributaries was permitted within a 25-mile radius of the West Harbor Boat Ramp.

The weather was seasonably warm and the winds blowing from the North made the trip to the Bass Islands a bit challenging. Fishing was very similar to last year’s with the statistics support just how similar the results were. Same number of fishermen with the same total weight.

2024 Statistics

2025 Statistics

With only 4 regular club tournaments remaining this year Don Ratcliff maintained his lead over the pack by 15 points in the Anger of the Year competition.

Entries Not Paid

Refunds Due

Next Club Meeting

The next club tournament is scheduled for Wednesday, September 3 at 7:00 pm at the Masonic Temple in Kenton, Ohio.

We will be drawing for 3 tournaments scheduled for September on Indian Lake, Detroit River and Lake Erie.

Please send your entry fees ahead of time or let Bert Grubbs know if you will be fishing but cannot attend our meeting.

Congratulations to everyone. We have achieved a live release percentage of 99.84%.

How to keep fish oxygenated on hot days.

During our club meeting on August 6, 2025 we discussed how to make sure your fish do not die from lack of oxygen.

I posted 2 useful links to videos on You Tube to explain why using hydrogen peroxide is good for you fish on very hot days with water temperatures into the 80’s.

I have used 8 ounces of a solution of 3% hydrogen peroxide to 30 gallons of water (the capacity of my livewells) for over 3 years with great success. You can purchase 32 ounce bottle at Walmart for $1.00 that will last the whole day. I usually add 8 ounces every couple of hours while my livewell is set to recirculate on a low setting.

Using Hydrogen Peroxide in your livewells.

How to calculate the number of gallons in your livewell.

Here is a link to our website.

Website Updates 8/4/25

Don Ratcliff 1st place and Big Bass, Kelly Dearwester 2nd place, Larry Pennington 3rd place

The Portage River tournament results have been posted on our website at www.trophybassmasters.com.

The Trophy Bassmaster of Kenton traveled to Port Clinton, Ohio to fish the Portage River. This was the 13th club tournament of the year. The fishermen were restricted to the river only out to the end of the channel which enters Lake Erie. Again, the weather was seasonably mild and a bit cooler. Fishing was tougher than last year’s tournament during the same month with muddy water conditions f0llowing a heavy rain only 3 days earlier. Last year 15 anglers competed for 37 total fish weighing 68.51 pounds. This year the same number of fishermen only caught 29 fish weighing 49.60 pounds.

With only 5 regular club tournaments remaining this year Don Ratcliff increased his lead over the pack by a few points to grab a solid lead in this year’s Angler of the Year competition.

Don Ratcliff and Kelly Dearwester did manage to land a 5 bass limit for first and second place respectively. Don collected the trophy and won big bass points with a fish that weighed 2.69 pounds. Larry Pennington caught 4 bass for 3rd place.

Entries Not Paid

Refunds Due

Next Club Meeting

The next club tournament is scheduled for Wednesday, August 6 at 7:00 pm at the Masonic Temple in Kenton, Ohio.

We will be drawing for partners on Lake Erie. The ramp and times will be voted on at our meeting as usual. Sunrise on that day is 6:47 am. Last year the fishing times were 7:00 am to 3:00 pm with 21 members fishing that tournament.

Please let Bert Grubbs know if you will be fishing but cannot attend our meeting.