Posted by Ryan Kerns on Facebook:

IFO Tournament Stop #1 for the 2022-2023 winter season is in the books. Congratulations to Bill Baum for his first IFO series win! Bill took the Crappie Pot with a 5 fish bag of 3.63 lbs! His fish averaged 11.75".
I took Big Fish and 2nd Place in the Crappie Pot with 3.59 lbs. and the same average length.
Andrew Hatfield nearly took the Big Fish tonight! He had 4 nice Crappie on the day! Thank you to all of the great guys that made it out this afternoon!

That was a blast, and we're only getting started! We'll see you all again next weekend for IFO Stop #2 at Rocky Fork Lake. The start time will be 8am. Be sure to visit our friends at Bayview Bait and Tackle for all your needs ahead of that tournament.

Look at the Alum Creek Dock Tournament section to get the information you need.

Thanks,
Steve

Facebook post by Ryan Kerns:

Kids Day 2022 and this weekend's IFO Tournament Series Stop #5 will be held at Alum Creek Marina on February 26th.

The events will begin with Kids Day at 10am. We'll have meet and greet and allow everyone time to arrive. Bill Baum and I will present Ice Safety at 10:30, then Nathan Boldman and Dennis Jones will talk with the kids on crappie tactics at 11:00. While Nate and Dennis are talking with the kids, I'll get the grill going so the kids can have some lunch before they fish. We'll hold a derby for them from 12:00 to 2:00, and then weigh them in.

A lot of guys like the evening tournament format, so we can make this a late one. The dock tournament for all of us will begin at 3pm, and we'll go until 9pm. Hopefully we can all hit a good night bite, and weigh some nice stringers! As usual, we'd ask that you observe the no lines, or electronics in the water rule during that hour between the kids derby and the start of our tournament.

If any of you would like to help out, please let me know. It's always great to have some extra hands on Kids Day.

We'll get back into regular dock tournaments following this one. The edges are deteriorating to the point that with a few more days like those in the forecast for this week, we probably need to start switching gears.

Well, sorry that there was not an announcement for the cancellation of the Indian Lake Ice Weekend during Feb. 5th and 6th.  I did not see the Facebook post until that Saturday morning and I was on the road to an ice tournament in Michigan.  So, it has been rescheduled for this coming weekend, Kids Day Saturday,  Feb. 19th and IFO Indian Lake Tournament Sunday, Feb. 20th.  Like in the previous post about Indian Lake Ice Weekend,  Kids Day will be at Blackhawk Marina (11496 OH-365, Lakeview, OH 43331)on Saturday from 10am - 4pm and the IFO Indian Lake Ice Tournament is on Sunday, 8am - 6pm, entry fee is $20 and you must be an IFO member.  You can register as a member on this webpage or on the IFO Facebook page.  See attachment for the details.  Due to the weather temps in the next couple days, I will try to keep an eye on any post cancelling the event and will try to post it right away.  However, again I will be heading north into Michigan for another tournament, so I will do my best to stay on top of it.  Thanks everyone and be safe and check the ice before going out with the increased temperatures. 

My prayers to Bobby.  Will stand for his healing and recovery.  Get well buddy, miss seeing you out with us and having great discussions.

CJ Brown Reservoir Buck Creek Marina Dock tournament #4 went off this Saturday.  We met at Leens General Store on Rt. 4 in Springfield, OH.  I like to say thank you to Leens for supporting us at IFO and providing bait and tackle.  They had fresh spikes, red and white and a multi-colored pack, mousees, and minnows.  And I personally purchased a new HT Blue Ice Rod 32" and 2 new Piscifun reels.

Well, the morning was a crisp, blue open sky and it was a very brisk 12 degrees with an easterly wind with an elevated barometer.  It was just ripe for a long beautiful day.  We had ten contestants and it turned out to be a long and rough day of fishing.  We had to break through about 1" of ice in the Marina.  We had pretty much scattered all over the docks and I don't know where the fish went but it was not in the Marina.  Had a great time socializing with members and spoke with a guy from London, OH who was just checking out what we were doing.  I caught my first and only fish at 8:45am and fortunately it was a very skinny 9" crappie.  Marked only a handful of fish, no more bites, and that was the total of my day.  And everyone around seem to be struggling with catching a fish also.  Well, by the end we met back at Leens for weigh-in and that lone crappie was the only fish weighed in.  So first place in crappie and the biggest fish was  .30lbs; Steve.

So the funny story of the day, Bill Baum was fishing across from me on the next dock and with about 10 minutes left before the end of the tournament he marked a fish at the bottom and dropped to it and got the bite and set the hook on it.  He was excited and yelled over that he had something big.  The fish started pulling drag immediately and he could not get it up.  And in just a minute it popped off.  Bill was disappointed that he didn't at least get a chance to see what he had, but we were guessing that it was possibly a muskie because how heavy he said it felt and how it just took line out with little effort.  Sorry Bill, that was the one that got away,

Well, there has not been a determination of the next dock tournament because of the cold temps and possibly enough ice to get on in some areas.  As soon as I hear about the next dock tournament or possibly an ice fish tournament at Indian Lake or wherever it may be, I will post it here right away.  Thanks and please be safe on the first ice of the season; use extra caution and use a spud bar, have safety equipment on your person and make sure you let people know where you will be at and bring a friend along.  Tight lines everyone. 

Alright IFO members, I hope everyone stayed healthy during Christmas and had a Very Merry Christmas! On the Facebook post, Ryan Kerns has posted Preseason Dock Tournament #4 for the 3rd try at CJ Brown Reservoir on Saturday 1/8/2022 at 8am.  Be there at the Marina by 7:30am for Registration.  I will try and post if they plan on meeting at Leen's General Store again, to help support our sponsor.  Leen's has been very supportive of us and they had spikes in, back when we were planning the dock tournament the first time.  Take care everyone and have a Happy New Year!

Thanks guys.  Bruce took an underwater camera and magnet on Monday.  And I knew someone who is a certified scuba diver, but he said there would be a lot of red tape and sign offs needed, so that idea was scrapped, plus the water is cold and cloudy.

Bruce could not see anything more just a few inches ahead and he did use a magnet and drag the bottom.  Nothing was seen or recovered from the wreckage.  I have begun the process of rebuilding my gear.