Fish Ohio Program

Old certificates and pins from the Fish Ohio Program.

The Fish Ohio Program was established in 1976 by the Ohio Division of Natural Resources. The goal of the program is to create and maintain records of Ohio's trophy fish population. By offering pins and certificates for qualifying catches the ODNR has received submissions from over 400,000 anglers from the buckeye state. The program offers a pin and certificate for 20 species of fish, and offers a special golden pin for those lucky anglers who submit four different species of qualifying lengths in one fishing season (March 1-February 28) Each year the ODNR collects and counts the submissions. They then release the top 5 destinations for each species of fish. The results from the 2012 fishing season can be seen here.

A couple old pins I found during my extensive search of my fishing collection. On top a golden "Master Angler" Pin from 2011 and on the bottom a silver Fish Ohio Pin awarded for a single submission.

I have participated in the program for the last 5 years, while only failing to reach "Master Angler Status" my first year. Amanda has fulfilled her "Master Angler Status" the last three out of the five years. Here's a look back at our submissions. (Some years we actually submitted more then 4 species of qualifying lengths, however in order to create the collage I chose to only show 4 for each year...in most instances I removed the 9" sunfish since it was one of the easiest to attain.)



2010

28.5" Channel Catfish, 15.5" Crappie, 29.25" Carp, 43" Flathead Catfish

2011

41" Blue Catfish, 29.5" Channel Catfish, 28.5" Freshwater Drum, 22" Hybrid Striped Bass

47.5" Blue Catfish, 22" Hybrid Striped Bass, 27" Channel Catfish, 29" Freshwater Drum

2012

28.5" Freshwater Drum, 14.75" Crappie, 29" Channel Catfish, 29" Carp

30.25" Channel Catfish, 46" Blue Catfish, 38" Carp, 23" Hybrid Striped Bass

2013  

13" Crappie, 41" Flathead Catfish, 26" Channel Catfish, 21.5" Largemouth Bass

9.75" Sunfish, 28" Channel Catfish, 26" Carp, 16.5" Sauger

If you haven't participated in the Fish Ohio Program yet, go ahead and submit your fish from the 2013 season and take part in this great program. Submissions are accepted up until January 15, 2014, so fill out your forms here.