The 2023 WCC Champs are Damian Clark and Michael Augenstein
by Ron Presley
The Runner-up spot at WCC goes to long-time competitors, Phil King and Tim Haynie.
The 2023 World Championship of Catfishing (WCC) was decided in Crump Tennessee on September 23, 2023. Winning the WCC tournament is a much sought-after achievement in catfish tournament fishing.
As one of the longest-running fishing tournaments in the country, catfish anglers enjoy competing for the coveted championship belts awarded to the winners. The event is held in high esteem because of the caliber of anglers competing in the annual event.
The one-day tournament attracted 29 boats from 7 states. WWC rules allow 3 people on the boat with unlimited rods. Anglers were allowed to fish the Tennessee River waters on Pickwick Lake from the state line north to the Dam. Anglers could use any boat ramp in Hardin County, TN. A legal bag consisted of no more than 5 live fish with only 2 fish measuring more than 34 inches. The winners were awarded World Championship Belts and the next 4 places received WCC plaques.
This was the 5th year of directing the event for J.R. Sweat who took over the tournament after the passing of Ken Freeman.
The tournament routinely draws some of the top competitive catfish anglers in the country. This year’s event included names like Phil King, Tim Haynie, Larry Muse, Dino Meador, Frank Meador, Cedric Poynor, Steve Douglas, Ray Ferguson, and more.
First Place
The top spot and the championship belts went to Damian Clark and Michael Augenstein. The team from Owensboro, Kentucky brought 121.20 pounds to the scales to claim first place.
Clark and Augenstein could be considered unlikely competitors but word of mouth about the tournament resulted in them going.
“I would have never had the opportunity if Steve Douglas didn’t personally call me and ask if I would come fish it,” recalled Clark. “Steve explained that it was the oldest tournament in the country and he wanted to see it reach its fullest potential. I told him I would be there.”
Clark and Augenstein showed up Friday to look around the lake and fish for a couple of hours. They found a few fish on some flats and set their strategy for tournament morning.
“We started the tournament where we found the fish on Friday,” reported Clark. “After dragging whole skips for 2 hours and only catching 2 small channel cats we ventured to the ledge on the main river channel.”
Their day changed after just 20 minutes in the new spot. They boated an 18-pound under and a 49-pound over at the same time. Then just 5 minutes later a 9-pounder came to the boat followed by a 35-pound blue. They were on their way to a 20-fish day.
“We ground a couple more hours and caught another good under,” Clark said. “We figured that we had over 120 pounds total. The 35-pounder looked to be struggling a little so we decided to weigh early and get him back in the lake. We never thought we would win but were confident we would place. Turns out we won.”
“It was a great weekend,” added Augenstein in a Facebook post. “From bait fishing a new place to pulling off a first-place finish in the World Championship of Catfishing on water we had never fished before!”
“The trophies (Championship Belts) are second to none,” concluded Clark. “And the title is amazing. I assure you I will be back and it will grow.”
Second Place
Phil King and Tim Haynie have won the WCC several times. King has earned a WCC Championship Belt 6 times and Haynie has claimed it 3 times. Except for just a couple of times, King has been in the money since 1994. This year they brought in 117.8 pounds to earn the runner-up spot.
King and Haynie set their strategy to fish the river below the dam. They were met with low current conditions which normally make for a slow bite and tournament day was one of those times. When there is less current, the lake is usually best.
“We had low current and a tough bite,” reported King. “We caught one about 3.5 pounds before daylight to get started. We slowly added some small fish until about 9:30 when we added a 56-pound blue with the rest of the day to cull and improve our bag.”
King and Haynie continued to meticulously fish and grind it out without a significant improvement in the bite.
“We had to fish very slow with the low current,” continued King. “Even when the current came on it didn’t produce any big fish for us. There was no steady bite, just a fish here and there. The tick-up in the current and water flow didn’t change anything until around 2:00 p.m. We finally caught a good under once the current started and allowed us to cull a 9-pounder and replace it with an 18-pound fish.”
The team was vertical fishing, spot locking, and control drifting while holding the rod. Part of the time they control drifted and suspended at the same time.
“We would do whatever it took to catch fish,” noted six-time WCC champ King. “We finished the day bumping with rod in hand. We used skipjack for bait that we caught on Thursday and packed in ice to keep it fresh. You want your bait to be as fresh as it can be. When you can’t get fresh bait good frozen skips will do.”
King and Haynie experienced a tough bite on an uneventful day except for what they found in the livewell and the special efforts they made to keep the fish healthy.
“We didn’t tear a thing up on this trip, which is amazing,” concluded King. “Our fish regurgitated something like I never saw before. There was lots of really fine material they spit up from their stomach. Probably something they had fed up on and maybe contributed to the slow bite. It made the water dirty. We had to watch our fish closely and turn up the oxygen. We also threw ice on them to keep them in good shape.”
Third Place
Jason Arrington, Laura McCoy, and Lewis Miller teamed up to bring 112.4 pounds to the scales and claim the 3rd Place plaques.
Miller reported in a Facebook post that they caught more than 15 fish on the day and culled 5 overs to fill their weigh-in bag. He turned right around, as some of the other anglers did too, and supported the USSA Fan Page Kids Wish event the following day.
Miller also mentioned the gear “that keeps us on the fish and on the podium, …we not only use these products day in and day out but believe in them to the fullest!”
Equipment used: Catch The Fever, Parks Planers, Draggin Master, MulTbar Rod Rack, Fat Fish Designz LLC., Garmin Marine, Whisker Seeker Tackle, and SeaArk Boats.
Fourth Place
The 4th Place plaques went to David Wooley, David Coughlin, and Glen Bentley from Henderson, Tennessee. They brought a total weight of 97.6 pounds to the scales to earn their plaque.
Fifth Place and Distance Traveled Award
The final team to finish in the money was Trapper Salazar, Jack Connor, and Emery Gibson. The team brought 96.8 pounds to the scales to claim 5th Place. Trapper Salazar traveled the most miles to compete and received an award for Distance Traveled from St. Charles, Iowa.
Big Fish
The Big Fish of the tournament went to Noah Ishcomer. He was fishing with his dad, Jerry. They finished the day with a bag weighing 91.2 pounds including the 62.3-pound blue that took the top spot.
“We started the day out suspending in about 30 to 40 feet of water,” recalled Noah. “We did that for a couple of hours before deciding to start dragging ledges on the edge of structure in about 60 to 80 feet of water. We were pulling rods straight out the back and some on planer boards. About an hour into the drag one of the straight back rods went down and my new personal best and Big Fish of the tournament was hooked. It took me about 8 minutes to land it.”
Top Lady Angler
The Top Lady Angler award went to Kaila Duff. She was fishing with her dad, Steve Douglas. They finished the day with a bag weighing 63.2 pounds.
Most WCCs Fished
The WCC gives an award to the angler who has fished the most WCC’s. This year’s recipient is Jerry (Duck) Matlock. He began fishing the event in 1953 and has not missed once since.
Final Thoughts
“I want to thank everyone for fishing with us and being a part of the World Championship of Catfishing,” said J.R. Sweat following the event. “I especially want to thank the WCC sponsors for their support. They include Parks Planners, Monster Rod Holders, Draggin Master, and Tangling with Catfish. I also want to give a big shout-out to Steve Douglas for stepping up and helping out with this year’s event.”
“We appreciate everyone that fished with us this year,” concluded Sweat. “Now we are looking forward to doing it again next year in the 3rd week of September. We are planning to make it bigger and better than this year. This is the oldest running catfish tournament in the county and we want to continue its rich tradition.”
To keep up with WCC happenings follow them on their Facebook page.
