SHEFFIELD LAKE, Ohio -- The biggest fishing derby on Lake Erie is looking to grow even bigger this year, offering brand-new boats to two anglers who catch the biggest walleye in the Ohio waters of Lake Erie --
The Walleye Fall Brawl last year had 6,400 participants, from states as far as North Dakota and Colorado, who fill up hotels and restaurants and marina parking lots. This year, about 4,000 people had signed up by Wednesday, a week before the Oct. 16 registration deadline.
The brawl began 2010, with 50 guys who threw a couple bucks in a pot. Now the massive endeavor, which runs Oct. 18 through Dec. 1, has dozens of sponsors, events and a food drive. There’s a kids division, a scholarship contest and all sorts of bonus prizes from sponsors. And the event expects to raise $5,000-$7,000 to donate to police organizations.
The premise is simple. Pay $30 to register in the Brawl and fish any time in the Ohio waters of Lake Erie -- off the shore or a boat -- during the contest. Bring any walleye you catch to Erie Outfitters in Sheffield Lake to weigh. The biggest fish wins.
In the last few years, winners have caught their fish in the last couple days of the contest: a 13.7-pound, 30.5-inch fish near the Cleveland crib last year and a 14.97-pound walleye near the East 72nd Street marina.
Why are winners so often in Cleveland? Probably because more anglers fish there, said Brian Zarembski, whose Erie Marine Outfitters works with sponsors to supply the winning boats.
The first prize is a tricked-out Warrior V208, powered by an Evinrude 300HP G2 motor, atop a custom EZ Loader trailer, valued about $100,000. Second place is a 2019 HewesCraft 210 Sea Runner, worth about $75,000. Both come ready to fish, down to the rods.
The winner of the kids division receives $500, second place $400, and so on.
About a dozen sponsors also offer prizes, for catching the biggest fish with a specific brand of lure, for example.
Lake Erie is known as the Walleye Capital of the World. The fish -- which anglers like for the thrill of catching and the taste of eating -- have had bumper hatches in 2003, 2015, 2018 and this year (though those are still too small to keep).
“This year was better than last year,” Murphy said. “It’s easy to catch fish, as long as they weather’s good. Catching big fish, that’s a different story.”
Take a tour of the first and second-prize boats on the Facebook Live video below.
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