Souders and Conaway earn points race honors
As Jason and Daryl Masingale took the top spot at Paducah, the tight 2017 points race ended with honors going to teammates Chris Souders and Nick Conaway.
The King Kat points race tightened up last week in Quincy where several individuals finished the event tied at 383 points following last Saturdays event. It all came down to Paducah where Souders and Conaway finished 5th to claim the AOY honors.
The Cabela’s King Kat Paducah, KY event was the season finale. It took place on August 25th and 26th. Anglers competed for cash, prizes, and the opportunity to qualify for the 2017 Cabela’s King Kat Northern and Southern Championship.
This year’s Northern Championship will be held September 22 and 23, 2017 at the Cumberland River (Old Hickory Lake), Gallatin, Tennessee. The Southern Championship will be held October 6 and October 7, 2017 at Lake Wateree, Camden, South Carolina.
Anglers experienced sunny skies on Friday and Saturday. ENE winds at 5 – 10 mph and temperatures in the 80’s all weekend provided excellent weather conditions for the anglers. Day two proved to be a tougher day for the anglers because of warmer water and because of increasing current.
Results for the Top Teams
Daryl and Jason Masingale, both of Paragould, Arkansas took first place at the Super Event. They weighed in 218.94 pounds and earned $4,000.00. They also caught Big Fish of the tournament. The 47.54-pound blue earned them an additional $820.00.
Tournament Director, Jeremy Coe, noted that the brother team is always competitive. “They have placed in the top 5 every time we have had a tournament in the area,” recalled Coe.
Team Masingale fished from Dam 52 to Olmsted Dam, thinking the new Olmsted Dam would improve fishing. They tried different techniques, but drifting over structure in 15 – 60 feet of water worked best.
Jason and Daryl used skipjack for bait to land about 20 fish for the weekend. Jason stated that it was a little tougher this year due to warmer water. He also said that fishing was different this year because normally the water is still and this year there was a current.
Team Masingale reported losing an absolute hawg during the event. “It tangled us up on some structure and we were not able to get it to the boat,” the team posted on Facebook. “The field was stacked with stiff competition. Hats off to everyone that fished the tournament.”
Tim and Tommy Walsh, both of Danvers, Illinois weighed in the second-place bag. They had a total weight of 195.34 pounds and earned $2,000.00. The team fished from Metropolis to the Olmsted Dam finding their fish in places you wouldn’t normally look for catfish.
“We drifted in 15 to 35 feet,” reported Tommy. “The bite on day one was good. We caught fish where we had pre-fished an area below Metropolis. It was an area where we were catching small fish.”
“Then, Tim said, “‘Hey, we didn’t look over there yesterday.’ We pulled over there and the finder lit up, but we were out of the current. I told Tim that we would give it 15 minutes. We didn’t drift 100 yards before catching our two biggest fish. The biggest was 44.95 pounds.”
“We went back on day two and found fish again,” said Tommy. “There were not as many fish and they were inactive. We used skipjack for bait and caught about 15 fish during the event.”
Adam Dehner of Independence, Kentucky and Chris Pelzel of Harrison, Ohio took third place. They weighed in 187.84 pounds and earned $1,000.00. They fished below Olmsted Dam, drifting in 30 – 60 feet of water using skipjack for bait. They suggested that the fish were holding tight to wood structure. They put a lot of cats in the boat, landing 90 fish during their visit.
“Even with all the commercial fishing it’s still a way better pool than my hometown Markland Pool,” said Dehner. “That pool has been destroyed by cf’s. That being said, from Thursday to Saturday we boated close to 90 fish. I knew we probably weren’t going to catch the big fish of tournament there, but I was sure I could get close to 100 pounds a day.”
The fourth-place team was Terry Rogers of Benton, Kentucky and William Clapp of Wingo, Kentucky. They weighed in 167.54 pounds and earned $500.00. Rogers and Clapp fished below Olmsted on flats in 40 feet of water. They found their fish on mussel beds and structure. They used the old reliable skipjack for bait and caught about 80 fish during the tournament.
The fifth-place spot went to Chris Souders of Oak Hill, Ohio and Nick Conaway of Lucasville, Ohio. Their total weight of 164.82 pounds earned them a check for $300.00 and their fifth-place finish earned their team the Angler of the Year for 2017 honors.
The team fished in the Cairo area. This was their first trip to Paducah, but it will surely be remembered as the place they won the AOY honors. They fished in 25 – 50 feet of water over structure, using skipjack for bait. They landed around 20 fish for the weekend.
Sixth place went to Jon Vaden of Arlington, Kentucky and Jon Goldsmith of Bardwell, Kentucky. They weighed in 154.80 pounds and earned $200.00.
Coe sent out a special thank you to the Paducah Convention and Visitors Bureau for hosting the event and making it all work smoothly. He also thanked Matt and Melissa Miles, with Katfish Clothing, for making the trip from Virginia to support the catfish anglers at the weekend event.
“We are excited to be returning to such a great fishery,” concluded Coe. “We are already scheduled to return in 2018 and 2019.”
Information on the championships and other King Kat activities can be found on their website at www.kingkatusa.com. Anglers can follow the trail on the Cabela’s King Kat Facebook Page.
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