At 40 years old the state’s Fish Ohio award program is just
getting its second wind.
Likely to climb aboard the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s
trophy fish recognition band wagon are five additional fish species with each
having their own respective minimum to maximum qualifying length. Once hooked up the Fish Ohio Award program
will thus consist of 25 species, up from the present 20 recognized species.
The inclusions are almost assured though the stamp of approval
must officially come from the eight-member Ohio Wildlife Council, which
certifies such things.
Anticipated for joining the qualification list and their
respective slot length eligibility are the bullhead (14 to 20 inches); the long-nosed
gar (24 to 50 inches); the bowfin (23 to 36 inches); the sucker/all species (20
to 44 inches); and the Kentucky spotted bass (15 to 22 inches).
The Fish Ohio program began modestly enough in 1976,
starting even before the presentation of the ever-popular pin. Originally the
state passed out cheap, thin metallic medals in which a tab could be bent over
and the presentation clipped to a fishing shirt pocket.
However, the Fish Ohio program really began to grow its legs
in 1980. That is when the Wildlife Division began awarding collectable pins. In
the case of the first such decoration, the recognition turned out to be a
small, oval-shaped pin made of pewter and bearing the likeness of a leaping
smallmouth bass.
Beginning the following year the pin took on the much more
familiar look that today’s Fish Ohio recipients would recognize: A larger oval
shape but the pin being made of base
metal and illustrated in a hard-finished product with a color scheme that
features one of the program’s qualifying species.
Included too is the year of recognition along with the
embossment of the words “Fish Ohio.”
Pin species inclusion cycles about every 10 years or so, the
smallmouth bass image next appearing on the 1990 pin while the walleye first showed
up in 1981 and then again in 1991. A special 20th year Fish Ohio
medallion was launched in 2000 and which featured a leaping smallmouth bass, a
fishing outfit, a stylized “Fish Ohio” inscription, and all appearing in the
foreground of the state’s shape.
It wasn’t but a few years after the Fish Ohio program’s
launch that the Wildlife Division added its “Master Angler” component. Here, an
angler catching a qualifying specimen from at least four different eligible
species earns the Master Angler status for that particular calendar year. The hardware
for this honor is another pin that features that year’s selected species but is
decorated with a different and distinctive color rendition along with the added
recognition touch of the words “Master Anglers.
A short-lived adjunct to the Fish Ohio program was the
Wildlife Division’s “Grand Slam” awards. This Fish Ohio element comprised three
distinct categories from which an angler could seek recognition, though each subset
possessed a similar requirement. That stipulation spelled out that an angler had
to catch one specimen from only three recognized species. Further demanding is that separately a qualifying
angler had to catch these fish from one the following specific geographical
regions: Lake Erie, inland, the Ohio River.
Receiving a “Grand Slam” award pin was never an easy fishing
experience. In fact, so challenging was it that the greatest number of anglers
ever to collect a “Grand Slam” in one year was seven, says Vicki Farus, the Wildlife
Division official who administers the Fish Ohio program on a daily basis.
That paltry figure is dwarfed by total Fish Ohio entries
which numbers about 12,000 to 13,000 with some 500 to 600 annual Master Angler
awards being certified.
Almost lost to history have been a few previous attempts by
the Wildlife Division to scuttle the program. That idea didn’t float too well
with George V. Voinovich, Ohio’s the-then governor and a deeply committed
angler and Fish Ohio program supporter/promoter.
Voinovich was so outraged to learn that the Wildlife
Division was preparing to stick the fork in the Fish Ohio program and declare
that it was done, that the governor threatened to withdraw money from his own
campaign fund in order to keep the popular angling playbill from being pitched.
This proved fortuitous for anglers seeking trophy fish
recognition as well as for persons desiring to collect the assemblage of
colorful – and cool-looking – pins. Today, many of the most commonly found Fish
Ohio pins – excluding Master Angler, the 20th Fish Ohio anniversary
pin, and any Grand Slam pin – are selling on eBay with a starting figure of around
$20 each.
Complete sets of Fish Ohio pins from 1980 to the present
have been known to fetch more than $1,000.
As for the program today, prospective applicants no longer
have to go postal and mail an entry form and then wait until who-knows-how-long
to receive a pin. Much like what else the Wildlife Division does now-a days, the
agency has taken the Fish Ohio program into the orbit of the Internet.
Applicants access the Wildlife Division’s web site, scoot
around until they find the portal for the Fish Ohio program, log in and enter
their respective and qualifying catch. In just a few minutes the catch is
entered and recorded; available at any time for review.
Best of all, Farus has the system now spitting out pins to
their recipients within a matter of only several days instead of several
months.
Anglers can even track how their favorite species or body of
water is performing in terms of trophy fish being caught. That information can
help an angler decide where and when it is best to fish for a trophy walleye,
muskie, steelhead, white bass, or beginning next year – a bullhead or long-nosed
gar – and the rest of the other eligible 19 Fish Ohio clan.
Clearly the Wildlife Division’s Fish Ohio program has come a
long way since its unpretentious beginnings. And it appears now with the
qualifying list expansion that its best days still lay ahead.
By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
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