TCO Alton Classic Win Goes to Josh Weed and Marty Gerloff
by Ron Presley,
Photos courtesy of Twisted Cat Outdoors by Tom Stolze
Second place team wins Big Fish honors while joining the 100-pound Club!
Twisted Cat Outdoors (TCO) launched their 3rd tourney of 2024 at Alton, IL. The March 02, 2024, Alton Classic attracted 84 teams. The 100% payback event distributed more than $25,000 to the anglers including a Big Fish pot sponsored by Castaway Customs.
The activities began on Friday Night March 1st with a non-mandatory Captains Meeting at the Best Western Premier in Alton. Tournament day started with registration and a boat check at 5:00 am at the Alton Amphitheater.
Anglers could travel to their first fishing spot following the registration with lines allowed in the water at 7:00 am. Fishing ended at 3:00 pm. The teams were required back at the Amphitheater by 4:30 where they could weigh 3 fish which could include channel cats, blue cats, and flatheads.
The day began cool and calm with temperatures in the low 40’s and light SSE winds. Organizers enjoyed a mild weigh-in as temps rose to the low 60 degrees mark.
Tournament director Alex Nagy reported that some anglers reported that the fishing was on fire while others were not so enthusiastic. “You can never tell,” said Nagy as he predicted a 3-fish weight of 186 pounds to win it.”
When the weigh-in was complete it took more than 115 pounds in 3 fish to win. The tournament also produced a new member of the 100-pound Club for the third time in Twisted Cat Outdoors history and the second time in the past 6 months.
First Place
Josh Weed and Marty Gerloff claimed the top spot at the Alton Classic with a 3-fish weight of 116.85 pounds to earn the first-place check of $10,080.
Gerloff and Weed originally had ideas of fishing the Missouri River because it is their home waters. Reflecting on that possibility and recalling that the bite had been getting slower over the last couple of weeks they changed their strategy.
“Last week we decided to start prefishing the Mississippi River,” reported Gerloff. “Josh came down last weekend and fished hard to find some good fish. Then he returned on Friday and found several more really good areas.”
The team put in at St. Louis by the arch and fished some areas characterized by slower current and underwater structure.
“The last couple of weeks the fish really slowed down,” noted Gerloff. “When that happens the fish go to structure. We anchored up on our first two spots and caught 3 small fish.”
The third area they fished was a spot where Gerloff had hooked a big fish on the day before the tournament but lost it in a tree. They returned to that spot on tournament day about 11 am.
“I cast a big shad head in the same underwater tree,” explained Gerloff. “Within 5 minutes that rod went down with the 58 pounder. We put the fish in the live well and knowing that we had seen more solid fish around that same structure I cast another big shad head in the same exact spot!”
Within minutes that rod went down and the team boated a 26-pound blue. They added that fish to their livewell and did the exact same thing with the same good luck. They added a 16-pounder on the same rod in the same exact spot.
“So of course the 4th time I cast was in the exact same spot again,” recalled Gerloff. “That rod went down with our second biggest fish at 35 pounds. It was a crazy 30 minutes as we caught 4 fish in the exact same place on the exact same rod and the same bait.”
“We worked hard and moved to several other spots,” continued Gerloff. “We were trying to get another big one to add to our bag of fish. We caught 10 fish total on the day while fishing in about 30 feet of water. It was a beautiful clear sunshiny day that started out with temperatures in the upper 30s and ended in the 60s.”
All three of the team’s weigh-in fish came off of the same structure and were caught in a 30-minute period of time. They spot-locked some and anchored some but all of their weigh-in fish came while spot-locked.
The past few months have been difficult for Gerloff. His dad, Roger Gerloff Sr. passed away in October from an unexpected massive heart attack.
“My father gave me the love of the outdoors and especially fishing,” concluded Gerloff. “I know he was in the boat with us yesterday and I thank him for giving me the life he did. Also thanks to God for giving us a great day of fishing!”
Second Place and Big Fish
The runner-up spot went to Jordan Collins, Joseph Guinn, and Robert Ostrander. The three-man team brought a weight of 113.48 pounds to the scales to earn the 2nd place check of $5,040. Their bag included Big Fish of the tournament at 102.93 pounds to add the Castaway Customs MWSC Big Fish award of $500 to boost their earnings to $5,540.
“I pre-fished Columbia Bottoms last week and didn’t like what I struggled to find,” reported Collins following the tournament. “I decided to stay away from pre-fishing the day before the tournament and go in blind to Saint Charles.”
Collins made that decision because there were a couple of places where he and another angler marked some good fish last year. He also noted that for the last two years the pattern for catching fish down there was exactly the same.
“So I used the same pattern with last year’s spots,” explained Collins. “We pulled up on the tip of an L dike on our second spot and started fishing down the current seam. Within 15 minutes the rod went down real slow. I reeled down, picked it up, and the fight was on.”
The team was using fresh shad chunked up in pieces about an inch to an inch and a half wide by 2 inches tall without gut pockets. They were casting Slick Stix Rods and the result was a new member of the 100-pound Club!
Third Place
Third place went to Charles Scott and James Kachmar. Their 3-fish limit pulled the scales to 112.62 pounds, less than a pound behind the 2nd-place team. They earned the 3rd place check of $3,350.
Fourth Place
Mike Behne, Max Doubet, and Tim Stookesberry claimed the fourth spot with a total weight of 103.33 pounds. The team earned a check for $1764.
Fifth Place
The fifth spot at the Alton Classic went to Joe Ludtke and Joe Coventry They weighed in 3 fish at 95.99 pounds to earn the 3rd place check for $1,596.
Note: To view more Tom Stolze photos and more winners from the event visit the Twisted Cat Outdoors Facebook page.
Final Thoughts
The Twisted Cat Outdoors Alton Classic produced plenty of nice fish on a nice weekend for catfishing. Forty-three of the 84 registered teams weighed fish. At the end of the day, 2,352.98 pounds of fish were recorded and one fish broke the 100-pound mark!
Looking ahead, the next event is scheduled for March 16th, 2024 at Kerr Lake out of Fort Smith, Arkansas. It promises to be another thrilling event in the TCO tournament series.
For more information on Twisted Cat Outdoors visit their website or follow them on Facebook.
