Joey and Jerry Pounders moved from 5th place on day one to claim top honors at Gallatin, TN
Catfish anglers from nine states traveled to the Cumberland River and Old Hickory Lake for a Cabela’s King Kat Tournament Trail Super Event. Twenty-seven teams gathered at Gallatin, TN to test their catfishing skills against other anglers and Mother Nature.
Pre-fishing produced some good fish and anglers approached the two-day event on April 30 and 31 with optimism. Competitors were vying for $8,100 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.
A good bite on day one resulted in some good fish coming to the scales, but the weather changed throughout the day. It was cloudy with temps in the low 50’s. It got colder as the day went on. Day two was sunny with winds at 10-15 mph and air temperatures around 65 degrees. The water was muddy with quite a bit of current and trash. The day two bite was slower and it challenged anglers to find fish.
Results for the Top Teams
After two days of fishing, a team of brothers claimed the top spot. Joey and Jerry Pounders from Caledonia, MS, and Columbus, MS weighed 156.24 pounds to earn $3,500. They added the Driftmaster Rod Holders bonus of $300 and the Xtreme Bait Tank bonus of $500 to their total earnings.
“The past three years I fished with my regular partner, Jay Gallop when Cabela’s held their tournament here in September,” noted Joey Pounders. “Each year there was little or no current. Jay and I used live shad under those conditions to place in the top 5 each of those years.”
“This weekend I fished with my brother Jerry,” continued Joey. “The water was up and the current was unreal. Every spot where we caught them in previous years was going to take 10-12 ounces of lead to stay down. That was not an option and we had to adjust.”
Fishing upriver from Flippers Bait and Tackle, the brothers read the current and looked for current breaks and eddies, thinking the fish would go for some calmer water.
“We were able to catch our fish by tying off to the bank and fishing 10-foot B’n’M rods out the back” reported Joey. “We fished the ledges that were not as swift. We caught the majority of our fish in 25-30 foot of water. We used both live and cut shad to catch about 15 fish in the two days. We only caught 1 flathead on live shad and the rest were caught on filleted shad.”
Second place went to Christian Vittetoe from Knoxville, TN and Samuel Cate from Mascot, TN. They weighed in 150.66 pounds and earned $1,800.00.
Vittetoe and Cate fished downriver from Flippers, about 3 miles up from the Old Hickory Dam. They had led after day one with 123.84 pounds, but Christian stated that the fish just moved on day two.
The TN team anchored in 23 foot of water casting baits into a river channel that was about 30 feet deep. They used skipjack for bait to land a total of 13 fish for the weekend.
The third-place spot was filled by Scott Ludick and Dustin Cook from Lafayette, TN. They weighed 134.76 pounds to earn $1,200. They added Big Kat of the tournament for an additional $480. Their Big Kat weighed 60.76 pounds.
The team fished downriver around the dam, targeting fish in 25-40 feet of water. They stated that the fish have been on fire the past two weeks but shut down this weekend. Ludick and Cook used cut skipjack, heads and gut pockets, for bait.
Interestingly, they only landed 5 fish for the weekend and were only able to weigh four. They had to return one over slot fish to the water. That is pretty impressive fishing. They weighed in two fish a day and still finished in the 3rd slot.
The Georgia team of Donnie Fountain from Jasper, and Eddy Swafford from Dallas, placed 4th with 134.02 pounds. They earned $350.00.
Fountain and Swafford fished upriver about five miles. They noted that there was a lot of current and trash in the water. They tied their boat up to the shoreline near steep banks that gave them access to 40-60 feet of water. They used skipjack to land 9 fish for the weekend.
The Remaining Top Teams
5th Place – Carl Morris Jr. and Rob Parsons – 124.10
6th Place – Frank White and Aaron Preece – 123.06
7th Place – William West and Ronnie Duncan – 115.20
8th Place – Clifton Crutcher and Cherie Wilson – 113.28
9th Place – Chris L. Ward and Travis Dyer – 94.82
10 Place – Wesley Mann and Kevin Breedlove – 92.92
Epilogue
Tournament director, Jeremy Coe thanked Barry Young and the staff at Sumner County Tourism for making the Old Hickory event possible. A special thank you also went out to Flippers Marina and staff for their hospitality towards staff and anglers.
“As always, we enjoy coming to Gallatin and Old Hickory Lake,” stated Coe. “I think this weekend just goes to show what kind of fishery Old Hickory Lake really is when you add current. We saw some of the biggest weights we see on most any other lakes that have slot limits. It was very impressive. However, Day two was tough with a cold front moving through and making the fish move. That’s why they call it fishing and not catching though. With the awesome weights we saw this weekend we look forward to returning in 2019 for the King Kat Classic!”
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.
