Catfish anglers faced torrential rainfall at Carlyle Lake
Catfish anglers from seven states traveled to Carlyle Lake for a Cabela’s King Kat Tournament Trail Event. Twenty-six teams gathered at Carlyle, IL to test their catfishing skills against other anglers and Mother Nature.
Competitors were vying for $6,350.00 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.
The weather was in the low 90’s starting the day off with sunshine. The wind picked up and blew every direction throughout the day. Thunderstorms plagued the afternoon dumping a lot of rain and causing the lake to get rough due to the wind.
The rain, which was not forecast to come, may have been the biggest challenge of all for the anglers fishing the King Kat championship qualifying event, and for the staff conducting the event. Tournament Director, Jeremy Coe took to Facebook Live about 1:50 CST to notify catfish fans that the scheduled live feed was canceled due to the weather.
Anglers and tournament officials stuck with it and the show went on with the King Kat trailer/stage setting in several inches of water.
Results for the Top Teams
Top honors at Carlyle went to Pete Moreland from Ladd, IL and Mike Flaherty from La Salle, IL. They teamed up to bring 41.66 pounds to the scales to claim first place and earn $3,000.00.
Moreland and Flaherty fished the upper end of the lake targeting fish in shallow water. The fish were in spawning mode and hanging around structure.
“We caught our fish early in the day before the storm rolled in,” reported Flaherty. “We were anchored in 3-5 feet of water and used fresh cut shad from our brand new Rotomold bait tank from our sponsor, Catfish Addiction.”
When asked about the drenching rains Morehead responded, “It was awful, we just fished through it.” The winning team landed about 30 fish for the day.
Second place went to the Missouri team of Justin Cook from New Franklin and Justin Neece from Odessa. They weighed 39.34 pounds and earned $1,500.00.
Cook and Neece also fished the upper end of the lake targeting fish in structure. Indicating that the fish were moving into the spawn, they fished off the rope using shad for bait. They caught 9 fish on tournament day.
Mark Farrow from Meredosia, IL and Jerry Cline II from Petersburg, IL weighed an even 38 pounds to claim the third-place spot. They earned $1,000.00 for their efforts.
Fishing mid-lake, closer to the dam, Farrow and Cline targeted fish in 10 feet of water, indicating that they didn’t have any luck shallower or deeper. They drifted using shad for bait. The weather shut down the fishing for the Illinois team.
Local angler Daniel Linton from Carlyle teamed up with Jake Nalley from Vandalia, IL to claim fourth place. They weighed 37.26 pounds to earn $350.00 for their day of fishing.
They reported fishing right next to the first-place team. Linton and Nalley were anchored using shad and shrimp for bait. They also fished in shallow water catching around 30 fish for the day.
Big Kat of the day and seventh place went to Tennessean Ryan Lawrence (Portland, TN) and Ohioan, Mark Blauvelt (New Lebanon, OH). The B’n’M Poles team weighed 34.92 pounds that include the Big Kat of 12.98 pounds.
Lawrence and Blauvelt fished the upper end of the lake using their B’n’M poles. They wanted to keep their baits moving so their strategy was to drag. Blauvelt reported that the fish were staging for spawn and that Lawrence hooked the big channel when the bait came up in shallow water.
“We dragged baits all day long,” said Lawrence. “The big fish was right on top of a sunken island. He hit and it was so shallow on the tip of that island that the fish came out of the water. It hit a big shad head in about 2 feet of water.”
The Remaining Top Teams
5th Place – Justin Wolfe and Bill Parfitt – 36.86
6th Place – Wayne King and Conner King – 35.44
7th Place – Ryan Lawrence and Mark Blauvelt – 34.92
8th Place – Ken Luttrell and Tom Luttrell – 32.60
9th Place – Wanda Barner and Ron Barner – 30.88
10 Place – Carl Morris Jr. and Rob Parsons – 30.86
Epilogue
Tournament director, Jeremy Coe thanked the City of Carlyle for welcoming the anglers and making the event possible. He also thanked the Army Corp of Engineers for coming to the kids rodeo and doing a fantastic job at keeping the facilities on the lake looking great! He noted that the kids had a great time and caught some fish.
“This is the first time ever on Carlyle Lake,” stated Coe. “In fact, it is our first time on any lake in the state of Illinois for the King Kat tournament trail. We were very excited and pleased to make the stop this year.”
“Fishing was tough with the fish in post spawn,” continued Coe. “The thunderstorms that moved across the lake at noon did not help. The clouds dumped 4 inches of rain in a matter of an hour. Anglers reported that it shut the bite down, and some quit fishing. Nevertheless, the anglers found some of the nice fish that Carlyle Lake is known for.”
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.
