Montana Catfish Association - News & Updates

July 20, 2024 by Montana Cats Staff

7/20/24 Sidney, MT - For 16 years Steve and Ashley Harris have brought mid-summer fun to Sidney, MT. in the form of a Catfish Tournament on the Yellowstone River.  The annual Monster Cat Roundup is practically a religion for those that carve out the same weekend every single year to spend it in the Eastern Montana wilderness chasing BIG fish.  The Montana Catfish Association is one big family and this event and the greater Sidney area make up a large part of our organization.  This year's weather would cooperate and bring a clear sunny day to Richland County.  In return, the field of 48 would have the best day of fishing in tournament history. 

June 01, 2024 by Montana Cats Staff

6/1/24 Glasgow, MT - When an event reaches 25 years it is commonly referred to as that event's "Silver Jubilee".  It's only natural to want something special to happen when celebrating a quarter century of growth and sustained success.  That something special happened in 2024.  The Milk River Catfish Classic celebrated its 25th tournament in simply incredible fashion.  

May 11, 2024 by Montana Cats Staff

5/11/24 / Huntley, MT- The 18^th Annual Yellowstone Challenge kicked off the 2024 Montana Cats tourney circuit off this past weekend in grand fashion.  The Friday night festivities were highlighted with a social/Calcutta at the first-time tourney headquarters Longbranch Bar & Casino in Ballantine.  Paula and staff played gracious hosts & their outdoor venue provided a perfect backdrop for the Montana Catfish Association annual kick-off event.

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.  

July 24, 2023 by Montana Cats Staff

7/15/23 - Sidney, MT. - It was another great day on the Yellowstone River for the Annual Monster Cat Roundup!  This year provided more unique challenges for the 37 teams in attendance.  It happened to be the 3rd highest river levels in the 15-year history of the event as the streamflow hovered at 30,000 cubic feet per second.  Only the inaugural year and the flood year of 2011, provided higher water.  Our recent cooler summer temps also kept the water temperature nearly 8 degrees cooler than the tournament average.  Despite those obvious differences, fishing still proved to be quite difficult for much of the field.   
One team stood above all others, however, as the father-son duo of Todd Lindsay, Laurel, MT., and JJ Lindsay, Billings, MT., absolutely obliterated the field with a heaping basket of cats that tipped the scales at 37.03 lbs.  It proved to be nearly 11 lbs. clear of the runner-up team and marks the 2nd largest margin of victory in tournament history.  Todd turned an incredible trick on tournament day as he landed the TWO largest Cats of the day. An 11.08 lb. whopper and a 9.14 pounder to go with it.  Todd remarked, "It was 10:00 AM and we had 37 pounds.  After that, we did continue to catch 5 pound fish and we could have had a 2nd basket of nearly 25 lbs."  This marks the first Montana Cats Circuit win for the Lindsay family and one this is extremely well deserved!  Todd, JJ, and Kellie have been cutting their teeth on the circuit for 5+ years and they are not afraid to put in the time.  Congratulations to the whole family.