Events

The numbers were down for the GFC Fall Tournament, but the quality of fish did not disappoint. Ethan Gibson won both the "Bass Category" and the "Fish Ohio" category. The winning bass was 19.5" beauty. Literally one of the most striking bass I have ever seen. The big bluegill was a 10.5" monster. Two other bluegill over 9" were submitted. Special mention goes to Vaughn Parker, with a nice 25" Lake Erie Walleye. Total payout was $280 and twelve anglers participated. 

The 2025 summer camp was held June 16TH - 20TH from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Mirror Lake (Infirmary Mound Park) and was once again sponsored by the GRC.  Club president, Ethan Gibson, and club members Seth Winterhalter and Jason Reding spent the week teaching nine 5th and 6th graders about fishing. Topics included fish ID and behavior, fishing tackle and knots, proper techniques and conservation. Unfortunate, Mirror Lake taught the kids that its called fishing and not "catching" for a reason. Only two bass and two bluegill were landed during the week, but the campers left with new tackle and new skills and hopefully... I life long passion for fishing! 

We had a great turnout for the 3rd annual "Battle for the Bucket". Fishing was tough, but Granville won the derby with a buzzer beater fish in the last 30 minutes.  Noah Gibson landed the fish that measured just over 12 inches. Also competing for Granville was Seth Winterhalter, Hudson Durst, Augustus Wilson, Luke Harleman, Ethan Gibson, Ian Hageman, Silas Tritico and Campbell Reding. We would like to thank the Licking Valley Lunkers for participating in the event and we look forward to more friendly competition in the future.

Fish on!

The GFC Spring Tournament was an absolute slug fest. The lead changed hands multiple times in each category and the winning fish were true Ohio "monsters". In the "BASS" category, Noah Gibson took top honors with a 21", 6.5 lbs. largemouth caught in a local pond, while Chase Holtzapples' 20" beauty was only good enough for second place. Rounding out the "BASS" category was a 19.75" bass submitted by Ethan Gibson. Special Mention goes to Eli Bage, who submitted a PB largemouth going 17.25 inches. A 9.5" bluegill, submitted by Vaughn Parker, won the "FISH OHIO" category and again, special mention goes to Eli Bage for a PB 12.5" crappie. Five different anglers split a payout of over $300. 

Weather did not cooperate with the original 2025 Trout Derby date, but weather for the rain day was nice and the turnout was surprising high considering the event had to be on a weeknight. Well over 150 anglers participated and twice as many rainbow trout were caught and kept. A huge "thank you" to all the GFC members who were able to make it out on a school night, and to the ODNR for releasing the trout, LPD for sponsoring the event and to the Land of Legends Flyfishers for helping the GFC support the event. 

The 2024 GFC Fall Tournament was a big success in size of fish submitted, number of entries and diversity of species. In the "BASS" category, honors went to Barrett Waggoner who caught a 19.75" largemouth from a local pond. Hunter Hargis submitted a 19.5" largemouth for second place. The "FISH OHIO" category was won by Ethan Gibson with a 9.5" bluegill. Three bluegill over 9" were submitted, along with a nice catfish and several crappie over 10". Total payout was for the top three placers in the two categories was $275 dollars.     

The 2024 summer camp was held June 10- 4th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Mirror Lake (Infirmary Mound Park) and was once again sponsored by the GRC.  Three GFC club members (Emma, Luke and Campbell) helped with the fishing instruction for the seven 5th and 6th graders who attended. Mirror lake proved challenging, only giving up five bass all week, but an excursion to Raccoon Creek resulted in 100's of fish caught in the seine and kick nets. Hopefully we got some young anglers hooked on fishing and conservation!

It was a beautiful night at Mirror Lake for the second annual “Battle for the Bucket”. The Licking Valley Lunkers show up big time with both numbers of anglers and fish, and took home the Trophy. There was a total of 15 bass scored (>10”), with the biggest bass, caught by Grayson (LV), going 13.23 inches. Braden led the Licking Valley team with 3 bass scored and Chase Holtzapple matched him with three bass scored for Granville. We would like to thank the Licking Park District for letting us use shelter house # 6, Nichole and the LVL for organizing and providing all the side dishes and our platinum sponsors, “Parker Here” Charters and Christian Price of Howard Hanna Real Estate, for supporting this event.

Until next year, “Fish On”!

For the second year in a row, ODNR released a 1,000 rainbow trout in to Mirror Lake at Infirmary Mound Park. Once again, the event bought out hundreds of anglers, who spent the morning targeting the 11 to 14" trout with a variety of tactics. The Licking Park District provided lunch for both the anglers and the trout (bait) and the Granville Fishing Club was there to support the event and encourage the younger anglers, with hands on activities and a raffle. A big “thank you” to all the high school and middle school club members who gave up their Saturday to help with the event. 

Members of the GFC attended the 2024 Expo in Columbus Ohio. They listened to several speakers, including Tyler Berger of YouTube's "Bass Fishing HQ". Rumor has it they also picked up some new tackle. The Expo is always a great way to kick start the season and spring is right around the corner.   

Nine different anglers ended up in the money, with a total payout of $487.50. There where 15 entrees over the course of the competition and the winning bass set the record for the biggest bass ever entered into a GFC tournament. Top honors went to Chase Holtzapple for biggest bass (19.25"), Noah Gibson for biggest bluegill (8.5") and Vaughn Parker for Fish Ohio with a 12" Perch. 

August 19th, 2023 offered up perfect weather for the Parks & Recreation “Family Fishing Day” at Buckeye Lake and the GFC was excited to help with the event. The future of fishing and conservation can be seen in the smiles of these young anglers! Fish on!

In the Spring of 2023, the GFC added artificial fish structures to several locations in Mirror Lake at Infirmary Mound Park. The objective of the structure was to provide cover for forage fish, which in turn would provide more food for the bass population, and hopefully increase the average size of Largemouth in the pond. For information on the general location of the sunken structures talk to a GFC member.     

On Wednesday, May 24th the Granville Fishing Club and the Licking Valley Lunkers competed in the first ever ”Battle for the Bucket”; a friendly fishing competition between two good rivals. Fishing on what could be considered Granville’s home waters, the GFC came away with the win. It was a good night, with good food, good kids and 11 bass making it to the tape! Hopefully this will become an annual event, but for now, the GFC will keep the bucket! 

ODNR released a thousand rainbow trout in Mirror Lake, bringing out hundreds of anglers, young and old, for the Licking Park District’s first (and hopefully annual) trout derby. The Granville Fishing Club was there to support the event and encourage the younger anglers, with several hands on activities and a raffle. A big “thank you” to all the high school and middle school club members who gave up their Saturday to help with the event. 

The 2022 GFC Fall Tournament involved 18 anglers fishing for $235 in cash (and raising $235 for conservation). Jace Hoover won the Bass Category with a 17.5" LMB and Randy Allen took second with a nice Small Mouth. Luca Walter won the Panfish category (10.25" Bluegill) and the "Fish Ohio" category with an 11" yellow perch.

Our first GFC event, of the 2022 - 2023 school year, was at a private pond in Granville. The pond is clear, relatively deep, with little vegetation and just under one acre. In short, it is a very fishable pond with a nice population of 11 - 14 inch bass and at least one monster perch. After one hour of fishing, 12 anglers had landed 15 fish, with "big bass" going the Henry White (14") and a 11.5' perch caught by Luca Miller. Thanks to Andy Joseph for letting us fish your beautiful property.    

The top point earners in the GFC were invited to fish one of the best ponds in central Ohio. In two hours, the anglers landed 29 bass with numerous bass in the 3 pound class and three reaching 18.5 inches. All the bass were healthy, "chunks" that engulfed the bait and fought hard. In the slightly stained water, the most productive color was blue / black and the most productive baits were swim jigs, bladed jigs, Texas-rigged creature baits and big swim baits. As always, a huge "Thank You" to the Miller's for having us out.    

The High School Chapter of the GFC marked the close of the spring tournament with an epic night of fishing. Eleven anglers landed over 50 fish in two hours. They "checked in" 5 fish at 19.5 inches and 4+ pounds, but every fish caught was a chunk!

A huge “thank you” goes out to the Millers for their hospitality… and all they do to support the club… and to Rick Mitchell, one of our advisors, for running one of the "check in" stations. 

During the week of June 13th 2022, the GFC, in partnership with Granville Recreation District and Licking Park District, held their second youth fishing camp at Mirror Lake. We had 12 anglers land a couple dozen bass and a mess of bluegill. They learned fish identification and proper handling, casting for accuracy, knots, lure selection, and various fishing techniques. It was hot and they had to grind at times, as Mirror Lake can be tough, but their efforts were rewarded in fish and experience. 

The Columbus Fishing Expo did not disappoint. Several GFC members attended and one of the club founders (Jason Reding) was there on Saturday as a member of Kent University's Bass Fishing Team. We connected with several local tackle companies and will hopefully be adding them to this website as "club sponsors" in the near future. Stay tuned and fish on!    

Our 2021 Spring Tournament at a local, private pond included 28 anglers from all around Licking County. Here are some of the highlights: 43 bass caught, 18 anglers caught at least one fish, winning angler (Luca Walter) took 1st place with a combined length (bag) of 63 inches, the "Big Bass" (2) were 16 inches, caught by Ben Lonzo, and Andrew Dauber.