The 2022 Bluffton Trout Derby hosted by the Bluffton Sportsmen's Club at Buckeye Lake awarded plenty of prizes, but not the ultimate lure of $2,900 for catching the #1 trout "Big Tom" named for Tom Diller. The longest fish was caught by Nate Crawford, who won $50.
The mild weather and opportunity to fish for prizes drew dozens of anglers. They circled the lake and tested the waters by boat from 2:00-4:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 1. The results of the raffles are as follows:
50/50 $1,400 - Brittany Webb
Spring Raffle winners
1/4 Beef - Darlene Pierce of McComb
1/4 Beef - Dan Hovest
$200 - Betty Dicke of Ottawa
$100 - Miguel Nunez of Continental
$75 - Brenda Thomas
$50 - Bryson Gibson
$25 - John Marshall
Massage - Betty Dicke
Gun - Chris Walkowitz of Holgate
ABOUT THE SPORTSMEN'S CLUB
From www.blufftonsportsmenclub.org
The club was formed in the 1930s by a group of guys who got together on Sunday afternoons and shared their fishing, hunting and trapping stories. This club was first a coon hunters club and was involved in many conservation projects over the years. Later the Buckeye Quarry was leased from the Village of Bluffton in the middle of the 1940s, and the National Quarry (now Cobb Lake) in the 1990s. This was the beginnings of the fishing derby. There were many species of fish that were tried, but the Rainbow Trout had the best response. It was not until then that this event became known as the "Trout Derby." This annual Trout Derby is the financial foundation of our club. With the proceeds The Buckeye and Cobb Lake quarries are stocked with Rainbow Trout and other species.
