#CatfishClass

Catfish stories that relate to a good deed warm my heart. In this Christmas season the Hold’em HOOK Christmas for Kids Tournament is an example of using the sport of catfishing to do good in the community.

The event began three years ago when tournament co-founders Steve Dobbs and Cad Daly discovered some families and children in their community that needed some help with Christmas. They decided that their interest and skills in catfishing may be the ticket to a happier Christmas for those families.

The year was 2015. They put their heads together and the HOLD’em HOOK Christmas for Kids Tournament was born. Two men, with and interest in catfishing and a desire to contribute to their community, started something that is likely to last for a long, long time. They will be the first to tell you that it wasn’t just them, but a whole group of volunteers and supporting catfish anglers that made it happen.

The entry fee was set as a $50 donation, of which 100% goes to sponsoring needy children and families in the local community. Six teams showed up that first year to support the cause.

“The tournament is growing,” said Dobbs. “From those 6 teams in 2015 we have grown to 18 teams in 2017.”

“A majority of our teams donate more than just the entry fee,” added Dobbs. “Yammer and Sons Bait Company provided the bait for the tournament and then donated the proceeds back to the Children’s fund. We received several monetary donations from companies and individuals such as Whisker Wear Apparel, Tim Berger with All American Catfish Tournament, John and Maggie Stevens and many others.”

In that first year the tournament raised enough funds to sponsor 1 family and 2 teenagers. The 2017 event raised over $2,000. As result of all who participated in the event, 15 individuals in 5 different families will have a merrier Christmas!

The 3rd Annual Christmas for Kids Catfish Tournament was held at Ingalls Harbor Pavilion and Event Center. Eighteen anglers competed for bragging rights and various prizes, including entries to Monsters on the Ohio and Winter Blues on Wheeler. Participating teams made donations as did their sponsors such as Katfish Apparel and many others. The anglers all had a good time and caught some good fish.

The competition was two events in one. The first being a big fish competition and the second being a 20-pound Challenge. The angler catching the biggest fish without going over 20 pounds would win the challenge.

At the end of the day it was Shon McWhorter who won bragging rights all around. Shon weighed in a 75.8-pound blue cat to win the big fish competition and also weighed in an 18.8-pound blue to win the closest to 20-pound challenge.

Interestingly, Shon almost skipped the tournament, but the purpose of the event changed his mind. He gave in to his charitable side and was glad that he did.

“I thought once about not fishing the tournament,” said Shon. “It was supposed to be windy, but given the good cause I took my chances.”

“Right after blast off I ran up river to my first spot,” recalled Shon. “I started cutting bait and putting lines in the water. As soon as I put my third line out my first rod went down. I started reeling it in and before I could boat it my second rod went down. After all the hectic commotion was over I had a 20-pound and 17-pound fish in the boat.”

“I got those fish in the livewell and lines back in the water. I fished for a while and caught another mid-teen cat. Then the bite just died. I sit on that spot for about another hour before deciding to move.”

“I pulled up anchor and ran upriver about 500 yards,” continued Shon. “I marked a good fish and decided to throw anchor and put some lines in the water. I got everything in the water again, sat down, and started having a little snack. As soon as I started eating my rod got slammed. I reeled down on it and the fight started.”

Shon fought the fish for around 45 minutes before getting it to the boat. Then the fun began. He was fishing solo and could not get the catfish in the net so he had to lay down and roll the big blue up and into the boat.

Shon’s decision to fish the tournament, despite the wind, paid off with a victory and the good feeling of helping others at Christmas time. Making it even sweeter for Shon, the win was his second in as many years at the HOLD’em HOOK Christmas for Kids Tournament.

Second place went to Chris Parker with a 48.9-pound blue cat. The wind played a role in his strategy too. He would hide from the wind and fish from the rope.

“With predicted wind gusts of 25 mph, I made the decision to go up to the ‘little’ section of the river,” reported Chris. “It was up towards Ditto Landing. That portion of the river ‘necks’ down and a fisherman can hide from the wind.”

“With wind predicted from the south early, I anchored close to the bank on south side of the Tennessee River. I anchored up on my first place, a spot that often has produced big fish. With no bites after, about 45 minutes, I decided to reposition baits. Not something I typically do, but I knew I was in a good spot and the wind was gusting early. I didn’t want to move.”

Chris’s stay-put-strategy worked. It only took about 15 minutes after repositioning his baits before a skipjack head on a Caroling rig went down. It was a 48-pounder.

“I was fishing in 40 feet of water,” recalled Chris. “But the line that the fish hit was toward bank in 20 feet of water. The rest of the day I caught 4 catfish, but all were smaller. The wind shifted to the west around lunch and I never did find any bigger fish.”

“This is third year I have fished the tournament,” concluded Chris. “It just gets better every year. So many fishermen coming out for such a great cause. The first year I finished 3rd and last year I didn’t catch a fish. I would like to thank Steve Dobbs and Cad Daly for taking time to put the Christmas for Kids Tournament on. Also to the many volunteers for their time and to the sponsors for donating to the event so the funds raised can go toward the children.”

Chris also thanked his sponsors, Bottom Dwellers Tackle and Whisker Wear Apparel for supporting his fishing activities.

Third place went to the team of Josh Brown and Cody Haynes. The Gadsden, AL team weighed in a 46.7-pound blue catfish to claim their spot. Before the tournament started, they had determined their strategy to be anchor fishing.

“We planned all week to drive upriver,” revealed Josh. “My friend and I done pretty good there in the past and we knew we would have some current to do some anchor fishing. We stopped at a slough mouth where the bait seemed to be holding. There was structure all up and down the ledge in front of the mouth.”

“We caught 6 fish for the day,” reported Josh. Four of them was in the 30- to 47-pound range. The other two were about 12 pounds each. We caught all our catfish on skipjack that I had vacuum sealed and put up for winter fishing.”

“We had an overcast day with moderate temperatures,” added Cody. “Winds were at 20 mph from the south. So, we decided to head upriver and fish the south bank in some current. We anchored in about 20 feet of water on the ledge line all day because that’s where the bait was. The action was pretty fast once we got setup.”

“The tournament had a friendly atmosphere,” concluded Cody. “Steve Dobbs got everyone weighed in quickly and kept the line rolling. It was a fun experience for a great cause.”

“Christmas for Kids is a awesome event,” said Josh. “Cad and Steve do a great job getting everything ready and lining up sponsors to donate prizes for the fisherman. This was my first Christmas for Kids tournament and I had a blast. I’ll definitely be coming back for next year’s event.”

A Top Finishing Female award is also given. Sherry Rebecca stepped up with a 27-pound flathead to claim the prize. Julie Lovelace finished second with a catfish of 14.7 pounds.

“I love helping others,” declared Sherry Rebecca. “It’s something I make sure I do every day. Especially children and elderly people. So anytime I can combine things that I love to do, like fishing and helping, well that’s what I call a truly blessed day. Knowing that those babies will all have something at Christmas, well it honestly makes me cry. I didn’t have anything growing up and I know how it is.”

“As for winning? Well, that’s just awesome. It was a beautiful day and the fishing was good. The wind was supposed to be bad, but we were able to tuck in close to bank and the water was fairly calm. Plenty of fish were caught. Not many big catfish though. Well, Shon found a big one. I’m glad it happened to such a great guy!”

“Winning this particular tournament was like having my cake and eating it too,” offered Sherry Rebecca. “I helped others and got rewarded.”

“I loved fishing in the HOLD’em HOOK Christmas for Kids Tournament,” said Lovelace. “I think that it is awesome to have tournaments like these. All of the money goes towards buying Christmas gifts for kids whose families can’t afford it. Scott and I are so blessed with what we have and are able to go and do. It feels great to be able to give back to families in need during the holiday season.”

“We have lots of volunteers that help make this event successful,” concluded Cad. “Especially all of Steve’s family. They put in hours and hours to make this event successful. Personally, I get satisfaction from helping kids and families have a Christmas that they wouldn’t have otherwise.”

“I would just like to thank God for all of his many blessings,” added Steve. “There are too many folks to name that donated prizes, money, and time in this 2017 Christmas for Kids  catfish event. I want to thank all the catfishing families that support and encourage us to continue growing this sport we all love. The catfishing people are a great community. Thank you all, Merry Christmas, and May God Bless.” 

Epilogue:

Cad and Steve plan to continue hosting the Christmas for Kids Event as part of the HOLDem’ HOOK Catfish Trail.

“We want to sponsor more families,” said Steve. “Our event for 2018 is scheduled for November 17th at Ingalls Harbor in Decatur, Alabama.”

You can follow HOLDem’ HOOK Catfish Trail by looking them up on Facebook and liking their page. Better yet, put the 2018 date on your calendar and join some friends for some good fun, for a good cause.