Montana Catfish Association - News & Updates

July 17, 2010 by Montana Cats Staff

All eyes were on Eastern Montana once again this past weekend as the Montana Cats Circuit rolled into Sidney for the 2nd Annual Monster Cat Roundup. The Roundup, the 4th leg on the annual tour, burst onto the scene last summer and debuted with 23 teams. This years event ballooned to 35 teams, while continuing to grow into one of the finest catfish tournaments in the state. The weekend kicked off on Friday night with the Social and Calcutta of the fishing teams at the Ranger Lounge in downtown Sidney. The social was once again well attended and provided the perfect leadup to a long day on the water.

June 12, 2010 by MT Cats Staff

Savage, MT 6/12/10 – The small town of Savage, Montana was again all the buzz this past weekend as the annual Catfish Tourney came roaring in. Much like in past years, the tournament filled its 60-team field a few weeks in advance. Local anglers were abound and out of area teams were sprinkled in amongst the crowd, as is the case on the 2nd weekend of every June. In what has turned out to be one of the finest communities events in the area, this years 7th Annual Savage Fire Department Catfish Tournament did not disappoint.

The rules stayed the same for 2010 in this all out “slot fish” extravaganza. Each team is only allowed to weigh-in fish between 12″ and 18″. These rare tournament rules provide an interesting twist and continually keeps the leader board very tight. On a typical year, the winning team hovers around 6 lbs. This year provided an unbelievable day of fishing for “slots”, as the top six teams all weighed in over 6.34 lbs. Much of the drama was saved for the top of the leader board, however, as local anglers, Chad Maher, Soda Maher, and Clay Brower took this years tournament championship with a limit of five cats weighing in at 7.410 lbs., the 2nd best weight in tournament history. Nipping at their heels, was the tournament veteran crew of Brenner Flaten, Tyler George, and Cade Flaten. Boasting the third best weight in tourney history, the crew weighed in at 7.345 lbs. The Mahers and Brower’s victory of 0.06 lbs. is by far the tightest the event has ever seen. Casey Hamburg took home the separate big fish pot with a muscular cat tipping the scales at 12.11 lbs.

The whole weekend was an overwhelming success. The Friday night calcutta was well attended once again ,as many of the locals came and bid on their favorite fishing teams and good times were had by all involved. Saturday got off on the right foot, as breakfast was cooked right in front of the fire hall in downtown Savage, as teams began to gather for a fun/competitive day on the water. Teams were released in two flights beginning at 7:00 a.m. following the rules meeting. The tournament took place until 3:30, when all of the teams conjugated on the river bottom to weigh in their respective catches. As weights were tallied and fish were returned safely to the water, the teams began to retreat to the Fire Hall once again. At this time, an incredible amount of door prizes were given away and the tournament and calcutta winners were announced to the crowd. A free will farm raised catfish feed concluded the festivities on Saturday Night. If you want a change of pace and enjoy fishing for the “little guys” make sure you mark your calendar for Saturday June 11th, 2011. 

June 05, 2010 by Montana Cats Staff

WOW! What an unbelievable night of fishing on the Mighty Milk River this past weekend! 80 teams kicked off the festivities in Glasgow Friday night with the social and calcutta of the fishing teams held at the Montana Bar. The city of Glasgow buzzed with anticipation throughout the entire day on Saturday, as teams could be seen almost anywhere in preparation for the big event.

May 08, 2010 by Montana Cats Staff

What a weekend! When the Montana Catfish Association was searching for a catchy nickname for their newly found tournament back in the fall of 2006, they settled on “The Challenge”. Little did we know, it would turn out to be the perfect fit for this annual Yellowstone River event. The tournament is held on the 2nd weekend of May every year, which usually ensures unstable weather. Additional challenges include the fact that its held during mid-day and in typical very unstable river flows. This years version was no different for the field of 60 teams.

April 30, 2010 by MT Cats Staff

Lewellen, NE 5/1/10 – The 13th Annual Lake McConaughy Catfish Classic took place over the weekend. The Classic once again proved to be a true test of catfishing ability. The tournament was headquartered out of the Oregon Trail Trading Post just outside Lewellen, Nebraska and began Friday night with a calcutta/social and free burgers and brats for all the competitors. This years version pitted 53 avid teams against each other. Tournament boundaries included the entire Lake McConaughy and The North Platte River west to the town of Oshkosh. A ten fish limit, ten hours of fishing time, and the option to fish from boat or shore provided the anglers with a lot of flexibility throughout the tournament.

Tournament conditions were average, with temps in the upper 50’s, but winds gusting up to 30 mph. Overall weights were down drastically from previous years, as only 28 teams would weigh-in fish and 25 teams would come up empty handed. When the smoke cleared, however, it was the tournament veteran combo of Matt Ryan and Mike Oshea, both of Denver, Colorado that would take home the top prize. Last years 3rd place team and Big Fish winners, the duo remained patient throughout the entire tournament to help them boat a total of nine catfish weighing in at 33.66 lbs. Mike had this to say on their victory, “We didn’t have a single fish before noon, but ended up fishing 20 to 25 spots, and landed 8 of our 9 fish in two hours when we found a honey hole”.

Coming up just short, finishing in 2nd place was the local team of Buck Johnson and Robert Stitt, weighing in their limit of 10 cats at 31.3 lbs. Buck and Robert are no strangers to tournament success on Lake Mac either, as they finished 4th place in 2009 as well. They landed a total of 16 catfish on the day, and Buck gave us some insight into their success, “It was a pretty tough day overall till we started looking for them after lunch. We had nothing at noon, but we starting catching some bigger fish when we fell into 14 to 18 foot of water.” Only three teams would make a return to the top ten this year, but that group included last years champions, Loyd Volgamore and Marnie Ryan, finishing in a very respectable 7th place with 24.1 lbs. Montana Cats Field Staff members, Brenner and Jason Flaten, both of Wyoming, made the trip to Lewellen for the fourth consecutive year, placing 17th with 13.3 lbs.

If your looking to get your catfish tournament season off on the right foot in future years. Consider making a trek to Western Nebraska. Darrell and the crew at The Oregon Trail Trading Post are a class act, and put on a tremendous event.

Enjoy the pictures and complete final results from this past weekends event!