King Kat Win at Smith Mountain Lake Goes to Bill and Cindy White
by Ron Presley,
Photos courtesy of King Kat
Bill and Cindy White also claimed Big Fish honors with a nice channel cat that broke the 10-pound mark.
The King Kat Tournament Trail hosted its latest event on Smith Mountain Lake. The two-day event attracted 11 teams and 23 anglers from 8 states to take part in the competition.
The King Kat organization was praised for its response to the small number of boats and upped the payout beyond what 11 boats would generate. In a gesture that recognized the anglers for their support, the organization posted a payout that equaled a 26-boat field.
Smith Mountain Lake is touted as a family-friendly destination with channel cats and flatheads most likely in a an anglers bag. It was reported that the big fish of the tournament may have been a white catfish.
Anglers fishing the event were vying for championship honors, cash payouts, plain old fishing fun, and an opportunity to fish in the Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s King Kat Classic on Santee Cooper at Eutawville, SC on November 8, 2024.
When the weigh-in was complete and the weights recorded, first place and Big Fish went to the same team. Additionally, Lonnie and Donnie Fountain claimed the 2024 Signature Series points race.
First Place and Big Fish 
The top spot at Smith Mountain Lake was claimed by Bill and Cindy White. They led on day one with a three-fish weight of 22.82 pounds. They added 13.79 pounds on day two for a total winning weight of 36.61 in only 5 fish. They earned the 1st place check for $2,900. Their day two bag included Big Fish of the Tournament at 10.45 pounds to add $1,000 to their payday. The team’s total payday was $4.400.
“Smith Mountain Lake appeared to be mainly a recreation lake,” noted Cindy. “Stripers are the most commonly targeted fish. We only had one day to prefish on Thursday and chose the Roanoak River arm.”
Bill and Cindy found the main channel to run about 100+ feet deep. They found abundant standing timber in a channel that was rather narrow in most places. They scanned several coves and tried fishing a couple with zero luck.
“The farther upriver we went the main channel was getting shallower,” recalled Cindy. “But there was still lots of standing timber. We found areas with fewer trees so we started pulling our B-Kat boards.”
They were still experiencing enough structure that it resulted in several break-offs from getting hung up. Nevertheless, they quickly caught two decent channels.
“At that point, we decided to leave that area and put it at the top of our list,” offered Cindy. “We continued upriver and found 3 or 4 other places we could pull boards. We had no bites unless we were moving our baits.”
The team targeted the first spot on their list on tournament day one. They had their limit of 3 fish by 9 am. The biggest in their bag was about 10 pounds. They continued to fish and cull for a better weight.
“As we worked our way upriver we picked up an 8-pounder,” Cindy said. “That upgraded our bag by about 4 pounds. We caught a total of 6 fish with one being a 14-pound striper. We ended day one in first place with 22.81 pounds and big fish at 9.84 pounds.”
Bill and Cindy returned to their target area on day two. The lake was dropped on Friday night and they were concerned that the fish may have moved.
“We only caught one channel right at daylight,” reported Cindy. “It was definitely more than 10 pounds. We were losing so much tackle we decided to move upriver. There were a couple of other catfish boats in the area, so we continued upriver to where we caught the 8-pounder on Friday.”
The new area produced a few dink bites but no fish until 11 am. They caught their second and what would be the last fish of the day. It was about 3 pounds and came from some shallower water. As a hail Mary they returned unsuccessfully to their first area hoping to catch a third fish.
“The pleasure boats were out in full force by the afternoon,” Cindy said. “It made boat control even tougher. We lost more tackle but zero fish. We could only hope we had enough to hold on to first place and big fish.”
“We want to thank King Kat for running a top-notch trail and welcoming us into their family,” concluded Cindy. “We also want to thank our sponsors Dry Creek Marine, B-Kat Boards, Xtra Inning Sports Apparel, KatMama Industries, and Caveman Clips/RPC nets for their support.
Second Place 
The runner-up spot went to spot went to Lonnie and Donnie Fountain. The twin brother team had finished in second place on day one with 19.18 pounds just a couple of pounds out of the lead. They finished with a two-day total weight of 35.29 pounds but it wasn’t quite enough to catch the first-place team but it was enough to give them the Signature Series points race 2024. They earned the second-place check for $2,000. They had one of the few flatheads.
Third Place and First-Place Youth 
Third-place honors went to Christopher and Connor Lee Terry. They posted a two-day weight of 22.20 pounds to earn the second-place check of $900. Connor was awarded 1st place in the Youth Division.
Second Big Fish
The Second Big Fish of the tournament went to Anthony Brown and Lesley Fisher with a 9.51-pound channel cat.
Note: To view more photos and see more winners from the event visit the King Kat Facebook page.
Final Thoughts
Local anglers identified a big cold front that came through and a dropping water level as a huge reason for a tough bite, especially the flathead bite. As it turned out few flatheads were weighed at the tournament.
“The cold front coming in and the water dropping definitely presented a challenge to the anglers,” noted King Kat photographer and social media assistant, Olivia Osteen. “The lake is quite large and has varying depths which can make it hard to locate fish. Smith Mountain Lake is home to a variety of fish species like stripers, bass, carp, and catfish. The large number of stripers tricked some anglers into thinking they were catfish.”
“The behavior of fish is part of the unique challenge when fishing any body of water,” continued Osteen. “We have heard that here on Smith Mountain Lake the flathead bite is just now changing to be more dominant during the day. Local anglers expect more daytime catches of flatheads coming soon. Before now, flatheads were caught mostly at night.”
King Kat offered a special thanks to the anglers and their families for fishing with them and supporting the event. They also thanked all the King Kat sponsors and supporters including Johnny Morris Bass Pro Shops/Cabelas and Visit Franklin County, Virginia.
Osteen also invited anglers and spectators to the next King Kat tournament on October 19 in Huntsville, AL where anglers will fish Wheeler Lake. Interested anglers can register for the event on the King Kat website.
For more information on King Kat visit their website or follow them on Facebook.
