If it is trophy catfish you’re after, the Mississippi River around Memphis is a good place to start. In fact, 184 catfishing teams did just that on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016. They all launched in the early morning darkness in search of some Mississippi River Monsters, appropriately enough, the name of the tournament.
Anglers could fish from 7:00 AM until 3:00 PM before coming to the scales to determine who had the heaviest 5 fish and who had the biggest fish. Braggin’ rights were at stake.
For anyone that has ever been there, they know it can be stressful to weigh a big fish early and then have to wait as some of the best catfish anglers in the world come to the scales with their catch. That is exactly what happened at the inaugural presentation of the Mississippi River Monsters catfish tournament.
It was the Catbusters Team of Tim and Teresa Owenby, and Teresa’s dad Russel Richards, that came in early with a 72-pound Mississippi River blue catfish. The big bruiser knocked out the previous 40 something pound fish that had been setting in the top spot.
Now it was a waiting game. Anglers like Phil King, Larry Muse, Jeff “Big Daddy” Dodd, Bill Dance, Carl Morris Jr., David Shipman, Natalie Brooke Wilbanks, Jason and Daryl Massingale, Zed and Josh Moore, and the list goes on. Tons of excellent, award winning anglers were yet to weigh. The stress level had to be high.
Maybe it is a good thing that the stress was in the family. At least they could console each other. Teresa spent part of the waiting time reliving the experience and enjoying the moment in the spotlight.
“We were anchor locked and drifting bait back on current seams,” recounted Teresa. “Dad’s pole got a few small taps. Then down it went. I saw his pole bend to the water.”
He went to reeling,” continued Teresa. “Then I said, ‘oh dad, you have a monster.’ About that time the fish came up and rolled. Seeing him reel that big fish in was awesome. He was so excited.”
That’s who I get my excitement from,” commented Teresa, speaking of her dad. “He was on cloud nine. He is ready to come back to Mississippi River Monsters next year.”
Many times in the past anglers have weighed in big fish only to have one of the remaining anglers weigh in a bigger one. This time it was not to be. The spotlight continued to shine on the 72 pound monster catfish. It survived the remaining weigh ins and Russel Richards hung on to claim the Big Fish title.
Richards received a $1,000 cash prize from the official big fish sponsor, Whisker Seeker Tackle. The catfish tackle supplier also provided the Big Cat winner with a stone and iron catfish trophy, one custom rod rack for 20 rods and six Chad Ferguson heavy rods.
Richards’ big blue catfish will be move to the aquarium at Bass Pro Shops and Richard’s will receive a replica to hang on his wall and document his trophy catch.
“Oh my goodness that’s the biggest fish I’ve ever seen,” said Richards. “It was one of my best trips ever.”
