~The NBAA/SOBC & OCDC ~ DEER CREEK Open Results!

WOW! What a GREAT DAY the NBAA/SOBC/OCDC had for their 1st Annual (yep..that’s right! We decided that we need to do it again next year!) NBAA/SOBC & OCDC Open at Deer Creek reservoir! The weather was absolutely awesome with sunny skies and high 70’s all day. The field of 30 TEAMS would do battle with Deer Creek’s finicky largemouth on this sunny day! Except for being a bit windy, it couldn’t have been a nicer day!

At morning registration, all of the Teams were provided “Welcome Packs” that contained coupons, sales flyers, and some really COOL goodies donated by both SOBC & OCDC fine Sponsors. Also, all of the competitors were treated to donuts & bottled water from Yum-ee Donuts. By 6:30 am the Teams were registered, in the water and ready to go.

Throughout the day, Teams were checking in and advising that the fishing was slow at best with the bite being extremely tough.

***Special note - Deer Creek was under an “Algae Bloom” advisory which meant that conditions over the last few weeks had almost become critical and the lake was at “condition orange” the day before the tournament. One more notch, and the ramps would have been closed. As luck would have it, ODNR lowered the advisory to “condition yellow” (the lowest condition) late Friday. Most of the Teams we spoke to said they didn’t see any evidence of the blue/green algae, probably due to the winds that came in with a massive cold front the night before.

All 30 Teams returned to the weigh in area at 3:00pm, to be treated to HOT bratwurst, hot dogs, chips, and a cold drink by the Annehurst Swim Team from Westerville, Ohio for a small donation! Rob Rankin and his “Crew” put on a really nice spread for our competitors, and even had several Swim Team Members available to carry our contestants fish back to the water after weighing! Special thanks to the Annehurst Swim Team for saving the anglers the long walk.

23 Teams presented fish to weigh in with only 3 limits being brought to the scales. The fishing was tough, but one Team stood out from the rest and that was Jeff Gates & Dan Sheidler! Jeff and Dan weighed 5 fish for a total of 10.06 Lbs! GREAT JOB GUYS!

Here is how the “TOP 10” finished:

• 1st Place – Jeff Gates & Dan Sheidler 5 fish/10.06 lbs (Won $800.00!)
  **Jeff & Dan had the 2nd Big Bass - 3.83 lbs!**
  (Won $100.00 in Gift Cards from TGI FRiDAYS!)
• 2nd Place – Tim Hart & Mark Rand 4 fish/8.54 lbs (Won $400.00!)
• 3rd Place – Cody Dawson & Jake Limings 5 fish/7.66 lbs (Won $200.00!)
• 4th Place – David Stevens & Dave Jarrell 5 fish/7.26 lbs (Won $100.00!)
• 5th Place – Kevin Izzi & Dale McWhorter 5 fish/6.81 lbs (Won $75.00!)
• 6th Place – Steve Affolter & Melvin McNeal 2 fish/6.40 lbs **Had Big Bass of the Tournament 3.87 Lbs!** (Won - $300.00!)
  Steve & Melvin were also “1st Team out of the money” Won a $100.00 Gift Certificate for Ann Marie Charters of Lake Erie!
• 7th Place – Steve Priest & Rick Parsley 4 fish/6.10 lbs
• 8th Place – Bill Cordle & Steve Churella 4 fish/5.90 lbs
• 9th Place – Tim Wakeley & Joe Taulbee 4 fish/4.95 lbs
• 10th Place – Brian Caudill & Scott Newlon 2 fish/4.76 lbs

SOBC & OCDC directors Ky Reed and Dave Davis would like to thank all of the anglers who came out and competed despite the tough conditions. They’d also like to thank all of their sponsors for providing great items for this special event.

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