Vinson and Littleton Win King Kat at Helena
Big Fish honors went to Donnie and Lonnie Fountain.
Catfish anglers from several states traveled to the Mississippi River at Helena-West Helena, Arkansas for a King Kat Tournament Trail event presented by Bass Pro Shops Cabela’s. The Chamber of Commerce in Helena-West Helena and the City of Helena hosted 15 teams who gathered to test their catfishing skills against other anglers and Mother Nature.
Anglers fishing the August 14, 2021, Region 4 event were vying for $3,180 in cash and prizes, an opportunity to qualify for regional competition, and the opportunity to qualify for this year’s King Kat Classic Championship on the Red River at Natchitoches, LA, November 5-6, 2021. The Classic features a guaranteed payout of $125,000 in cash and prizes.
Anglers were greeted to a very low Mississippi River for the tournament. The weather was hot and humid with light to variable winds. The water temperature was in the 80s.
With daytime temperatures predicted in the lower 90s, event organizers reduced the tournament limit to 3 fish instead of the normal 5 fish limit to improve fish care and promote the healthy release of trophy catfish.
Anglers were allowed to start fishing at 6:30 AM with lines out at 3:00 PM. They had to be back to Helena River Park and in the weigh-in line no later than 4:00 PM.
First Place
Teaming up to take the top spot were Daniel Vinson and Bobby Littleton. Fishing from their 16-foot SeaArk boat and 40 HP engine they brought 123.80 pounds to the scales to claim the top spot and earn a check for $1,800.
Having been born in Helena, Littleton is no stranger to the river. He moved away at an early age but made trips back to fish over the years. He and Vinson live in the Batesville, Arkansas area and made the 2 ½ hour drive to fish the tournament.
They did not prefish the tournament because of their previous experience in doing so.
“We prefished the last couple of years and caught big fish before the tournament,” reported Littleton. “One year we caught a 60 and another year we caught 75. If you soar mouth them they may not bite on tournament day.”
“We decided to just go out and do what we do,” continued Littleton. “It’s a good idea to know where they are located but you are going to do what you do anyway. We know that it is about getting lucky and putting it in front of a good fish.”
Littleton and Vison used a couple of methods to catch their winning bag. When asked, during the live feed one jokingly said they were “bobber fishing.”
“We did some drifting in 40 to 60 feet of water,” offered Littleton. “Like everyone else we used skipjack for bait. We also did some anchoring around the dikes. We were culling fish by noon.”
They accomplish their win with a foot-controlled trolling motor and simple sonar.
“It was cool to see,” said Littleton’s brother Billy Littleton. “No LiveScope, no remote trolling motor. Just fishing knowledge and grinding it out.”
“The river was pretty low and it made for easier drifting,” responded Bobby. But with the foot control motor, we did have to stay on it all the time. We just went back to what we know. All we needed was depth and speed. I just tried to keep it on that 1 to 1/12 mph mark.”
“We have fished a lot over the years,” concluded Littleton. “I am the type of guy that figures that if I am catching them everyone else is too. There was nothing in particular that we did differently than anyone else.”
Second Place and Big Kat
Although they don’t always fish together, the brother team of Lonnie and Donnie Fountain are no strangers to the leaderboard. They teamed up Saturday to bring 114.1 pounds to the scales and claim the runner-up spot. Their bag included Big Kat of the tournament at 54.72 pounds. They earned a check for $980.
“We bumped all day in the same hole,” reported Donnie. “We found our fish deep right in the Helena area using skipjack for bait. We caught 13 fish on tournament day.”
Third Place
The third-place spot went to Danny Huffman, Brian “BoneCollector” Mayo, and Cam “Pollywog” Pitts. They teamed up to bring 103.78 pounds to the scales and earn a check for $400.
The team used the 7-foot B’n’M bumping rod, paired with Abu Garcia reels with modified drags and line counters by Pipeline Tackle. They spooled with 50-pound Rampage braid and added Berkley Big Game leader line. They used chain swivels from Hooker’s Terminal Tackle, 3-way swivels from Dales Tackle, and Boss Kat hooks from TTI-Blakemore.
“We rode around for a while looking for some slow water,” reported Mayo. “We happened to find about a mile stretch that fit the bill. After our first pass, we had 5 in the boat. We were actually culling at 7 am.”
Mayo credited Huffman for keeping the SeaArk ProCat 240 Tournament Edition boat in control as they bumped the river with frozen skipjack.
“Danny had complete control of the boat,” added Mayo. “He followed the fish in the shallow slower water and as the fish moved out he would do the same.”
Mayo’s teammates gave him a little grief over the one that he threw back. It occurred during one of their culling sessions. Mayo managed to throw out the wrong fish.
“I threw out one of our middle fish,” confessed Mayo. “It weighed 33 pounds. But the Lord blessed me within 5 minutes by replacing it with a 31 to take its place.”
The team arrived at the weigh-in to find the King Kat stage set up in the shade. They complemented the hosts from Helena-West Helena for making a spot in the shade for the stage.
“We set out with 2 objectives,” joked Mayo. “We wanted to have fun and get a 3rd place plaque for Danny because he’s never won 3rd place in a tournament.”
“It was a day to remember for sure,” concluded Mayo, who also directs the Mississippi Catfish Trail. “We came in after a great day of catching around 20 fish to find out we nailed down a third-place finish!”
On a sad note, as the team was receiving their plaques Mayo got a text that his uncle, Terry Mayo, had passed away.
“I was with him and my dad the very first time I caught a Catfish in the Mississippi River on rod and reel,” said a saddened Mayo.
Epilogue
Co-Tournament directors, Willy Pranker, Chris Ramsey, and Cory Ramsey thanked Mayor Kevin Smith, the city of Helena-West Helena Arkansas, and Hunter Gardner from the Tourism Department.
“Thanks to all the fishermen for coming out,” Gardner said following the tournament. “Please come back as often as you want and come prefish as often as you want. We want to do everything we can to help this sport grow and this tournament grow. Thank you so much for choosing Helena.”
The 2021 Championship
This year’s King Kat Classic Championship will be held on the Red River at Natchitoches, LA, November 5-6, 2021. The Classic features a guaranteed payout of $125,000 in cash and prizes. The points race is set to pay $30,000 to the top 20 places based on the competitor’s top-five finishes.
National Sponsors
Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s King Kat Tournament Trail sponsors include: Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s, Mercury Marine, Mustad Hooks, Humminbird, Minn Kota, Gamma Line, Driftmaster Rod Holders, Ego Nets, EFX Graphics, Catfish Now, Fin n’ Frames, Cat River Anchors, Smooth Move Boat Seats, Power-Pole, Lowe Boats, Crockett Creek Beef Jerky, and Garmin.
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 King Kat Facebook Page.
