Indiana team pulls off win in 2007 Vermilion Hawgfest


Ohio Game Fishing (OGF) and the Western Basin Sportfishing Association (WBSA) held the 2007 Vermilion Hawgfest Saturday September 22nd brought to you by Starcraft Marine, Evinrude E TEC, WKYC TV-3 and Sharpnack II Chevrolet. This was the fourth annual event and the first year in the great city of Vermilion.

The team of Dan Hoffman, Scott Hoffman and Bob May from Indiana brought in 5 fish weighing 32.32 lbs. to capture the win. Brian Lam, Ray Urban and Dominic Ritz brought in a basket weighing 30.22 lbs. for 5 fish to finish second and in third was the team of Mark Sheeler, David Skodney, Kevin Kirshner and Dennis Kitchen with 5 fish weighing 28.10 lbs.

In the Big Fish competition Hoofman, Hoffman and May made it a clean sweep as they took top honors there also with a hawg weighing 11.2 lbs that was worth $1100. Mike Zaborski, Charlie Robinson and Ed Zaborski finished second in the big fish competition with a walleye weighing 9.55 lbs worth $600.

The top finishing teams reported fishing the sand bar area due north of Vermilion. Spoons, crankbaits and harnesses all produced fish and it seemed more important to find a little pod of fish that wanted to bite then what type of lure you were fishing. The generous anglers that participated in the Hawgfest made voluntary fish donations of 850 lbs. to the Second Harvest Food Bank and those fish will go to feed many needy and elderly people in the local communities.

After the great day on the water the teams and spectators that came out enjoyed a great dinner and awards banquet at the Vermilion on the Lake Club. The food was catered by Ray Sterk Catering and the roasting hog was donated by Rich’s Hook, Line and Sinker of Vermilion. The over 450 people in attendance enjoyed a great evening of food, raffles and awards as thousands of dollars worth of prizes were given away along with 6 Lake Erie fishing trips and 2 sets of Cavs tickets courtesy of Medina Plating.

More information can be found by visiting www.vermilionhawgfest.com The 2007 Huron Hawgfest was sponsored by WKYC TV-3, Evinrude E TEC, Sharpnack II Chevrolet, Starcraft Marine, City of Vermilion, West Marine, Ray Sterk Catering, Rich’s Hook Line and Sinker, Cranberry Creek Marina, Navionics, Medina Plating, Reef Stalker Sport Fishing Charters, Legacy Charters, Blue Dophin Charters, Eyestalker Charters, Freebird Charters, Kevin Michnicki, Trent Lee, OGF member Walleyeguy, Ole Petes Tackle, Daves Bait, Den’s Sportsmans Outpost, Cisco Fishing Systems, Amish Outfitters, XTackle, Erie Outfitters and Inside the Great Outdoors.