Big Cat Shootout winners, Brinkley and Goggin, produce a record weight of Arkansas blues.
When Kevin Davis had the notion to produce the Big Cat Shootout, he challenged catfish anglers to go fishing and come back with their biggest fish. The result is a big fish, big pot payout. Santee Cooper always comes through with the big cats and anglers support the 100 percent payout.
Teams pay $500 each to fish knowing that 100 percent of the entry fees will be distributed to the top few teams. With the number of teams entered in 2020, the pot went to the top three teams. An optional Big Fish Pot was entered by all the anglers in a winner take all format. Thirty registered boats created a $15,000 payout.
Friday, December 11, the first day of the tournament, challenged anglers with visibility hampering fog before day two offered a beautiful day to fish in Santee Cooper Country.
“The weekend started out with a fog like never seen before on Santee,” reported tournament weighmaster, Mark Coburn. “Anglers visibility was limited to maybe 10 yards in front of them causing many anglers to anchor fish until the fog cleared.”
Unfortunately, the fog did not lift until after 1 p.m. Later, some reported unintentionally drifting around in circles with limited visibility. At the end of day one, Jeff Brinkley and Daniel Goggin held the lead with 85 pounds of Santee Cooper blues.
“Day two weather was beautiful,” continued Coburn. “The teams were able to fish in any style they wanted. Some anchored while others fish the traditional drifting patterns that Santee is known for.”
The Winners
Day one leaders, Brinkley and Goggin weighed in approximately 84 pounds on day two. Their total weight of 169 pounds in 4 fish in two days set the record for the Big Cat Shootout. Their consistency earned them the first-place payout of $7,500.
“We anchored shallow in the morning,” reported Brinkley. “We were fishing about 4 feet deep. Once the fog lifted around ll:30 am we started drifting. We caught one of our fish shallow on cut shad. Then we caught a 55-pounder drifting with cut shad.”
“We fish the same plan on day two,” continued Brinkley. “We didn’t catch any fish early. We finally caught one blue while drifting and added a flathead anchored up in about 20 feet of water.”
“I’d like to give a big shout-out to Kevin Davis at Black’s Fish Camp and Restaurant,” added Goggin. “We had a blast and are looking forward to next year.”
Second Place
The runner-up spot went to Brad McCall and Mike Durham. They teamed up to bring a total two-day weight (4 fish) of 162 pounds to the scales to claim the second-place finish.
McCall congratulated Brinkley and Goggin on the win and sent a big thank you to Kevin Davis for putting on the tournament. Second place paid $4,500.
Third Place
The third spot went to Richard Chapman and his partner. Their two-day four fish weighed 160.70 pounds. Third Place paid $3000.
Big Fish
Thomas Walker and Dee Young landed the Big Fish of the tournament at 71 pounds. It was Dee’s personal best and paid the team $1,450.
“The start of day one was a disaster,” reported Young. “The fog was so thick you couldn’t see 20 feet, so we struggled getting out of Blacks Camp. Once we got out to the lake, we didn’t feel comfortable driving across the lake knowing other boats were out there and we couldn’t see them.”
The team didn’t want to idle to get to where they wanted to go so they just winged it close in. They got one 12-pound fish. That night they came up with a game plan for the fog. They decided to ditch the drifting and fish on the rope.
“Within 30 minutes we had our first fish in the boat,” recalled Young. “It was around 10 pounds. Minutes later we landed a 23-pound fish.”
As Young was re-baiting the rod that just caught the 23-pounder, his other rod went down.
“When I picked the rod up, I didn’t think it was that big of a fish,” explained Young. “But the fight was on because it quickly wrapped me up in a snag and I couldn’t move it. I put the rod back into the holder and turned my attention back to baiting the other rod.”
Then Young’s fish came unsnagged and the fight continued. The team saw the fish roll on the surface and knew it was big, just not how big.
“When it got next to the boat the fight became more intense,” continued Young. “It peeled drag going under the boat and nearly broke me off on Thomas’ Talons. “We were gridlocked. I couldn’t move her, and she couldn’t move me. It was a total stalemate.
When the big fish finally came up the pair of anglers were in awe of what they saw as they scooped her into the net and tried to pick the fish up into the boat.
“Thomas thought the net was stuck on something,” said Young. But it was actually the sheer weight of the fish. That’s when we tag teamed her and got her in the boat, removed the hook, and tried weighing her. The scale kept bouncing between 70 pounds and 90 pounds.”
At that point, they decided to head back to weigh-in. They wanted to maximize the chances of a healthy release.
“It killed us to pick up and leave,” said Young. “We felt in our hearts that another quality fish may be there. I’m not saying we would have caught another 71-pound fish but with only 12 pounds after day one we knew we needed a couple of 70- to 80-pound fish to win. That spot at that moment gave us our best shot. We took her in and ended up with Big Fish. It was truly a blessing and a fish we will never forget.”
Young was still running on adrenaline and recalling when he used to travel from Colorado to fish Santee.
“I was born and raised in Denver, CO,” concluded Young. “I’ve only been here 2 years and used to drive 24 hours to come here to fish, see some family, and go back home. To live here now and catch these fish is a blessing I don’t take for granted.”
Epilogue
The lakes of Santee Cooper continue to grow their reputation as a big catfish destination. They are perfectly located for a major tournament and Black’s Camp Big Cat Shootout promises to be just that.
Mother Nature played with the anglers on day one, but they were not to be outdone. They battle the inclement weather to bring plenty of big cats to the scales. Given the two fish per day weigh-in, just about any fish that came to the scales was a good one. Congrats to all the teams that challenged the elements to produce a successful tournament.
Thanks are due to the tournament director, Kevin Davis, and weighmaster, Mark Coburn for keeping everything running smoothly. Stay connected with the Black’s Camp Big Cat Shootout on Facebook to learn the dates and details of next year’s event.
