Montana Catfish Tourney

[dooblehaul]

I put on a catfish tournament last weekend, it was a real success....I look forward to putting this thing on for many years to come. Our organization is called the Montana Catfish Association. Just thought I'd keep all of my old fishing acquaintances updated on my whereabouts.

By MT Cats Staff

Huntley, MT 5/9/09 - The Yellowstone Challenge continues to grow at an all-time high, this was evidenced by the nice crowd gathered around the Minnow Bucket in Huntley this past Saturday. This years 3rd Annual event provided fun and thrills for all the ages involved. The 60-team limit was filled 3 weeks in advance of the event, as anglers rushed to assure their entry. The local anglers are becoming more excited about catfishing and if this year’s tourney is any indication, we should see continued growth and positive changes into the future.

After a short opening rules meeting at 11:00 a.m., tournament director, Tyler George released all the teams onto the mighty Yellowstone River bottom. Seeing all 60 teams being released at one time is a spectacle in itself. 38 teams fished from boat, while 22 teams braved the conditions from shore. The month of May always provides us with a lot of weather changes throughout the day, and this particular day was no different. With highs peaking in the upper 50’s it was a relatively cool day on the water for most teams. River conditions were once again slowly rising, and very similar to the previous two years. The combination of unpredictable weather and predictable river flows gave way to some big weights for the top teams, as the entire top five weighed in a limit of four cats of at least 28.5 total pounds.

Tournament veterans, Art Adame of Ballantine and Larry Green of Billings, were able to put it all together and rise above the 60-team field with 31.7 lbs., a new Yellowstone Challenge Record! The record catch turned out to be worth $2,740.00, as they also purchased themselves in Friday nights Calcutta. When asked about their incredible catch, Larry Green replied, “It was pretty slow for a few hours there, then we caught a shad and cut it up, they seemed to like it.” The Green-Adame duo are no strangers to success at The Challenge either, as they already had a 3rd place finish in 2007 and a 5th place finish in last years event to their credit. The tournament championship total weight wasn’t the only Challenge record to go down this weekend, as Levi Walter of Shepherd smashed the previous big fish record, with his 12.4 lb. Yellowstone bruiser! The big cat helped Walter’s team fly up the leader board and finish in a very respectable 7th place. This years top 10 was littered with teams making return trips to the leader board and showing consistency on the big river.

This event was brought to you by the Montana Catfish Association, and was the first tournament on the 2009 Montana Catfish Cup Circuit. Points have now been awarded to the top 10 teams as well as participation points for all the other teams that participated. Three more tour events are planned for later this summer, with the next being the 10th Annual Milk River Catfish Classic in Glasgow, MT on June 6th. Montana Cats will crown a 2009 tournament circuit champion at the Inaugural Monster Cat Roundup in Sidney, MT on July 11th. We hope to see you at our upcoming events! Enjoy the complete final results, photos, and podcast interviews from this past weekend’s event.

Final Results – (60 Teams)

1. Art Adame, Ballantine, MT. - Larry Green, Billings, MT. 31.7 lbs. $850
2. J.D. Smith, Billings, MT. - Bruce Boracker, Billings, MT. 30.8 lbs. $500
3. Siler Giles, Billings, MT. - Rick Davis, Billings, MT. 29.5 lbs. $350
4. Matt Theis, Billings, MT. - Richard Theis, Billings, MT. 29.2 lbs. $300
5. Steve Reidy, Billings, MT. - Keith Ratcliff, Billings, MT. 28.6 lbs. $250
6. Pete Sanderson, Billings, MT. - Christopher Hofmann, Billings, MT. 26.8 lbs. $200
7. Levi Walter, Shepherd, MT. - Dan Walter, Billings, MT. 24.2 lbs. $150 * Big Fish Winners
8. Jonathan Stark, Billings, MT. - Darren Donness, Billings, MT. 19.6 lbs. $100
9. Nick Christman, Worden, MT. - Tom Ringo, Ballantine, MT 18.5 lbs.
10. Jason Flaten, Gillette, WY. - Matt Smith, Billings, MT. 16.6 lbs.

Here are some pics from last weekends events.

Where the magic happens on stage


Anxious fisherman


Team Theis/Theis 4th place finish


One of the fish that came in. Strange growth under his chin.


Team Sanderson/Hoffman with a respectable 6th place finish.


Team Dietz/Kading with an 11th place finish.


Team Giles/Davis with an impressive 3rd place finish.


Team Montana Cats with a 19th place finish.


Big fish winner team Walter/Walter

[BingJr]

Looks like a blast. Great job!

[PONTOON]

Dooblehaul, Great report and pictures. The tournament looked like it was a blast. I have realatives in Montana and now that I know there is some good catfishing in the area I may just have to make a trip up that way.

[Troutman65]

Hey Tyler , Thanks for the post. Looked like it was a great event. Thanks for sharing with FNN. I hope one day to get back up to Montana. You will have to show me some of the fishing holes you fish. Keep posting Bro.

[KittyKiller]

These are the reports I like to see

[Skyler]

Nice, Tyler. Good hear from you, and nice to see you having fun back home. I'm gonna have to cruise up there one of these days for some epic Montana fly fishing, he he he. Tight lines.

-Skyler

[copeyboy]

Hey Tyler, nice to see that you were able to keep this tourney up and running. I remember you and I talking about it extensively out on our duct trips. I'm glad it went well for you. I hope you're doing well out there and I'm very sorry things didn't work out for you here in California. Best of luck, bro. Later.