Missouri River Catfish Clash

August 15, 2026 by Montana Cats Staff

8/15/26 Williston, ND. - The 16th Annual Missouri River Catfish Clash brought the 2026 Montana Cats Circuit to a fitting conclusion on Saturday, August 15, in Williston, North Dakota. With 42 boats registered for the season-ending event and 38 teams ultimately taking to the water, anglers from across the region came together for one final battle on the Missouri River. While weather can often play a major role in a late-summer catfish tournament, Mother Nature cooperated throughout the day, providing steady conditions that allowed the anglers to focus on the task at hand. The one thing that did prove difficult was finding the biggest cats. Big fish seemed to be at a premium throughout the event, and overall weights were noticeably down compared to previous years of the Missouri River Catfish Clash.

Despite the apparent case of lock-jaw among the Missouri River’s biggest cats, the competition remained fierce from start to finish. It still took more than 30 pounds to claim the championship, and an impressive 13 teams managed to break the 20-pound barrier while bringing a five-fish limit to the scales. Of the 38 teams that showed up to compete, 37 were able to put fish on the leaderboard during the live weigh-in at 5:00 p.m. Central Time. As always, the final hour brought plenty of anticipation as teams waited to see whether their catches would be enough to move them up the standings and finish the season on a high note.

When the final fish had been weighed, it was the husband-and-wife combination of Shawn and Whitney Becker of Sidney, Montana, who emerged as the 2026 Missouri River Catfish Clash champions. The Beckers put together an impressive five-fish limit weighing 30.71 pounds, securing the title and the event’s top payday. A huge part of their winning performance came from Whitney, who landed a true Missouri River pig—a 10.75-pound channel catfish. The big channel was good enough to earn Whitney and the team Big Fish honors and an additional $200. The championship marked a special milestone for the Beckers, as it was Shawn and Whitney’s first career hardware on the Montana Cats Circuit.

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.         

August 17, 2024 by Montana Cats Staff

8/17/24 Williston, ND - For the second consecutive Montana Cats circuit event we had newcomers breaking through for a tourney championship!  This time it was brothers; Kyle and Daniel Brown, both of Billings, MT. who showed up and showed out.  The Brown's were fishing the "Williston section" for the first time in their lives and were not even able to get their planned day of pre-fishing in on Friday.  Due to boat problems on Friday morning, the anglers had to spend the whole day tracking down tools/parts in Williston and getting their boat ready in time for tournament day.  This did not deter the dedicated anglers and they still managed to put together the best day out of an entire 43 boat field.  

August 19, 2023 by Montana Cats Staff

8/19/2023 (Williston, ND) – This year's Missouri River Catfish Clash proved to be the most difficult fishing in the 13 years of the event.  41 boats competed in the tournament and only nine teams would break the 20 lb. barrier.  Nothing less than 30+ pounds had ever taken the tournament championship at the "Clash", until this year!  Joshua Pruitt, Bismarck, ND., and Caleb Wells, Williston, ND. would ultimately grind out the victory.  They become only the second team to ever win a Montana Cats event while bringing four fish into a five fish weigh-in.  Their 4-fish basket tipped the scales at 25.12 lbs.; narrowly defeating last year's Champion, Eric Braunberger, Miles City, MT., and his partner Aaron Roble, also of Miles City.  The Miles City duo weighed in 25.03 lbs. on five fish.  

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.