Montana Catfish Association - News & Updates

May 09, 2020 by Montana Cats Staff

5/9/20 (Huntley, MT) – The 2020 Montana Cats tourney season kicked off this past weekend with the 14th Annual Yellowstone Challenge in Huntley.  This year provided a welcome break from the turbulent river conditions present the past couple years.  51 jet boats entered and 41 teams weighed fish.  After the dust settled, an impressive 14 teams finished with a basket over 20 lbs. (over a 5 lb. average).  

In the end, the leaderboard was littered with tourney veterans.  Last year’s Milk River Catfish Classic champion Steve Harris partnered with 2 time Yellowstone Challenge champion Nick Fortier.  Their 24.15lb basket was good enough for fifth place.  Former Challenge champion Rod Seder and his brother Rob claimed 4th place with 25.97 lbs.  That marks the ninth time Rod has placed in the top 15 in the Yellowstone Challenge.  

August 17, 2019 by Montana Cats Staff

8/17/2019 (Williston, ND) – Since 2011, the Missouri Catfish Clash has given local anglers a chance to consistently battle with BIG Channel Cats.  It is no longer a secret.  Tournament boundaries stretch from the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri River's in far western North Dakota and head east to the western reaches of Lake Sakakawea. offer fisherman a chance at a trophy nearly every time their baits hit the water.  It's a given every single year for the champion team to have a basket with over a 7+ lb. average and it's no surprise that the event is one of the most popular on tour.

This year the event had 53 boats, up 13 from 2018, as anglers from Montana, North Dakota, and Wisconsin battled on a cool, wet unseasonable day.  Many of the tournament fisherman were on the water pre-fishing on Friday and enjoyed sunny skies and upper 80 degree temperatures.  Saturday featured a high in the low 60's with rain sporadic throughout tournament hours.    

July 20, 2019 by Montana Cats Staff

7/20/2019 (Sidney, MT) – With near perfect weather and stable to slightly dropping water in the forecast, anglers could only hope that the fish would cooperate for the 11th Annual Monster Cat Roundup in Sidney this past Saturday.  Fisherman knew it would still prove to be difficult, however.  As is customary at the Roundup, Channel Catfish were in the middle to nearing the end of their spawn and water temperatures were hovering in the upper 70's.  This traditionally causes fish to become a bit tight-lipped and makes the anglers take extra precaution with each of their individual catches.  A good working live-well aerator on the boat or in a large cooler becomes essential to every team.  Anglers also introduce fresh water at every stop and can be seen introducing ice and frozen water bottles to their water storage system throughout the day.  All of this with the intent of weighing in five healthy fish at the end of the day and returning them all safely to the water at the conclusion of weigh-ins.    

June 01, 2019 by Montana Cats Staff

6/1/19 (Glasgow, MT) - The 20th Annual Milk River Catfish Classic was historic in more ways than one.  In the weeks leading up to the tournament, the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce announced a “New” event in conjunction with the Catfish Classic.  The Inaugural Milk River Catfish Days brought a whole new flavor to downtown Glasgow that lasted the entire weekend.  The community enjoyed two nights of live music, a pancake breakfast, a bloody mary and breakfast burrito brunch hosted by the Elks, a Corn hole tournament for both youth and adults, a beer pong tournament, a catfish fry catered by the Cottonwood, the school’s out carnival hosted by the Children’s Museum, a 1 Mile / 5k Race called the Catfish Crawl, a pitching booth hosted by the Glasgow Reds, Catfish “Crazy Days” for vendors and retail stores alike, a youth fishing tournament at Home Run Pond, and a youth outdoors clinic hosted by the Hi-Line Sportsmen. All of the aforementioned events added to the traditional; Friday night Calcutta, Social, and Street Dance, the 20th Annual Cat Classic, and the “Famous Midnight Weigh-ins” to make this year’s version one that will not be soon forgotten.

This year’s 80-team field was filled during the first month of open registrat

May 14, 2019 by Montana Cats Staff

5/11/19 Huntley, MT- Catfish enthusiasts packed into CowBoys Bar & Casino for the annual kick-off tourney to the Montana Cats tour this past Friday evening.  Through the duration of the Calcutta/social, the crowd experienced overcast and rainy conditions, threatening to play a familiar scene on most historical Yellowstone Challenge tourney weekends.  Competition day, however, was an entirely different story.  Seventy degree temps, light winds and moderate river flows were a welcome change over the course of this year’s affair.  The 2018 Yellowstone Challenge boasted RECORD flows of over 40,000 CFS.  The 2019 version punched the meter at just over 10,000 CFS.  That is in large part why this event is such a CHALLENGING competition.  Unpredictable spring weather and flows consistently throw a wrench in even the most seasoned catfish veteran’s plans.