August 17, 2025 by Montana Cats Staff
8/16/25 Williston, ND - The Missouri Catfish Clash comes to Williston every August and regardless of the weather, the water level, or the number of teams entered in the event. You can always count on two things. Big fish will be caught and fun will be had! The 2025 version of the "Clash" had plenty of both. The event got underway at 9:00 AM Central time and a field of 37 boats enjoyed a beautiful day on the water. The event was a traditional eight hour tournament with teams due back for riverside weigh-ins at 5:00 PM. 32 teams would ultimately bring fish to the scales with eighteen of those teams bringing in over 20 lbs. on a five fish limit.
A familiar team graced the top of the leaderboard following the conclusion of the competition. It was Brenner Flaten of Glasgow, MT., and Cole Plouffe of Glendive, MT., who found the right fish and weighed in 33.69 lbs. Flaten remarked, "Yesterday we had probably our hardest day of pre-fishing ever on this stretch so we weren't real confident going into today and I guess the last three years we got humbled pretty good and didn't do so well, so it was a good day". The tournament title marks a 5th Championship in Williston for Flaten and a 4th for Plouffe. Brenner now owns a Montana Cats record of 15 tournament titles to his credit while Plouffe can lay claim to eight championship victories on Circuit; tied for the 3rd most ever.
The tournament victory proved double the pleasure for Brenner as he was able to use the 25 points to slide by his big brother Jason for the BIG prize on circuit. The 2025 B'n'M Montana Cats Angler of the Year Award goes to Brenner with a total of 70 points. Jake was sitting in the driver's seat coming into the weekend after having already secured 69 points with a 6th place in Huntley, a 2nd place in Glasgow, and a Championship in Sidney. So the stage was set and the younger brother needed at least a 2nd place in Williston to TIE for "AOY" or a tournament title for the outright WIN....and he got it done. Talk about a fun-action packed weekend.
Runner-up went to the legendary "Wise Guys". Bobby and Robert are a father-son duo out of Billings, Montana and they just keep getting it done year after year. Team Wise finished with 31.06 lbs. The big basket included a massive 11.86 lb. cat caught by Robert, which helped him secure a share of the big fish award at the event. Yes you read that right! Incredibly, there was a TIE for the big fish this weekend as Macy Johnson, also of Billings, landed her own 11.86 lb. beauty. Congrats to both anglers. The runner-up finish marks a 12th career Top three finish in a circuit event for the Wise Guys. Last year's Montana Cats Co-Anglers of the Year had another solid season, finishing this season in a tie for 4th place in the points race. Remarkable consistency.
3rd Place was snatched by another father-son team. Todd Lindsay of Laurel, MT., and JJ Lindsay of Billings, MT. continue to make moves every single year and this was their BEST season to date. Not only does this team sport the fastest boat on tour, they also wield some pretty impressive sticks. The Lindsay's were able to weigh-in 29 lbs. even and grab another plaque for the wall. This came on the heels of Todd's 3rd place finish just last month in Sidney. With already four top fives to their credit in Montana Cats Circuit events this team has eyes set on even bigger prizes in future years. In the meantime, Todd put together an extremely successful season; finishing with 65 points and claiming 3rd place overall in the final Angler of the Year standings.
4th Place went to the Glasgow, Montana team of Steve Norcutt and Allan Harrington with 27.33 lbs. A great day on the water for Steve and Allan who now have back to back top 10 finishes this season after grabbing 10th place in Sidney last month. Those two tournament performances combined with their efforts on their home waters during the Cat Classic put both anglers into a Top 10 position in the Final "AOY" Standings. Harrington finishes 7th, while Norcutt grabs the 8th spot. That marks back to back seasons in the Top 10 in the points race for Allan as he finished in the 10th overall last season in the Montana Cats Circuit standings. Norcutt also returns to the season-ending top 10 after a one year hiatus. Steve had previously finished 4th in 2023.
Putting a bow on the top five was Austin Bement and Rochelle King, both of Sidney, MT. 27 lbs. even was good enough for the coveted spot. Austin is not a stranger to the top of the leaderboard at the "Clash" having finished in 3rd place in 2022 and he finds his way back this year.
That's a wrap on the 2025 Montana Cats season and what year it was! Thank you to the 4-Mile Bar for again being the host of the Friday night Calcutta, Social, and Fisherman feed. Montana Cats would like to give praise to Board of Director, Blake Gauer, for his continued selfless dedication to this long-standing event. We could not hold this event without him and his sore group of volunteers who travel all the way across Montana to get it done year in and year out. Blake runs a first class operation all the way around.
A total of 362 different anglers fished Montana Cats Circuit events this season, making it once again one of the most popular and competitve catfish circuits in the United States and for a second consecutive year over FIFTY different anglers fished multiple events on circuit.
Mark your calendars now for Saturday May 9th, 2026 when the season opening Yellowstone Challenge returns to Huntley, Montana for our 20th Annual event. Online registration is set to begin on January 1st. Make sure you visit www.montanacats.com to keep scratching that itch during the off-season. Until next year, Happy Cattin'!!
Final Results 15th Annual Missouri River Catfish Clash HERE
Posted in: Missouri River Catfish Clash
