The Mt. Vernon, IN event posted a King Kat record weight
Catfish anglers from nine states traveled to the Ohio and Wabash Rivers for a Cabela’s King Kat Tournament Trail Event. Thirty-five teams gathered at Mt. Vernon, IN to test their catfishing skills against other anglers and Mother Nature.
Pre-fishing the day before the tournament took place under rainy conditions that caused the river to rise several feet during the tournament. Anglers fished in partly cloudy conditions all day with 10-15 mph winds. The air temps reached the mid-80s.
Competitors were vying for $8,900 in cash and prizes, and an opportunity to qualify for the $110,000 Classic Championship to be held September 14 and 15, 2018, on the Ohio River at Jeffersonville, Indiana.
Anglers were allowed to fish the Ohio River from the Newburgh Lock & Dam, south to the Smithland Lock & Dam, and up the Wabash River to the Hwy 62 Bridge. State regulations allow each angler to weigh one flathead and one blue cat over 35 inches, so a team could have 4 fish over 35 inches as long as it was two flatheads and two blues. The weigh-in at Sherburne Park provided more flatheads than in past tournaments and a record weight for the Mt. Vernon event.
Results for the Top Teams
At the end of the day, it was the team of Dale Kerns and Greg Edwards, both from Norris City, IL, that claimed the top prize. They weighed 131.30 pounds to earn $3,600. They added the Driftmaster Rod Holder bonus for an additional $300.
Kerns and Edwards were fishing between J.T. Myers Lock &Dam and the Wabash River. They reported moving around a lot and catching fish everywhere they went. Most of the fish were small.
They reported using various methods to catch their fish in the rising river. They said they anchored, bumped, and drifted. They used a couple different baits, naming Asian carp, and skipjack and targeted the current seam in 30- 40 feet of water. The Norris City team landed 15 fish for the day.
Second place and Big Kat went to Zed, Josh, and Les Moore. The father (Les) and sons team weighed in a bag of 126.14 pounds that included the Big Kat at 48.50 pounds.
Team Moore traveled 20 miles upriver and then fished their way back to Mt. Vernon finding fish at a variety of depths along the way.
“The river was on a rise and the current was over 2 mph in most places,” reported Zed. “We decided to drift and bounce cut skipjack. We fished the JT Myers Pool and caught most of our fish between 20 and 45 feet. We caught 11 fish for the day.”
“It was Josh, dad, and I in the boat,” continued Zed. “Truthfully, the greatest thing about today was making lifelong memories with dad. We felt really lucky and blessed to have such a good day on the Ohio River!”
The third-place spot went to the B’n’M Poles and Driftmaster Rod Holders team of Scott Cress and Carl Crone. Scott, from Covington, KY and Carl, from Villa Hills, KY, brought 78.96 pounds to the scales to earn $1,300.
They cited tough fishing conditions caused them to change their strategy in the rising river. They reported finding fish deep during prefishing but they were not there on tournament day. They used their B’n’M poles and Driftmaster Rod Holders to drift fish.
“We slowed the boat down to about 1.5 mph,” said Scott. “It was still fast, but the adjustment helped us get our fish. We were using skipjack for bait in about 20 feet of water to catch our 5 fish.”
Audie Hammond from Henderson, KY, and Paul Stokes from Huntington, TN, had the fourth-place weight. They had a bag of 66.5 pounds and earned $700.
Hammond and Stokes fished the Newburgh area. They fished on the rope and moved around finding scattered fish to catch about 15 for the day. They were targeting water in 40-50 feet depths.
Rounding out the top five was Anthony Murphy and Michael Snyder from Millersburg, OH. They brought 62.6 pounds to the scales and earned $475.
They also fished the Newburgh area using skipjack for bait. They were bumping along a ledge in 20-25 feet of water to catch 12 fish on tournament day.
The Remaining Top Teams
6th Place – Chris Souders and Nick Conaway – 61.20
7th Place – Andy Williams and Jeremiah Keen – 54.22
8th Place – Gary Campbell and Mike Crew – 52.98
9th Place – Steven Hise and Mike Greenwell – 52.30
10 Place – Carl Morris Jr. and Rob Parsons – 50.42
Epilogue
Tournament director, Jeremy Coe thanked the City of Mt. Vernon for having the King Kat tourney in their city and making the event possible. He also had a special thank you for the Four Seasons Lodging for their hospitality towards the anglers.
“This third year in Mt. Vernon was definitely a success,” said Coe. “We posted the best weight ever this year with the winning 131-pound bag. We always look forward to coming to town because it is such a welcoming town and many of the residents come out to enjoy the weigh-in. We already look forward to coming back next year.”
National Sponsors
Cabela’s King Kat Tournament Trail sponsors include: Cabela’s, Adventure Products EGO Nets, RigRap, B ‘n’ M Poles, Minn Kota, Mercury Marine, Mustad Hooks, Driftmaster Rodholders, Gamma Line, Humminbird Electronics, World Fishing Network (WFN), Rippin’ Lips, Cat River Anchors, Sunsect Sunscreen & Insect Repellent, Humminbird Lakemaster Maps, Digital EFX Wraps, Tentology, Gill Rainwear, CatfishNow Digital Magazine, Whisker Wear Apparel, The Original Clearboard, Extreme Bait Systems and Katfish Clothing.
For more information on the championship and other King Kat activities visit their website at www.kingkatusa.com. Anglers can also follow the trail on the Cabela’s King Kat Facebook Page.
