Twisted Cat Win Goes to Jim Gillenwater and Paul McIntosh
by Ron Presley,
Photos courtesy of Twisted Cat Outdoors by Tom Stolze
Fishing was good as 50 out of 53 teams brought fish to the scales!
The Twisted Cat Outdoors Fishing Series stopped over at Muscatine, IA on Saturday, August 5, 2023, to hold a competition on the Mississippi River. The winners were determined by the heaviest 5-fish limit with no over or under limits.
A captains meeting was held Friday, August 4th from 5 to 7 pm at Pearl City Station to go over rules, answer questions, and enjoy a little camaraderie before the competition began. Josh Wilson was the lucky winner of a free entry to an upcoming Twisted Cat tournament!
Tournament day began with registration and boat check at 5:00 am. Fishing hours began at 7:00 am with lines in the water and continued until 3:00 pm. Anglers were due in the weigh-in line at the beautiful Muscatine Riverfront by 4:30 pm.
Anglers were greeted with rain early but a beautiful day later that included mostly sunny skies. A high temperature in the low 80s with winds out of the east at 10 to 15 mph provided comfortable fishing conditions. The early morning showers cleared to sunny skies by weigh-in.
All the fish weighed were channel cats or flatheads. Blue cats are nonexistent on that part of the river because the blues cannot get above the dam at Keokuk, IA.
First Place and Big Fish
The top spot went to Jim Gillenwater and Paul McIntosh. They teamed up to bring a total weight of 73.73 pounds to the scales for the win. Their bag included Big Fish of the tournament, a nice 42.00-pound flathead. They earned $6,944 for first place and added $500 for the Castaway Customs MWSC Big Fish award for a total of $7,444.
In a move to separate themselves from other anglers Gillenwater and McIntosh locked through to the pool above Muscatine. The team tried to bottom bounce when they could but the current was pretty slow so they also did some anchor fishing with one surprising result.
“We were getting away from the other boats,” informed Gillenwater. “The first spot paid off with 3 fish. We moved around a lot to find our fish.”
The team reported that the weather was good even though it rained a little in the morning. When the rain stopped the sun came out and the temperature rose to the mid-80s making for a nice fishing day.
“I like to be sure the bait is fresh,” Gillenwater said. “I prefer to change it out about every half hour. We cast netted our bait and had mooneye, shad, and a few bluegills. We caught most of our fish on mooneye. I like the mooneye best. It’s not about the blood, it’s about the oil. Shad is bloody, but mooneye is more oily and normally works best. We caught our fish in water that ranged from 20 to 25 feet deep.”
A surprise awaited them on one anchor spot. As they were preparing to make one of their many moves a line came tight.
“I was reeling up a line and it got tight,” recalled Gillenwater. “I thought it was hung up. The fish had bitten and just laid there giving no indication of a bite. It turned out to be our 43-pound flathead.”
Second Place
The runner-up spot went to the team of Dylan Lawson and Beau Brady with a total weight of 51.47 pounds. They earned a check for $3,466.
“The start of the morning for Twisted Cats Muscatine was much different than expected,” reported Lawson. “We woke up to a decent rain that lasted until about 6:00 am that morning. Not knowing that this weather was going to come in we thought it would change the pattern we were on the days leading up to the event.”
Lawson and Brady remained confident. They felt that the fish would still be where they found them but they expected to have to work to make them bite.
“We spent the entire day bumping mooneye and shad,” continued Lawson. “We were targeting the tops and back sides of wing dam tips. Our B’n’M Fishing bumping rods were prepared with a conventional 3-way bumping rig with a 7/0 Boss Kat Boss circle hook.”
The team was bumping at about .3 to .5 mph. They also landed several fish with the 10-foot B’n’M Silver Cat Magnum drifting out of the sides of the boat.
“This combination of bumping and drifting resulted in a pretty steady bite all day,” explained Lawson. “We caught about 20 fish on the day. It also gave us a shot at a very big flathead that I fought for about 6 or 7 minutes until he popped off the hook! It was heartbreaking, but oh well that’s fishing. We are happy with the results!
Lawson and Brady thanked their sponsors BnM Fishing, Boss Kat Hooks, Real Magic, and Kick’n Bass Fish Attractants.
Third Place
The third place spot at Muscatine went to Jason Burgus, Josh Mayes, and Blake Boecker with a total weight of 49.40 lbs. The team earned a check for $2,080.
“The morning began with rain,” reported Blake Boecker. “It started around 1:00 in the morning so it was raining at check-in when we took off around 5:00 am. It had mostly stopped by 7:00 am when we could begin fishing.”
The team used a combination of shad and mooneye for bait. The bait of choice for the day was shad. The team started their day where they found fish while prefishing for the tournament.
“We started the day anchoring,” continued Boecker. “We had found some nice fish in 15 to 20 feet of water during prefishing but those fish didn’t want to bite. We managed a few smaller fish there.”
Given the slow bite, the team decided to make a move to another spot that was a little deeper.
“We switch to a spot that ranged from 20 to 25 feet of water,” explained Boecker. “We began dragging baits and catching some nice fish. We had some battery issues with the trolling motor after our second pass and couldn’t continue to fish there.”
The team traveled downriver several miles to a sandflat where the current was less to finish out the day. With little current or wind, they were able to drag the area using the trolling motor even with the weak batteries. They picked up their last bigger channel cat at the final spot and used it to fill out their limit. The team caught around 12 fish during the tournament.
“We want to give a shout-out to Jerry Cline and TWC Rods,” concluded Josh Mayes. “Thanks also to Kevin Parks and Parks Planer Boards. That’s the equipment we use and they have taken good care of us for years.”
Other Winners
4th Place – Ray Sanders & Terry McKenna – 48.82 lbs.
5th Place – Ron King, Buddy Weisenburger, & Craig Simlar – 47.54 lbs.
6th Place – Bobby Lee & Kyle Johnson – 45.17 lbs.
7th Place – Cory Branning, Clayton Huff, & Rick Powers – 44.43 lbs.
8th Place – Corey Kitzmann & Shawn Simmons – 42.42 lbs.
Final Thoughts
The Muscatine, IA event was the 6th of the 2023 season for Twisted Cat Outdoors but the first time to be at Muscatine. It attracted 52 teams plus 1 grassroots team. They came from several states to battle it out on the Mighty Mississippi.
“The fishing was exceptional at Muscatine,” said Tournament Director Alex Nagy. “We had a great event with 53 total teams. Unexpectedly, 50 out of 53 teams weighed fish! That’s crazy! Everyone had a blast with 20 teams catching at least 1 fish over 10 pounds.”
“Muscatine was a very accommodating city,” concluded Nagy. “The host hotel was right across from Pearl City Station where we held the captains meeting. The meeting included food vendors and a local brewery that prepared and served a Twisted Cat Outdoors beer! Muscatine is one of the top cities I have been to that support the catfish community as they did. We are so excited to return next year.”
With 4 tournaments left in the season, qualifying anglers are beginning to look forward to the year-ending, no-entry-fee, invitation-only, championship at Lake Ouachita, AR. Anglers will vie for the championship and $35,000.”
For more information on Twisted Cat Outdoors visit their website or follow them on Facebook. Their next tournament will be out of Caruthersville, MO on August 19, 2023.
