The Twisted Cat Outdoors tournament at New Madrid will be a big cat tournament.
by Ron Presley
The first Mississippi River catfish tournament I ever covered was the 2014 Bass Pro Shops Big Cat Quest at New Madrid, MO. Just being introduced to the Mississippi River was awesome and exciting, but everything that went along with that visit was special.
First of all, the town itself was and continues to be one of the most supportive communities for catfish anglers and their families. Everything from visiting local historical sites to eating hotdogs with all the fixin’s prepared by the mayor and other local dignitaries was top notch. The support of that town was tremendous and left a favorable first impression.
The BCQ was held the same weekend as the New Madrid Fall Festival. The Festival included great food, arts and craft vendors, and fun entertainment for the entire family. They had a Civil War reenactment, covered wagon rides, a car, truck and bike show, a petting zoo, miniature golf, and live music.
They also had a fishing derby for the kids at the New Madrid Fishing Park , followed by free hotdogs for all participants.
Other highlights included meeting and fishing with Bill Dance, George Young, and Cary Long. Then the weigh-in featured anglers like Jeff Dodd, Jason and Daryl Masingale, David Shipman and Natalie Brooke Wilbanks, Larry Muse, Dino and Frank Meador, Roy Harkness, Don Sweat, Ben Goebel, Jackie Cooksey, Jonathan Cooksey, Adam Long, Nick Dimino, Joey Pounders, Tim and Teresa Owenby, Carl Morris Jr, Jason Aycock, Hunter Jones, Jason and Vicky Mathenia, and the list went on and on.
These great memories were brought back to me when I saw the announcement that Twisted Cat Outdoors will conduct a tournament in New Madrid on October 5, 2019. Given the big fish possibilities of that stretch of the Big Muddy, I am sure it will attract some of those same great anglers and more. And once again the tournament will be held in conjunction with Fall Festival and all that goes with it.
You can find out more about the tournament and stay up to date with current announcements by visiting the Twisted Cats Outdoors website and/or Facebook page.
By the way, the Masingale Brothers won that two-day BCQ event in 2014 with 261.15 pounds! The Twisted Cat Outdoors tournament at New Madrid is destined to be a Big Cat tournament! Don’t miss it.
