Montana Catfish Association - News & Updates

July 18, 2026 by Montana Cats Staff

7/18/26 Sidney, MT. - The 18th Annual Monster Cat Roundup featured 35 teams and numerous anglers that had their eyes on the top prize, but in the end it was a father-son duo that put it all together and won their first ever Montana Cats tournament title.  Abraham Hawkins and Kenneth Hawkins, both of Billings, MT., followed up last year's runner-up finish in Sidney with 36.04 lbs.  It isn't easy going top two in a tournament in back to back years but Team Hawkins has been quietly ascending on the Montana Cats Circuit for the last half a decade and now they may be here to stay!  The highlight of the day for the winning squad came when Abraham boated a 15.08 lb. giant, the second largest Channel Cat in tournament history.  Only Nicole Peterson's 16.02 lb. Cat from 2020 is larger throughout the 18 years of the event.  Abraham credited the addition of an oxygen system to his boat livewell setup; which helped keep their fish healthy on a day where water temperatures exceeded 80 degrees.  

June 07, 2026 by Montana Cats Staff

Montana Cats proudly welcomes Nate Molstad into our Inaugural Hall of Fame Class after a stellar career on the water.  Nate’s accomplishments as a competitive catfish angler are well documented.  His highlights include NINE tournament championships on the MT Cats Circuit; including a RECORD five titles at the Milk River Catfish Classic; displaying remarkable consistency on his home waters.  He also added three Missouri River Catfish Clash WINS to his resume over a 6-year span from 2011 to 2016.  All told, Nate holds fourteen Top 3 finishes and twenty four Top 10 finishes in Montana Cats events.

His tournament winning 40.95 lb. basket at the 2010 Cat Classic still stands as an all-time tournament record as of 2026 and his 40.17 lb. basket from 2017 is the second highest weight all-time.

Molstad was the 2017 Runner-up for Montana Cats Angler of the Year honors after having previously earned 2010 Unofficial Angler of the Year honors.

Nate proudly served as a board of Director for the Montana Catfish Association from 2008 to 2010.  

He is a native of Glasgow, Montana and now makes his home in Havre, MT. with his wife Ashley and their two children; Kaesen and Maycee.

June 06, 2026 by Montana Cats Staff

The 8th Annual Milk River Catfish Days featured the Catfish Crawl, Cornhole Tournament, Children's Carnival, street vendor show, food trucks, live music, calcutta/street dance, and so much more.  The Milk River Catfish Classic was again the focal point of the weekend as this year's event marked the 27th Annual.  80 two-person teams descended on the Milk River bottom Saturday night from 4:00 PM to 12:00 AM with one objective in mind; to tangle with the mighty Channel Cat.  The tournament featured variable weather patterns throughout.  Mid 80's and sun at the opening rules meeting eventually gave way to bouts of wind, thunder, lightning, and scattered showers.  As the anglers seemingly do every year, they overcame all obstacles to bring impressive baskets to the famous midnight weigh-ins.  76 out of 80 teams weighed in fish, but it was one team who stole the show and a crowd of nearly 700 people was on hand to witness it.      

May 09, 2026 by Montana Cats Staff

5/9/26 Huntley, MT. -  For two decades the top Catfisherman in the State of Montana have kicked off the Montana Cats Circuit in Huntley.  This year marked the 20th Annual Yellowstone Challenge Catfish Tournament.  The Challenge is a competitive family-friendly event that takes place on the 2nd Saturday of every May.  Like clockwork, a FULL field of 60 two-person teams will hit the water in their Jet Boats and tackle the Stone for a full eight hours.  This year's event ran from 10 AM to 6 PM and offered the anglers changing weather patterns throughout the day; from rains, to overcast, to variable sunshine.  Despite the various weather changes, the fish came out to play all day long and it resulted in the most impressive top-end of the leaderboard in tournament history.  44 teams finished with over 20 lbs. and an incredible 17 teams finished with over 30 lbs.  The latter marks an all-time RECORD surpassing the total number of 30 lb. baskets set just last year in the 2025 Yellowstone Challenge.    

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.