# 2014 OGF/Big Joshy Rick Seevers/Dick Caudell Memorial Crappie Tournaments - REGISTER



## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

​Due to the passing of OGF Staff members Rick Seevers (Misfit) and Dick "Puterdude" Caudell, we dedicate our annual crappie tournaments in their names and honor, and hope that everyone enjoys the events as much as they did. Rest in peace Rick and Dick.

After 10 years of successful tournaments and feedback and in recognition of OGF's 10 year birthday, we've made some significant changes the tournaments' format, payouts, and rules...all in an effort to get the event back to its roots!!

We started this tournament 10 years ago with a goal in mind...to introduce OGF members to tournament fishing with an emphasis on sportsmanship, learning, and having fun. Although the level of competition has escalated over the event's tenure, the goal has remained...to show OGF members a good time on the water with the possibility of leaving with a little extra in their wallets than they came with!


Our 2014 tournaments bring some exciting new changes that centralize around our goal of amping up the fun, catering to wider spectrum of boaters, and taking care of our own...OGF members! We are still doing 2 events (Spring/Fall) and keeping the combined option but with the following additions and changes...and we hope you are as excited about them as we are!!​ 

*General Information*​

We will be fishing Deer Creek Lake on Saturday May 3rd 2014, and Alum Creek Reservoir on Saturday September 27th 2014
OGF members with 50 posts or more (by 2/1/2014) will get a special early bird registration period from February 10th to February 24th at a special rate of $50/team, $25/single, and $110 combined. After 2/24/2014 registration opens for everyone at the normal rate of $60/team, $30/single, $130 combined.​
Tournament blast off has been eliminated, and anglers can now launch at any public ramp on the body of water at any time after signing in our designated sign in ramp, and be on their spot PRIOR to the start of fishing time. This affords everyone more fishing time and should help our members in smaller craft (canoes, kayaks, etc...) join us on the water!
We are still paying 25% of the field, however of that 25% we will pay 3 spots as a random draw drawn from participants who didn't place in the top 25%. In other words, you don't have to catch a fish or place to have a chance to win your entry fee back!
We are extremely excited to announce the addition of OGF Member Bonus Bucks! OGF is kicking in additional money to be won by the top 3 teams with the most weight, that contain at least one member who has a minimum of 250 posts on the site. Every team with an OGF member that has 250 or more posts will automatically qualify for OGF Member Bonus Bucks AT NO ADDITIONAL COST! For each event, we will pay the following for the top 3 qualifying teams: 

1st - $100
2nd - $75
3rd - $50​ 
*Fishing Options*
Fish the Deer Creek tournament as a single event on May 3rd 2014
Fish the Alum Creek Lake tournament as a single event on September 27th 2014 (registration will open 6/1/2014)
Fish both events and have your combined weight from both tournaments calculated to win a 100% payback side pot​
*2014 Roster*

*Boat # Team*
1 ShakeDown (Brandon Smith/Paul Reverman) - Combined
2 Lundy/Big Joshy (Kim Endsley/Josh Endsley) - Combined
3 Bonecrusher/CutBait (Steve Cooper) - Combined
4 TimJr (Tim Theuring) - Combined
5 Ying6/Steelhauler (Mike Yinger/Wes Janke) - Combined
6 Triton175 (Brian Smead/Patty Smead) - SINGLE EVENT
7 Rutty (Greg Rutschilling/Partner) - Combined
8 FISHSLIM/Crappiecommander (Troy Becker/Lonnie Henderson) - Combined
9 Stumphawg/Partner - (Brian Sowers/Partner) - Combined
10 Kyle Dixon/Partner - Combined
11 Chopiq/Kenny - (John Schaefer/Kenny Schaefer) - Combined
12 SlabSlayR/Myron Kramer - (Nathan Parks/Myron Kramer) - Combined
13 Sean Stone/Northern1 - (Sean Stone/Aaron Stiger) - Combined
14 Newbreedfishing/Partner - (Mitch Carpenter/Partner) - Combined
15 Sean Carlin/Partner - Combined
16 tubejig57/crappieninja - (Rickey Gates/Todd Hicks) - Combined
17 Dan Collier/Partner - Combined
18 Richard Kuhn/Kathleen Kuhn - Combined
19 slowtroller/John Burley - (Darcie Briggs/John Burley) - Combined
20 Curtis Johnson/Partner - Single Event
21 Ben Graber/Partner - Combined

*CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER!!*​


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## Big Joshy (Apr 26, 2004)

can't wait!


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## fishslim (Apr 28, 2005)

Good stuff guys will be enjoyable for all involved.


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## CRAPPIECOMMANDER (Feb 25, 2006)

I for one love the changes! Great job guys!!!


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## rutty (Feb 5, 2007)

Great work, looking forward to getting my ass kicked again and cooking up some dogs this year for the group.


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## ying6 (Apr 21, 2004)

I think this will be GREAT! Hoping to see some guys from the Southwest involved as well. I haven't met many guys on here from different areas and I have been on here as long as anyone. - Let me know if I can help in anyway!


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## crappielooker (Apr 5, 2004)

Wow! Looking forward to hearing the results doooods! 

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## Snyd (May 5, 2004)

Should be a fun event and I really like the changes. With no blast offs I won't have to worry about losing my hat going forward. LOL!


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## rutty (Feb 5, 2007)

ying6 said:


> I think this will be GREAT! Hoping to see some guys from the Southwest involved as well. I haven't met many guys on here from different areas and I have been on here as long as anyone. - Let me know if I can help in anyway!


when it gets closer you can help me find fish! lol You helped me out at the bait store last year at Alum, not sure if you remember that or not.


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## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

56 spots left  

Glad the initial response to the changes is welcomed! Kim and I hammered these out after a lot of feedback from guys and our own observations. Should be a lot of fun with the new format!


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## Bonecrusher (Aug 7, 2010)

Snyd said:


> Should be a fun event and I really like the changes. With no blast offs I won't have to worry about losing my hat going forward. LOL!


We won't be drowning out the countdown try to start a boat with a loose starter 

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## sady dog (Feb 10, 2008)

great changes to the tourney !! I think it will be very enjoyable for everyone.


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## Big Joshy (Apr 26, 2004)

for those that don't know much about deer creek. I was able to fish it out of the boat 1 time last year in the late spring and trust me there will be no shortage of crappie and ways to catch them. We caught fish from 2-22 ft all over the lake. Im guessing there will be a pattern to suit everyones fishing style.


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## Cut Bait (Feb 3, 2006)

Cant wait, the changes sound really good. Probably took at least a case of beer to hammer all that out. Bonecrusher, going to cabellas in Mi, I think next week to get a new trolling moter, then it goes into the shop for a tune up and we will be ready for the tourney.


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## Snyd (May 5, 2004)

May be looking for a partner - Havent heard from Mitch and I am not sure my son is ready for a tournament yet. If anyone is interested shoot me an email.


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## triton175 (Feb 21, 2006)

We just signed up for the Deer Creek tournament. We haven't fished in the tournament the last few years, but always had a good time in the 4 or 5 we did enter. It's good to see the new payout system, with 3 random draws we actually have a chance of cashing a check.
Looking forward to it. 
Brian and Patty Smead


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## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

Awesome Brian! Just got you too listed on the roster.

Don't forget, to take advantage of the 50 post discount you must register by 2/24!


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## CRAPPIECOMMANDER (Feb 25, 2006)

You left out the new rule change where if you were the Captain of your boat and also a former OGF Angler of the year you got to count saugeyes in your bag???


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## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

We'll count Troy's eyes on the condition he lips them at the scale


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## ying6 (Apr 21, 2004)

Shake,
Can you put Steelhauler as my partner, Wes Janke


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## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

Gotcha covered man...


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## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

5 days left to register at the discounted rate!!!


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## StumpHawg (May 17, 2011)

Shake, my partner is Jake Kuebler... Thanks


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## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

Stumphawg...what's your real name? Just had 2 regs come in and not sure which is you...thanks man.


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

Just registered for Deer Creek Single event. My partner is Aaron Stiger.....username Northern1. 

Looking forward to whooping some of you guys in boats.......there is a no wake zone around kayaks right?  

Also...I looked into the rules a little and didn't find anything on a dead or alive rule. Can the fish be weighed dead? If so how do you prefer we keep them? on ice in cooler, fish basket/ fish bag, etc. Just trying to figure out what will be needed in the kayak....thanks. (We can rig up small live-wells in kayaks if needed.)

hope its not a dumb question....Ive only competed in catch photo release kayak events.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

SeanStone said:


> Also...I looked into the rules a little and didn't find anything on a dead or alive rule. Can the fish be weighed dead? If so how do you prefer we keep them? on ice in cooler, fish basket/ fish bag, etc. Just trying to figure out what will be needed in the kayak....thanks. (We can rig up small live-wells in kayaks if needed.)
> 
> hope its not a dumb question....Ive only competed in catch photo release kayak events.


Glad you are joining us!

There is no restriction on bringing live or dead fish to be weighed. You may retain them anyway you wish, cooler, stringer, livewell, whatever is easiest for you. After you have weighed your fish they are yours to keep.

The only restriction is that you bring only 10 fish to the scale be weighed


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## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

Fish don't need to be alive to weigh! Glad to see some yak representation...I'm thinking with your mobility advantage it could be a game changer


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

Thanks for the clarification.



ShakeDown said:


> Fish don't need to be alive to weigh! Glad to see some yak representation...I'm thinking with your mobility advantage it could be a game changer


Kayaks have their pros and cons. My only real concern is wind....If there's a lot of wind it's hard to fish from a kayak. Boats can stay over one spot much better than kayaks in a strong wind....especially with a trolling motor. 

One immediate advantage I can see is that two kayaks can fish two separate spot more than 20 feet apart whereas a boat can only fish an area the size of its length. 

Boats have an obvious speed advantage but with the option to launch anywhere in a kayak we are kinda even. 

In the end I'm glad to show my support and fish with a bunch of great guys and gals. Look forward to meeting some new people.


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

Correction on my payment: 

I just registered for the combined events, same info as before.....Aaron Stiger as a partner. (Northern1). 

Thanks.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

Sean Stone,

I am not all that familiar with Deer Creek and what areas are no wake, I know of at least one large bay area for sure, but at Alum, as you may already know, there is a huge amount of the lake that is all no wake. With the new launch rule you should not have any boat wake issues I wouldn't think so unless for some reason you want to fish in the middle of the a ski zone

As early in the year as the tourney is at Deer Creek there shouldn't be any pleasure boaters or skiers on the lake, just fishermen


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

Lundy said:


> Sean Stone,
> 
> I am not all that familiar with Deer Creek and what areas are no wake, I know of at least one large bay area for sure, but at Alum, as you may already know, there is a huge amount of the lake that is all no wake. With the new launch rule you should not have any boat wake issues I wouldn't think so unless for some reason you want to fish in the middle of the a ski zone
> 
> As early in the year as the tourney is at Deer Creek there shouldn't be any pleasure boaters or skiers on the lake, just fishermen


That's kind of what I figured. I'm pretty used to waves, I fish enough to where i run into them pretty consitently. I fish Rocky fork lake all the time in the summer and it might as well be the pleasure boat capitol of ohio as far as I'm concerned. After my comment on whooping guys in boats I just wanted to make a joke about being the guy in a little kayak.  

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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

SeanStone said:


> . After my comment on whooping guys in boats I just wanted to make a joke about being the guy in a little kayak.
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I545 using Ohub Campfire mobile app


Yaks do make good targets, if I can get 4 or 5 in a row it's like running a slalom course in my boat


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

Lundy said:


> Yaks do make good targets, if I can get 4 or 5 in a row it's like running a slalom course in my boat


Hahahaha.  

I think we've got another pair of kayaks joining too. Spring can't come soon enough.

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## RiverWader (Apr 1, 2006)

Is there a list of Who's in so far?? Just want to make sure they got My registration fee


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

RiverWader said:


> Is there a list of Who's in so far?? Just want to make sure they got My registration fee
> 
> 
> Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


Page one, first post at the bottom


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## RiverWader (Apr 1, 2006)

Lundy said:


> Page one, first post at the bottom



Thanks didn't see it using the Ohub app


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## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

The OGF member (with 50 posts or more) discount ends this evening!


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## ying6 (Apr 21, 2004)

Looks like at least 18 members! Pretty cool. I know there are a lot more guys out there who should come and fish. Are we having a fish fry this time? 

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## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

Ying...expecting more! OGF members can still reg after tonight, just will miss out on the discount.

As for food, yeah man..there will be food! Not sure if we're doing another fish fry (pain in the pooper) but Greg @ Cowboy Charters has something up his sleeve me thinks...


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## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

BTW I'm pulling the plug on reg discount around 6pm...


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## freshwater_newb (May 16, 2013)

Here I am working hard to get my post count up to 250.


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## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

Hahaha! Make em count...


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

freshwater_newb said:


> Here I am working hard to get my post count up to 250.


I almost made my girlfriend an ogf account so she could be my partner for the events. Of course she wouldn't use it and I would have had to make 50 pointless posts so I decided not to. I would have felt bad if a real member couldn't fish because of it too.

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## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

As long as 1 member on the team had 50 to early reg, that's all that mattered...

As for the OGF Bonus cash, same rule applies...250 gets you qualified...we pay the team, not the individual. Up to the captain if he wants to share the wealth


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

ShakeDown said:


> As long as 1 member on the team had 50 to early reg, that's all that mattered...
> 
> As for the OGF Bonus cash, same rule applies...250 gets you qualified...we pay the team, not the individual. Up to the captain if he wants to share the wealth


Ooops....don't tell her that. Lol.

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## AEFISHING (Apr 25, 2004)

can you register for just the alum creek event yet? Sorry if this has been answered somewhere already.

Thanks!!


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## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

Not yet. I'll release that registration after the Deer Creek tourney in May.


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## rutty (Feb 5, 2007)

We may be able to do a fish fry in the fall one!



ShakeDown said:


> Ying...expecting more! OGF members can still reg after tonight, just will miss out on the discount.
> 
> As for food, yeah man..there will be food! Not sure if we're doing another fish fry (pain in the pooper) but Greg @ Cowboy Charters has something up his sleeve me thinks...


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## Northern1 (May 9, 2012)

Getting pumped! We're less than 2 months out! Hopefully us kayak guys can stand a chance against some of the big guns here on OGF


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## Snyd (May 5, 2004)

I am hoping to fish Deer Creek but need to wait until we get closer to touny day. My son is going to be fishing with me this year so I need to see how the weather is going to be. I hate to be a fair weather fishermen because that I am not but with him I have to be until he gets a little older.


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## Lawman60 (May 17, 2010)

Count me in for Deer Creek Brandon.
Plus, again this year I'll be providing memorial give away rods from Finny's Custom rods. Lawman60 will be boat captain and my partner is Rick Ross.



2014 OGF
Rick "MISFIT" Seevers
Crappie Tournament


__________________________________________________________________
2014 OGF
Dick "PUTERDUDE" Caudell
Crappie Tournament


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## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

​

Pleased to announce Bonehead Tackle is now an event sponsor providing gear for the raffle!

visit them at www.boneheadtackle.com


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## triton175 (Feb 21, 2006)

Only 3 weeks to go, look like a small field. Hope it fills up soon.


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## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

Going to close internet/paypal registration on 4/24, after which all regs will need to be done in cash at the ramp with late fee!


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## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

Today is the last day for pre-reg!


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## Northern1 (May 9, 2012)

Since check in is from 5:30-6:30am, and fishing starts at 7:30am, us kayakers are going to have to hit registration on the early side, launch around 6 or 6:15 to get to the spots we plan on fishing to start on time. Are there any bait stores open at 6:00am around deer creek?


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

I am driving down today to look around, I will check the store hours for the two baitshops.


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## Northern1 (May 9, 2012)

Thanks, Kim I appreciate it!


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## NewbreedFishing (Apr 15, 2004)

Marys bait may be open early if we them know. I guess I could give them a ring and find out. Just watch out if you have allergys...there were dozens of smelly cats in the place. :S


Looks like the Curse of Misfit is back in effect this week!


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## Northern1 (May 9, 2012)

Thanks Newbreed, just keep us posted. Thanks,

Aaron


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## slowtroller (Sep 28, 2011)

Frosties is aware there is a tourney and the times, but would not hurt to tell them again.


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## Snyd (May 5, 2004)

Shake - I can still register at the ramp correct? There is still a chance that I may make it, I am just not sure at this time.


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## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

Sure can man...hope to see you there Joe!


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## RiverWader (Apr 1, 2006)

How Hard is it to find the ramp for registration and a bait shop that will be open early enough?? we will be coming from the Newark area and will be Our first trip to Deer Creek, any info would help


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## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

Here's the location of the marina ramp off 207...there are signs for it. This is where you sign in, and weigh in. You can see Mary's bait on the map too just north.


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## RiverWader (Apr 1, 2006)

ShakeDown said:


> Here's the location of the marina ramp off 207...there are signs for it. This is where you sign in, and weigh in. You can see Mary's bait on the map too just north.



Thanks for the help


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

TEAMS, PLEASE BRING YOUR COMPLETED FORM TO SIGN-IN

Thanks


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## RiverWader (Apr 1, 2006)

Will there be forms at sign -in??


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## Snyd (May 5, 2004)

Sorry guys I just couldn't make it today. I hope all went well.


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## Northern1 (May 9, 2012)

Kim, Josh, Brandon and all OGF staffers who helped put this event on today- I wanted to say thank you on behalf of the kayakers. We had a great time and you guys did a fine job of running to tournament professionally, yet it still felt like a big group of friends and we were accommodated and incorporated perfectly. Great work, and we'll see you at Alum in Sept!


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

Northern1,

I am very happy that you guys (and girl) decided to join us today.

Glad you had a good time, I look forward to seeing you at Alum in September.


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## dre (Aug 14, 2009)

Anyone have the results?


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## Big Joshy (Apr 26, 2004)

according to my records (a pic of the leaderboard)
The top 4 boats were:
4
9
17
19

Big fish was team 15 with a 1.6 and second big fish was team 22 (a yak team) with a 1.45

The fishing was actually tougher than it had been with strong wind and falling lake levels but still 12 teams topped 7lbs and 4 of those teams were over 8lbs.


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## fishslim (Apr 28, 2005)

Wanted to say same thing Great tourney with a lot of good fishermen and women. Loved the more relaxed format today was just a enjoyable experience all around. Good choice on lakes was like a twice as big Delaware lake with many options in ways to fish. Thank you OGF for the new pay out format as well. Great site and great group of members great group of generous sponsors as well. Oh and as usual great Brauts and dogs the tank was empty after fighting that wind all day.


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## dre (Aug 14, 2009)

Still sounds like pretty darn good results to me given the conditions. Good job guys!



Big Joshy said:


> according to my records (a pic of the leaderboard)
> The top 4 boats were:
> 4
> 9
> ...


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

Thank you to everyone that participated and helped make this tourney possible.

I really liked the way our new rules and the more "user friendly" format worked out, I hope everyone liked it also. Always open to any feedback and ideas from those of you that fished on how to continue to improve these events.

It was great to see many of the old faces again and to get some new members involved. Especially nice to see two kayak teams participate. The format was changed this year to give them a opportunity to participate. One of the Kayak teams took home the money for second big fish. They may have even finished higher in total weight if they hadn't spent so much time on the beach

The weather was, as usual, pretty tough with some very high winds. The lake level was dropping that adversely affected what had been very good crappie fishing. Still even under those conditions a lot of nice bags were weighed in.

Rutty is, or should be, the most popular member fishing these events. He leaves the lake early during the fishing hours just to get his grill fired up to cook for the fishermen. A huge thank you for all you do for this OGF tourney.

These take a little time and planning to pull off. Brandon, DaleM, the sponsors, and everyone else that lends a helping hand are who make it work for all of us. Thanks to all.


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

Lol.....ahhh the beach. 

I'm working on a write up on our experience that I'll share later this evening.....The beach and park ranger ride included.  I had a blast and met some great people. We will see you guys again in September. 

Thanks again. 

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## SlabSlayR (Jan 23, 2012)

Just want to say thanks to all the OGF Staff for another great tournament! Loved the new format you guys implemented this year and glad to see that some of the yak'rs braved the high winds and waves out there! 

Rutty, Thanks again for feeding us some great brats and hotdogs! They hit the spot after spending the day fighting the fish and the high winds! 

We had a great time chatting with the fellow OGF'rs and can't wait to see you all again in the fall @ Alum. 
Not sure if I'll ever fish @ Deer Creek again due to the winds, water levels, and damaged trailer and prop,but the lake does produce some nice slabs!


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## RiverWader (Apr 1, 2006)

Is there going to be a final overall results done like in years past


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

RiverWader said:


> Is there going to be a final overall results done like in years past


Yes, Shakedown will post when he can


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## StumpHawg (May 17, 2011)

Had a great time fishing this tourney for first time and also want to give a shout out to OGF staff for running such a good friendly tourney... Met some great guys and really enjoyed the relaxed setting... Thanks to everyone involved including sponsors some really nice gear and baits got handed out!!! Looking forward to another good time at Alum Creek this fall...


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## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

Whew...still in recovery 

I'll have a full summary/results posted this eve!


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## CRAPPIECOMMANDER (Feb 25, 2006)

Thanks Kim, Josh, Brandon, Rutty and all the other OGF Staff who made this a great event once again!

I too really enjoyed the more relaxed format. It was great to see some of the Kayaks out on the water, I spent years fishing from a canoe and might have been sitting on the beach right beside them if Troy hadn't so graciously offered to drag my dead weight around the lake with him. 

It was fun watching everyone buzz out to their "secret" pre-determined starter spots and seeing just how much some of us think alike. 

I can't wait until the Fall Tourney at Alum make sure you guys look up Troy and I if you are in town the night before, we can't hang with Chopiq and Brandon but we can still all go out for a bite and a cold beverage and talk Crappie.


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## farleybucks (Aug 8, 2009)

Had a blast guys....Thanks to all the OGF guys that put on the tourney and to all the sponsors! Our goal as yakkers was to not be embarrassed and catch at least our 10 fish limit per team...catching the 2nd biggest fish was just icing on the cake and a total bonus!
The overall experience has me looking towards Alum in Sept already! Now we just have to get you guys to join us at a couple of the Buckeye Kayak Fishing Trail events


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

PART 2

At 2:50 we made our way back to the boat ramp where the weigh in was held. Somehow word had gotten out that we were stranded on the beach and as we were driving by a few of the boats whom had gotten back early we were greeted by, "How was the beach?.....Hey, you made it!.......Were you working on your tans?..etc." Neil shot back jokingly that we had our limit by 10AM and that we decided to just go and enjoy the rays on the beach and not sure what they were all fussing about. Everyone seemed to have gotten a kick out of our situation. We finally pulled into a parking spot and snapped a few pictures.

Again Aaron's cameras time stamp is off.

Neils Big Crappie at 1.45lbs


Eventually 3:30 rolled around and it was officially time for the weigh in. I had the opportunity of writing the scores down as they were announced, which was pretty cool. I immediately noticed bags of giant crappie making their way to the scales.

After a few teams weighed in, it was time to weigh in the first kayak team.....Aaron and I. We didn't have a stand out "Big Fish" so we opted not to weigh one. We finished with 10 crappie with a total of 5.6lbs.

It was then time to weigh Amanda and Neil's fish. They had also gotten a limit of 10 fish, but they had a big fish to weigh in. Neil's big fish went 1.45lbs and their total was 5.15lbs.

As the other teams weighed in I realized we were well out of the top ten places, one team even weighed a total of 10 crappie for 8.9lbs....that's an impressive average of nearly 15oz per fish. As the prizes were being prepared I took a picture of the weigh in board.

Twelve of the 20 teams weighed a crappie over 1lb and twelve of the twenty teams weighed 10 fish for over 7lbs. A few minutes later the results were tallied and the prizes were ready. The top three teams received plaques and the top 2 big fish received plaques. Neil's 1.45lb crappie was edged out for big fish by another anglers 1.6lb crappie, but big enough to take the second place big fish and earn him a plaque and his team $70. Neil joked that dragging the crappie around in the basket all day probably lost .15 oz's worth of scales and fins and he actually had the big fish of the day.

They then raffled off a ton of items including Big Joshy Swimbaits, Crappie.com visors, crappie kits, a half dozen rods including one custom rod, etc.

We wanted to say thanks to all of the guys who put the tournament together, all of the sponsors, and all of the guys who made the tournament enjoyable. Also a big thanks to OGF for allowing kayakers to take part in the event. Even though our weight totals didn't measure up to the top spots held by the larger motorboats we still got our limits with 30 mph gusts around the lake while being limited to two small coves and we even landed the 2nd largest crappie of the tournament (out of 220 fish brought to weigh in and probably another 100 fish that were culled).

OGF will be holding the second event in the fall on September 27 at Alum Creek Lake. Hopefully we can get together a few more kayak teams and get a team in the top 5. If you wanna check out the rules and or pre register follow this link.......OGF Alum Creek Tourney. Now we just have to get some of the motorboat guys to join us on the Buckeye Kayak Fishing Trail!

Contributing to this blog post:

Amanda, Aaron, Sean, & Neil


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

Here's the write up we did for the tourney.......PART 1 of 2


Saturday Aaron, Neil, Amanda, and I participated in Ohio Game Fishing's Rick Seevers and Dick Caudell Memorial Tournament on Deer Creek Lake. This year was the first year that OGF opened its tournament to kayak and canoe anglers, so to show our support we decided to head out and see how we stacked up against the motorboats. The general tournament format was as follows:

-Two Person Teams (Aaron and I on one team and Neil and Amanda on the other.)

-Check in at 5:30am

-Fishing begins at 7:30am (Which gave us kayakers much needed time to get unloaded and time to paddle to our fishing spots.)

-Launch from public boat ramps only (No launching from bank spots.)

-Total Weight 10 Fish Per Team (Total Weight, which meant we had to keep fish in our kayaks. We all opted to use fish baskets so we could cull fish if needed. We had a long paddle and a livewell full of ~10 gallons of water would have been brutal and a cooler with ice wouldn't have allowed us to cull live fish. )

-Fishing ends at 3pm (Which "SHOULD HAVE" allowed everyone to fish the full time of the tourney....but I'll get to that later.)

-Weigh in begins at 3:30pm

The morning started out early for all of us as we had all planned on getting to the check in as early as possible. Aaron had the longest drive at just over 2 hours so his morning began around 2:00am. We all met near the boat ramp at 5:10am where we were greeted by Josh (Big Joshy) and Kim (Lundy) of OGF. We sat around for a few minutes, filled out paperwork, checked in, and then departed. We drove a few miles down the road to a local bait store and grabbed drinks, snacks, and a few dozen minnows. Neil decided before registration that he was just going to give it a go with all artificials and no live bait. His reasoning being that something artificial might be a better trigger for the crappie to bite than seeing the same size minnow that everyone prefishing and all the weekend anglers had been tossing towards them. From there we drove straight over to the boat ramp and began unloading our kayaks and gear.

Disregard Aaron's Time Stamp....his camera is a bit off.

Aaron had spoke to a few friends about the crappie on Deer Creek Lake a week before the event so he was our navigator for the trip. (Neil was the only one of us who had fished the lake prior to the tournament and he informed us that it was nearly 15 years ago for bass and only from shore by the marina and down at the spillway.....so Aaron's info was the only thing we could go off of.) With what he had learned about the crappie on the lake and with the forecast of 25mph winds Aaron decided to seek shelter in a protected cove near the deep end of the lake. With the sun beginning to break over the tree tops we made our way to our destination.

We arrived with only minutes to spare before the start of the tournament. Aaron went to work scanning the cove with his hummingbird equipped with side scan imaging. I did what I could with my hummingbird, but scanning with down imaging only covered a small portion of what Aaron could cover.

He soon found a school of fish near a small point in the creek arm we were fishing. We anchored a few feet away and began working small plastics on 1/32oz jig heads. Amanda and Neil had set up on a couple of fallen trees, they were not relying on fish finders rather what they knew about spawning crappie. Neil was randomly targeting visible structure and the shoreline with small crankbaits, blade baits and crappie tubes. After a few casts I hooked up with a solid fish.....too solid in fact. I looked over to Aaron and told him not to get his hopes up, that it was surely not a crappie. After a few short burst of drag I brought the fish to the surface....yep, definitely not a crappie.

After that our fishing seemed to die down, the fish we were marking had disappeared. After an hour and a half and a dozen different spots we noticed that Amanda hadn't moved from the first spot she had set up on. I paddled down to see if she had dozed off or if she was in fact getting fish. I no sooner than got 20 yards away when I saw her set the hook and bring a crappie to the surface. I let her get the fish measured and into her basket, before I asked her how she was doing? She said that she was getting a lot of bites but she wasn't hooking many of them. I told her to bend her hook out a little and see if that was part of her problem....advice that I probably shouldn't have given a competitor but then again I'd had a 2 hour drive home with her. Meanwhile Neil had hooked into a couple 9-12" bass, but no crappie and he began moving around and exploring all of the shoreline in the cove with only one decent crappie hit.

Aaron and I also began to paddle around every square inch of that cove looking for fish and after nearly 3 hours we found our first fish near a shallow flat on a minnow under a float. At this point I was beyond frustrated because I knew that the fish were there; I could see them on my fish finder, guys where catching them from the bank, guys where catching them from boats, and every ten minutes I'd hear Amanda yell because she had lost another fish. Most days when I'm doing bad I like to blame it on poor fishing....."The fish just weren't biting......Must have been that high pressure......The visibility was too poor....etc." These were all excuses that weren't going to cut it at the weigh in. Aaron wanted to find a new area completely and I fought him tooth and nail. I typically don't like to leave areas that I know have fish and it was clear that this area had fish, regardless of whether we were catching them or not. At about 12pm I had seen enough, Amanda was up to at a minimum of five fish and we were still stuck at 1. Fed up with the results of the cove Neil had ventured off several hours ago so we told Amanda we were leaving, she said that she hadn't had a bite in a while so she'd just follow us. We paddled around the bend and were met with 20 to 30 mph gusts and white caps....not something you want to see in kayaks. Luckily we found another small cove only a few hundred yards away and we tucked into it. Here we found Neil working the back end of the cove. After 5 minutes he yelled over saying this cove was producing hits more frequently than the other cove and lifted his fish basket, he had gotten two fish and one of them was a giant. Neil commented that the fish wasn't really long, but it had a lot of girth to it and it had a really wide top hump to it. With Amanda's basket their team was up to 8 keepers, Aaron and I had 1. I set up 20 yards away from Neil and started working a small tree just off of the bank. I immediately missed two fish on minnow under a float. I was fuming...every little thing that went wrong erupted into a tantrum. I casted a rod into that tree and hung up a float. Out of frustration I started swinging for the fences trying to free the float. Sure enough it came flying by my head and wrapped up several times around my rod. This particular rod was spooled with braid....and if you have ever used braid you know a tangle leads to a knot, which leads to retying your whole set up. Everyone else seemed to get a kick out of my brief episode...Neil called it a small temper tantrum. That got me more focused and I quickly tossed another float out and began retying my other rod. No soon than the float had stood up from the weight of the sinker it disappeared under the water. I set the hook and quickly landed my second crappie of the evening.

It was now 12:30pm and we had 2 keepers to Amanda and Neil's 8. With the wind and white caps we decided to set a time limit for ourselves. It took us 25 minutes to get down to our spot without wind so we figured it would take us at least 40 minutes to get back to the boat ramp paddling against the wind. We also needed a little extra time to get loaded up, which we all agreed would take nearly 25 minutes to load our gear up and strap the kayaks down. It would take us 10 additional minutes to drive from the boat ramp to get to the check in so we decided to collectively head back at 1:45pm.

I quickly landed an additional 3 crappie in the next 30 minutes...which was a much needed morale booster. With about an hour to go Neil landed the 9th keeper for their team, and with Neil's big fish kicker they were looking pretty good. I needed to do something drastic to make up for lost time so I tied on a second float and began working two float and minnow combos down the bank. The wind was ripping through the cove now so using floats became difficult. I'd cast one up at the bank and by the time I could cast the other float it had moved 5 feet. I was constantly working the slack out of the line so that the wind and waves wouldn't pull my float off of the bank and toward my kayak. Eventually I settled into a good rhythm. A little before 1pm Aaron paddled past me and asked how I was doing, I told him I had 5 or 6 keepers in the basket. With less than a half an hour to go he paddled up the bank and started working some shallow wood. Ten minutes passed and I picked up yet another crappie, which put us up to 6 (or 7). For once we started to feel a little pressure, we had nearly a half an hour to go and the thought of getting our limit was now becoming a possibility. Amanda and Neil seemed to have stalled out at 9 keepers but were working a tight spot on some shallow wood in hopes of landing their final fish. At 1:25pm Aaron paddles up to me and tosses me a 10.5" crappie which gave us a total of 7 fish, and while I was grabbing for my basket I noticed my float had disappeared. I grabbed my rod and began reeling at a slow and steady rate until I felt pressure. I quickly landed our 8th fish, and probably the our largest crappie of the trip.

My crappie on the board and Aaron's on deck waiting to make its way into the fish basket.

We were now close to getting our limit, but with 15 minutes to go getting 2 fish seemed unlikely. Shortly after I placed both fish into my fish basket I noticed Amanda pulling in a crappie.....they had gotten their tenth and final fish with mere minutes to go. Then, Amanda picks up one final crappie that would allow them to cull their smallest of the 11 fish caught. At this point time began to fly....minutes felt like seconds. I landed our ninth fish with 3 minutes to go, it would be our last fish of the evening. At 1:45pm we all pulled anchor and made our way out into the main lake. The waves were now pushing 2-3 feet and the wind was blowing a constant 25+mph. After 10 minutes of paddling we had only covered 100 yards of water, and I noticed that Amanda had fallen out of the pack. I looked back to see if she was alright and she had her head down paddling into the wind. Knowing that if she tipped or flipped her yak in the waves we'd never know it, I decided to fall back and stay with her. This was her first trip in her new pink kayak, and she quickly realized that 3 additional inches of width and added stability made for a rough and slow paddle. When I got back to her she said she couldn't do it anymore, she was feeling sick and she wasn't getting anywhere. I told her in a not so nice way, that she had no choice but to do it. She continued to paddle and I dropped behind her. As she paddled I pushed the nose of my kayak into the back of her kayak, which was just enough to keep her going forward in between her paddle strokes.

As Amanda and I rounded the bend we noticed that Aaron and Neil had parked their yaks on the beach and were walking up the hill. Twenty minutes after we pulled anchor we had successfully covered only 200 yards of water. At this rate we were definitely not making the weigh in at 3:30pm.

Luckily for us, we had attracted the attention of a local park ranger who admitted he saw us while driving across the top of the dam and let out a bit of a chuckle. He had drove over to the beach, I assume to get a closer look, and that's when Aaron flagged him down and asked him for a ride back to our vehicles.

The ranger told Neil he better get in the front seat since the back had very little leg room, so he jumped up front and told the others they had to get in the back of the paddy wagon! Amanda with her best "I survived the 30mph gusts, but how did I end up in the back of a ranger's car?" look....

Once again disregard Aaron s time stamp.

Twenty minutes later Aaron, Amanda, and Neil arrived with our vehicles and we began to load our gear up. Amanda and Neil had to cull a couple fish and as they were measuring their fish I decided to count our fish.....1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,and 9........no wait 10. At some point during the day I had miscounted the number of fish in our basket. I yelled over to Aaron and told him we had ten, he immediately ran over to count for himself....if you would have been there you would had thought we had just won the whole darn tournament. A couple of shouts and high fives later we went back to loading our kayaks up.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

That is an awesome write up of your adventure, I really enjoyed reading every word of it.

With the forecast I was VERY surprised to see that you had elected to go across the lake to where you ended up. I really thought you would go up the huge lake arm to the right of the ramp. It was mostly protected from the wind and would have given you a lots and lots of options to catch fish. There were a lot of crappie in that lake arm at all depths.

I was relieved to see you and your trucks on the beach loading up. I was going to check on you closer to 3 but when I looked you were already on the beach and loading up.

Alum, if you don't already know, will provide you a bunch of water in no wake areas to fish. You fishing location options will be numerous.

If I fish one of your kayak events do I have to paddle my boat?

Glad you had fun.


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## triton175 (Feb 21, 2006)

My wife and I had a good time and were glad to be back in the OGF tourny. We fished several of the earlier ones, but not for the last few years. Congrats to the winners and thanks to the organizers.
We didn't finish real well, but did OK for never being on that lake before. We'd go there again for sure, despite the long drive.


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

Lundy said:


> If I fish one of your kayak events do I have to paddle my boat?


In all seriousness we do have several spare kayaks if any of you guys wanna head out and try one of the kayak tourneys this summer. (The river events are pretty cool and are loaded with smallies. The kiser lake event is a ton of fun with tons of pads and hollow body frog action!) We have kayaks for just about everyone.....small 10 footers for girls and small guys and those giant 12 and 14 footers for real men.  (I'm 270lbs and I've used a half dozen different yaks with no issues.) 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Ohub Campfire mobile app


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## CHOPIQ (Apr 6, 2004)

Very good tournament even if it will cost me a new prop and skag. Concrete docks are hell on an aluminum prop. Brother and I had a lot of fun but getting to bed at 3 am and getting up at 6 was tough. Getting way to old for that. At one time thought I was going to chum for crappies. Looking forward for the Alum tourney.


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## SlabSlayR (Jan 23, 2012)

CHOPIQ said:


> Very good tournament even if it will cost me a new prop and skag. Concrete docks are hell on an aluminum prop. Brother and I had a lot of fun but getting to bed at 3 am and getting up at 6 was tough. Getting way to old for that. At one time thought I was going to chum for crappies. Looking forward for the Alum tourney.


Your not the only one that had to buy a new prop! That ramp at Deer Creek has to be the worst design for a ramp that I have ever seen! Would have been nice if they had put poles at the end of the sidewalk so when submerged it can still be located!


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## slowtroller (Sep 28, 2011)

Very nice report and some very nice fish indeed.


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