King Kat Win at Carlyle Lake Goes to Frank Wyciskalla and Ryan Kelly
by Ron Presley,
Photos courtesy of King Kat
Big Fish honors also went to the team of Frank Wyciskalla and Ryan Kelly.
Carlyle Lake and Carlyle Illinois were the destinations for the recent King Kat catfish tournament. The event was part of a series of events planned for the year that will culminate with the Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s King Kat Classic on Santee Cooper, Eutawville, SC November 8, 2024.
The Carlyle event attracted 24 teams representing 51 anglers from 13 states. Carlyle Lake is primarily a channel cat destination but there are occasional blues to be caught. King Kat is normally a 3-fish limit weigh-in, but for the Carlyle event, the legal limit was raised to 5 fish with the team with the largest total weight being declared the champions.
“The weather elements put all the anglers to the test,” noted Tournament Director Scott Peavy. “It poured rain all morning on Saturday before finally letting up around 11:00 am. After that, it was beautiful skies and sunny until about 3:30 pm. Then the rain came again right before weigh-in.”
“In the days leading up to the tournament, the anglers I talked to had high hopes and great bites,” continued Peavy. “The fish were moved up because of the spawn. Most of the anglers reported a tough bite on tournament day.”
Anglers were met with inclement weather which included a cold front, wind, and plenty of rain. Peavy announced the weigh-in from the King Kat Stage. He described seeing the eventual winners in the parking lot on the morning of the tournament.
“When those guys walked across the parking lot this morning at 4:30, it’s no exaggeration,” shared Peevy. “They waded to their truck in water that was ankle-deep, unplugged their extension cord, and I saw em’ standing there looking around like – I can’t believe we are about to do this?”
Team Wyciskalla and Kelly did do it, along with 23 other teams who challenged Mother Nature and the inclement weather. When all the weights were recorded they were crowned champions of the 2024 King Kat Carlyle tournament with a little more than 3 pounds separating the top 2 teams.
First Place and Big Fish 
Indiana anglers Frank Wyciskalla and Ryan Kelly teamed up to take the King Kat win at Lake Carlyle. They brought in a 5 fish limit of 44.33 pounds to claim the top spot. Their bag included an 18.32-pound blue to give them Big Fish honors and add the Big Fish pot to boost their total earnings to $4,400.
The team made a four-hour drive from Bloomington, Indiana to fish the tournament. They arrived on Thursday night and pre-fished on Friday. The Friday fishing was their first time to fish Carlyle Lake. The win gave them an automatic entry into the Classic in November.
“We were fishing in about 15 to 17 feet of water,” reported Wyciskalla. “We were pulling Spread em’ Planer Boards and were baited with shad and skipjack. The heads were best, they did’nt seem to like the body chunks. The bite was best between 8:00 am and noon.”
Wyciskalla and Kelly endured some very extreme weather in their journey to the top of the leaderboard, including rain, cold, and wind.
“The weather conditions were extreme,” noted Wyciskalla. “It rained buckets that morning making us wet and cold. The wind was blowing and creating what looked like 4-foot white caps everywhere.”
“We just persevered and stayed true to what we know and pulled off the victory,” concluded an emotional Frank Wyciskalla.
If you would like to follow Frank and Ryan check out Cat Daddy Nation 5G on TikTok and YouTube, and Fishing with Ryan 918 on YouTube
Second Place 
The runner-up spot was won by Thomas Fred Silgar and Mark McDaniel. They put their talents to work to bring in a bag that weighed an even 41 pounds to earn the 2nd place check. They also finished just .15 pounds out of the running for Second Big Fish.
Third Place and Second Big Fish 
Third place went to the ever-present Fountain Brothers, Donnie and Lonnie. They brought 39.51 pounds to the scales to earn the 3rd place check. They also caught the Second Big fish of the tournament at 11.42 pounds.
Fourth Place
Josh Vanover and Keith Tarrence from Kentucky pulled down the 4th place money with a total weight of 30.44, just .07 pounds behind the Fountain Brothers. The biggest fish in their bag of 5 channel cats weighed 8.98 pounds.
“It’s such a fun place with light tackle,” noted Vanover in a Facebook post. “We boated 30 fish today and 20 yesterday we are tickled pink – never been down here – Didn’t no Nuthing about it … fun little place.”
Fifth Place
The 5th-place team was Joe Ludke and Joe Coventry. They teamed up to bring a total weight of 34.98 pounds to the scales and earn the 5th-place check. They noted during the weigh-in interview that they had lost a nice blue that would probably made a difference.
Youth Division
King Kat also recognizes winners in a Youth Division.
Young anglers Joel Giles, Roger Morrison, and Adam Giles won the youth division with 31.16 pounds. Close behind was the team of Codyn Eilers and Nathan Eilers. They claimed the runner-up spot with 30.91 pounds. Third place was won by Tylers Myers and Dru Myers. They brought 28.12 pounds to the scales.
Note: To view more photos and see more winners from the event visit the King Kat Facebook page and their website.
Final Thoughts
The tournament also had a kids’ event associated with it. The Saturday morning event had 6 kids battle the pouring rain for two hours of fishing under the direction of some King Kat volunteers.
Speaking of volunteers, they sometimes don’t get the recognition they deserve. It requires hard work toting fish to the scales and performing all the other duties required for a successful tournament.
“These tournaments do not take place without a lot of dedicated volunteers,” said Olivia Osteen, King Kat Photographer and Social Media Assistant. “We would especially like to thank Johnny Morris and Bass Pro Shops/Cabelas, the City of Carlyle, Clinton County, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the employees from Walmart 436 who helped with the fish totes and directed traffic.”
Osteen also invited interested folks to the next King Kat tournament that will be held on June 16th at Sandusky Bay, OH. Anglers can register for the Lake Erie event on the King Kat website.
For more information on King Kat visit their website or follow them on Facebook.
