Milk River Catfish Classic Timeline
April 2000 – Brenner Flaten and Luke Morehouse develop a plan
for a catfish tournament to be held in mid-May on the Milk River in Glasgow. The
entire rules and regulations are discussed and finalized in their high school
Algebra class. Luke was a Freshman at the time and Brenner was a Sophomore.
Entry Fee is set at only $20 per team with an optional $10 for the big fish pot,
where it stayed for six years. The tournament was a 100 % payout event and it
still remains to this day.
May 20th, 2000 – The Inaugural Milk River Catfish Classic is stationed out of
the Glasgow Civic Center Parking lot, with weigh-ins taking place in the bed of
a pickup truck. Fish are weighed individually with a hand held digital scale.
The initial tournament consists of 12 teams made up of mainly family and close
friends.
May 24th, 2000 – The Classic receives their first ever media coverage, when an
article is featured in the weekly Wednesday edition of The Glasgow Courier.
May 19th, 2001 – The Classic sees growth to 21 teams in only its second year.
Weigh-ins are moved to outside city limits inside Clarence George’s shop. All
tournament fish are weighed in baskets on the current bulk digital scale still
used today.
January 2002 - World famous In-Fisherman features the Milk River Catfish Classic
in their “Select Catfish Tournaments” article within the annual Catfish Insider
Guide publication.
May 18th, 2002 - 30 teams enter the 3rd Annual Classic as weigh-ins remain
outside city limits at Clarence George’s shop.
May 31st, 2003 – 25 teams enter the Cat Classic. Weigh-in headquarters are moved
down to the river bank on Keith and Mary Morehouse’s property to allow quick
release of the fish back into the Milk River.
Jan 9th, 2004 – Montana FWP approves the submitted tournament application and
the Milk River Catfish Classic becomes official.
June 5th, 2004 – 29 teams sign up for the 5th annual event. The Cat Classic
moves to the first weekend of June for the first time, where it will stay for
years to come.
Weigh-ins are moved to the Glasgow Stockyards parking lot on the day of the
event due to extreme muddy conditions on the Milk River bank. Weigh-ins
take place in heavy rain without cover for the last time, as a canopy over the
stage is now provided for all future years. Brenner and Jason Flaten
become the first team to win back-to-back titles in tournament history.
May 2005 – Key sponsors are on board for the first time to help the Classic grow
to new heights. Sponsors include numerous local businesses and the well-known
tackle supply company, Catfish Connection.
June 3rd, 2005 – The Milk River Catfish Classic is featured on the front page of
the Good Evening Glasgow for the first time.
June 4th, 2005 – Stands as maybe the most important year of the Classic in terms
of overall changes. The tournament sees massive growth from the previous years.
Tournament co-founders Brenner Flaten and Luke Morehouse decide to stop fishing
the tournament and concentrate all their efforts towards running the annual
event. Team limit is originally set at 40, but is lifted due to the
increased local popularity. 48 teams would eventually take part in the 6th
Annual event. Weigh-ins are moved to their current downtown Glasgow
location, where a record number of people show up and witness a record breaking
stringer of fish by Adam Morehouse and Kirk Boyer. Dave Fuller sets the all-time
tournament record with his 12.4 lb. big fish.
May 2006 - The Nemont Beverage Corporation and Busch Light become the Catfish
Classic’s top-flight sponsor. Their continued support and local radio
advertisement has been essential to the growth of the Classic.
June 3rd, 2006 – Cat Classic fills the current 60-team limit for the first time.
Entry fee is raised to the current $50
June 1st, 2007 – Friday night festivities are added to the Classic for the first
time. The Montana Bar begins hosting the annual community social and the
Calcutta of all 60 fishing teams.
June 2nd, 2007 – The Milk River is near flood stage for the 8th Annual, forcing
anglers to take extra precaution and completely change fishing plans. The
Montana Catfish Association hosts the first ever catfish seminar in the state’s
history. More teams choose to fish from a boat than ever before.
Jerry and Nate Molstad ignore the high-water conditions and set an all-time
tournament record with a 5-fish limit of 34.9 lbs.
June 7th, 2008 – Tournament Director Brenner Flaten is featured on the Montana
Outdoor Radio Show’s Saturday morning broadcast to discuss the Cat Classic and
the growth of catfishing in Eastern Montana with the “Captain”.
Tournament begins at 5:00 p.m. for the first time to allow an extra half hour of
fishing. Montana Fish and Game begins assisting at the weigh-ins and now
weigh, measure, and tag every catfish before they are returned to the Milk
River.
April 24th, 2009 – The 60-team field is filled quicker than ever before, over
six weeks in advance of the tournament.
June 5th, 2009 – In only its third year, The Montana Bar nears maximum capacity
for the Friday night community social and Calcutta of the fishing teams. The
Calcutta sees a steady increase once again, and is now well over $12,000.
June 6th, 2009 – Cat Classic celebrates its 10th Anniversary. Weigh-ins
are moved inside the Valley Event Center for the first time due to cold/wet
weather conditions. Montana’s FWP Video Productions, out of Helena, show
up in Glasgow and get outstanding footage of the fisherman during tournament
hours as well as the entertaining midnight weigh-ins. The footage is then aired
in early July as an outdoor clip across Montana’s TV stations. The
Traveling Trophy makes its debut and goes home with Jerry and Nate Molstad, who
become only the 2nd team in tournament history to win two titles.
June 5th, 2010 - Tournament field is bumped to 80 teams for the first time to accommodate massive growth and popularity. Payouts stay at 110%, and now total over $5,000 in guaranteed cash and prizes.
May 24th, 2011 - Official decision is made to move the tournament to July 16th, 2011 due to drastic flood waters within tournament boundaries.