Team SouthernCats Wins MRM Bama Blues in Alabama
by Ron Presley
Photos courtesy of MRM Bama Blues by Karie Hays Gibson
Three generations of Mitchells team up to win Tennessee River tourney.
The MRM Bama Blues kicked off an American Catfishing Association (ACA) Tournament Alliance Division 1 event in Decatur, AL. The annual holiday event is highly anticipated because of the big fish destination that Decatur offers. The tournament also offers a chance for anglers to begin the year with a quality tournament.
The January 5, 2024 event was originally scheduled for the 6th, but a worrisome weather forecast convinced the organizers to move it in the interest of angler safety.
The tournament and its various competitions are known as Monster Week. Many anglers traveled to Decatur early to prefish and create a strategy for the tournament. Monster week included two days of big fish competition with a $500 award going to the team that brings the biggest catfish to the scales on Wednesday and Thursday of the week. It helps establish a notion of what kind of a bite to expect.
The Wednesday competition had 12 fish weighed in with anglers reporting a good bite. The $500 prize for the Day One competition was sponsored by Dry Creek Marine. The winners were Mac Mac Moneta and Bill “Catfish” Sutton with a 76.63-pound blue cat.
Day two of Monster Week was sponsored by B’n’M Fishing. Five big fish were brought to the scales on Thursday with solo angler Greg Edwards earning the $500 award with a 58.3 pound blue. The Dry Creek Marine and B’n’M Fishing awards were presented at the Thursday evening Capt. Meeting.
The ACA Tournament Alliance event attracted 108 registered boats competing for more than $50,000. The Captains Meeting was held at Ingalls Harbor Pavilion and Event Center and the launch took place out of Ingalls Harbor. The tournament also qualified anglers to win a SeaArk boat package to be given at the end of the season as part of the ACA Tournament Alliance giveaway.
Anglers were greeted with a cold tournament morning that stayed with them the rest of the day. Temperatures ranged from the mid to high 30s early to about 50 degrees by weigh-in time. Skies remained mostly to partly cloudy during the day but the possible rain did not appear.
Five no-weight prizes were drawn at the end of the weigh-in for any team that chose not to come to the scales. The 5 winners received products worth more than $300.
The Gillis Brothers were the first anglers to break the 100-pound mark and take the Millennium Hot Seats. As the day advanced, and the weights were posted it took more than 167 pounds in 3 fish to claim the win.
First Place and Big Fish
The top spot at Bama Blues went to Team SouthernCats made up of Sammy, Mike, and Jackson Mitchell. The three generations of Mitchells teamed up to bring a total weight of 167.56 pounds to the scales. Their bag included the Big Fish of the tournament at 88.60 pounds.
The team’s tournament started when they had a few hours to prefish on Tuesday preceding the tournament. The bite was good and they boated 56-, 40-, and 35-pound fish. The next day’s bite was not so good and left their tournament strategy unsettled.
“We scanned and fished about 4 hours on Wednesday and caught nothing,” recalled Mike. “We fished mostly different stuff on Friday. We caught one nice fish and started trying places similar and caught the 88 in a spot I’ve never fished.”
Team SouthernCats was spot-locking in deeper water. They were targeting rocks and humps in water that ranged from 45 to 55 feet deep in the main channel.
“We used skipjack and gizzard shad for bait,” revealed Mike. “All of the fish we weighed came from skipjack. We did get broken off in a rock by another fish that was most likely a nice fish.”
Sammy, Mike, and Jackson caught their weigh-in fish between 8 o’clock in the morning and Noon, They caught 6 fish in total.
“The bite seemed tough,” explained Mike. “So once we figured out what was working best we moved about every 30 minutes. It was best to stick in an area and move around until we got the bait right in front of them.”
Mike thanked his family and sponsors for their support, including Dry Creek Marine, Monster Rod Holders, Catch the Fever, Berry Home Solutions, Draggin Master, Boss Kat, River Rats Reel Repair, Slime Line, and Foley Spoons.
Second Place
The runner-up spot went to Team Fountain. The twin brothers, Donnie and Lonnie, teamed up once again to bring a great weight to the scales. They brought 3 fish to the scales that weighed 137.44 pounds and made them the second team to take the Millenium Hot Seats.
“We knew we were going to have to stay out of the wind,” Donnie said. “We found a place that was holding some fish on Wednesday. We tied our bait on so we would not soar lip them during prefishing.”
The fish were there and Donnie and Lonnie had lots of good pull-downs in a short period of time. Their strategy was set for tournament day.
“We went back to them Friday morning,” recalled Donnie. “We caught a 45 and a small channel cat on our first setup. Then we didn’t get the third fish until about 12:30 pm. A 4th fish came 45 minutes later.”
The team moved about every 30 minutes setting up on ledges. According to Donnie if the big fish are going to eat they do it pretty quick. So they move a lot in increments of 100 to 150 yards at a time.
“The last spot we stopped on was the hot spot,” concluded Donnie. “We picked up a 72 and a 60 in the last 30 minutes in 20 feet of water. It is hard to believe how many times we get our best fish in the last few minutes. Never give up!”
Lonnie and Donnie thanked their sponsors, Anvil Rods, Dry Creek Marine LLC, Dales Tackle, Bob Mann’s Leaders, B-Kat Boards, Drift Masters Rod Holders, and River Rat Reel Repair.
Third Place
David and Hunter Shipman weighed in 1 fish short of the limit, but their 2 fish totaled 136.76 pounds, less than a pound short of the 2nd place weight. Those 2 fish were good enough for them to earn the 3rd-place check.
David and Hunter relied on an area they had fished before and it paid off. The bites were few and far between but they just stuck with it.
“It was cold and windy,” reported David. “It was not the best fishing day for sure! Luckily our two fish were good ones.”
David and Hunter targeted some brush that they had fished before. The area is on the north side of the river down by Browns Ferry.
“We got two bites in 26 feet of water,” Said David. “Fortunately they came pretty quick on the brush. We caught both fish that bit. Mine was around 57 pounds and Hunters was just shy of 80 pounds.”
The team only had 2 more bites the rest of the day and finished with only 2 fish to weigh in.
“We were spot-locked just casting to the brush,” explained David. “We missed the 1st one and caught the last fish at 3:20. It was another over at 35.5 inches so we had to release it.”
“Congrats to Mike, Sammy, and Jackson on the win,” concluded David. Congrats also to the Fountain brothers for 2nd place and to my great sponsors, Drift Master Rod Holders, Daiichi Hooks, B’n’M Poles, and TTI Blakemore. Finally, I want to thank MRM Bama Blues for another great tournament.
Fourth and Fifth Place
The top 5 were rounded out by the Gillis Brothers, Jaush, and Matt, in 4th place with 118.43 pounds. SIC Outdoors, Doug McAnally, Tiffany Marie McAnally, and Secody Howard took 5th place with 110.46 pounds.
More results can be found on the MRM Bama Blues Facebook page.
Final Thoughts
There were 100 boats chasing a 3-fish limit of 2 overs (over 34 inches) and 1 under (under 34 inches). As usual, the quality of the fish weighed in did not disappoint the organizers or the anglers.
Co-Director Chris Ramsey, Jessie Adams, and Bryan Wayman handled the stage duties effectively as the catfish were quickly weighed and returned to the river directly behind the weigh-in stage.
The stage crew weighed in 43 boats on a cold and challenging day in Decatur, AL. One Hundred fish totaled more than 2,800 pounds of Tennessee River catfish, showing once again the quality of fish coming from the area. It is no wonder the area is known as a Big Fish Destination!
Given the Big Fish weight of 88 pounds and a 1st place weight of over 167 pounds in 3 fish, these lakes continue to be a great destination for anglers seeking to catch big blues and posting new personal bests.
The weigh-in ended with Chris Ramsey recognizing Decatur Morgan County Tourism for their support of the tournament as well as the sponsors, SeaArk Boats, B’n’M Poles, Dry Creek Marine, Millennium Outdoors, Off Shore Tackle, Monster Rod Holders, Garmin, Katfish Clothing, Hookers Terminal Tackle, and all the other sponsors.
For more information on Bama Blues, check them out on Facebook or their website.
