Montana Cats Staff

May 13, 2023 by Montana Cats Staff

5/13/23, Huntley, MT- The Yellowstone River is the longest free flowing river in the lower 48.  In it’s most Western reaches it boasts trophy class trout.  The further east it meanders, the water temperature rises.  The combination of rising water temps, plentiful forage fish and attractive underwater structure transforms the Yellowstone from a Trout haven, into one of the finest Channel Catfish destinations in the region.  The primary Channel Catfish populations in the Yellowstone span from the confluence near Williston, ND to as far West as Huntley, MT.  The western boundary of this long free flowing beauty is where the Yellowstone Challenge Catfish tournament has taken place the past 17 years, the second Saturday in May. 

August 20, 2022 by Montana Cats Staff

8/20/2022 (Williston, ND) – They needed a big day.  They delivered.  Eddie White and Eric Braunberger, both of Miles City, MT., were trailing four other fishermen for this year's Angler of the Year honors heading into the final event of the season.  Anything less than a tournament championship would have probably meant falling short of the coveted prize.  At the end of the day, their run and gun approach pounding "cover" paid off with a Missouri River Catfish Clash title.  The champs weighed in 32.21 lbs. on five Channel Cats to give them exactly what they needed to secure AOY honors.  

July 22, 2022 by Montana Cats Staff

7/16/22 - Sidney, MT. - There always seems to be two mainstays at the Monster Cat Roundup.  The anglers should always expect a challenging bite and they should never forget the sunscreen.  This year provided more of the same.  The summer heat peaked in the mid 90's this time around, but despite those difficult conditions it is safe to say the 50-boat field won this version of the battle!  Twenty teams weighed in over 20 lbs. breaking the previous record of seventeen teams with 20+ pounds in 2020.  Teams reported solid weights, but limited numbers.  In what has become customary at this post-spawn event, a five fish limit presented it's own unique challenges.     
No one "cracked the code" quite like Glendive anglers, Cole Plouffe and Brett Burman.  The veteran Catfishermen deployed a mobile strategy that helped them land over 40 catfish throughout the duration of the event.  Those are numbers unheard of in this Sidney section for this time of year.  Cole stated, "We caught over 20 Cats in one spot and had 35+ pounds by 10:00 AM".  It is the first Monster Cat Roundup title for either angler, but it is a 6th tournament championship for Plouffe during his Montana Cats Career.  Moving himself into a tie with Chad Dawson and the Wise Guys (Bobby and Robert) for 3rd All-Time in career circuit victories.  Congratulations gentleman on a great day on the water!    

June 05, 2022 by Montana Cats Staff

Glasgow, MT 6/4/22 -  Low water.  That was the theme for this year's version of the Milk River Catfish Classic.  How would the fishermen adapt?  Would fishing become increasingly difficult?  Would teams still find a way to put together impressive baskets of fish?  Yes, fishing proved to be very difficult on an otherwise beautiful evening, however, many teams adapted and simply found a way.  Eighty teams brought 276 cats to the scales at the famous midnight weigh-ins in downtown Glasgow.  Forty two teams caught their limit of five Channel Cats, but only five teams brought in over 20 lbs.  Those numbers, unfortunately, bore a stark resemblance to the low water years of the early 2000's.    

May 14, 2022 by Montana Cats Staff

The 16th Annual Yellowstone Challenge Catfish Tournament kicked off the 2022 Montana Cats tour this past weekend in Huntley.  The total 60 team field filled weeks in advance, a clear indication of the excitement surrounding this year’s event.  The teams gathered on Friday night at the NEW tournament headquarters at the beautiful Rhoadside Event Center in downtown Huntley for the rules meeting and Calcutta.  If the “chatter” at the initial meeting were any indication, this year’s event would present a whole NEW set of challenges.  

Area drought conditions created uncharacteristically LOW flows, which required not only NEW fish locating re but requirements also superb boat navigation skills.  The week leading up to competition days saw flows as low as 4K CFS.  For comparison’s sake, the 2019 tourney boasted 40,000 CFS flows on the high side, more than 10X for flows for the 2022 event.  It’s these constant changing river conditions year-to-year and day-to-day, especially early season, that force anglers to adapt their skills to maximize catch rates.