Flatheads and blue cats were the main targets for tournament anglers on the Ohio and Scioto Rivers near Portsmouth, OH. The Cabela’s King Kat event attracted 39 boats from several states to compete for cash and prizes in the July 30 event.
Anglers were allowed to fish the Ohio River from the Meldahl Lock and Dam to the Greenup Lock and Dam. They could also fish the Scioto River up to the 348 Bridge at Lucasville.
Following a seminar and captains meeting at the Scioto County Welcome Center on Friday night, anglers could begin fishing at 6:30 am the following morning and continue fishing until 3:00 pm.
Tournament day started off with temperatures in the low 80’s, clouds and light rain. The skies cleared in the afternoon and temps rose to the high 80’s. Rains on Friday made the river muddy but didn’t affect fishing for most teams.
Well-known King Kat angler, Carl Morris Jr. didn’t mind the rising river. “We love to fish with the river rising,” reported Morris. “We had found a nice group of fish on Friday. We decided to anchor up and walk baits back to them in the current as opposed to drifting thru them. We caught a bunch of fish just not the right ones today.”
The right fish did come to the scales for Dan Rothe and Alex Jenkins from St. Marys, OH. They weighed in 93.66 pounds to earn $3,000.00 and claim first place honors. Rothe and Jenkins fished in the Portsmouth, OH area, moving up and down river to find fish. They felt the rains that came the night before actually helped them by adding current to the river.
Large skipjack was their bait of choice, with the majority of their fish coming from skipjack sides. They targeted fish in 20 feet of water on the main river ledge to catch a total of 9 fish for the day. Their Big Kat entry weighed 40.16 pounds and was fourth in the big fish competition.
The Manchester, OH team of Anthony Raines and Susie Vogler brought home the second place honors with 89.92 pounds. Their stringer earned, the soon to be married team, a cash award of $1,500.00. Raines and Volger fished their home waters on the Meldahl pool near Manchester, OH.
In a spirit of good sportsmanship Raines and Volger filmed and released a 50 pound plus fish that was getting weak. They wanted that fish to live and be caught again. Protecting trophy cats is obviously high on their conservation agenda.
They tried drifting but were not getting the results they hoped for so they anchored up in 40 to 50 feet of water where they caught a total of 6 fish for the day. They used both skipjack and shad for bait, but noted that their bigger fish came off of skipjack heads. “We anchored today, but the water conditions were perfect for drifting,” added Raines.
Third place went to Nick Conaway and Scott Vice, both from Lucasville, OH. They weighed in a total of 86.86 pounds that included the Big Kat of the tournament at 44.46 pounds. Conaway and Vice targeted fish in the Shawnee State Park area of the Ohio River just a few miles downriver from Portsmouth. They were drift fishing in 20 to 30 feet of water using skipjack, mostly heads, to earn $800 for third place and $900 for Big Kat.
Willie Smith and Nick Anderson claimed the fourth place spot. The Frankfort, OH team weighed four quality fish to pull the scales to 86 pounds and earn $600.00. Their fish came early on what turned out to be a tough day on the water with no fish to come to the boat following those first four.
They fished from an Alumacraft 2072 using skipjack and shad. Like many other competitors the skipjack heads produced best. Smith and Anderson targeted fish in the Portsmouth area in 20 feet of water.
Curtis Moore from Columbus, OH and Bradley Peck from Monroe, OH teamed up to bring 85.88 pounds to the scales to earn $400.00. and fifth place. Moore and Peck used skipjack in 35 to 50 feet of water to catch 6 fish for the day. They fished downriver between Maysville and Twin Island.
Sixth place went to the Scioto Furnace, OH team of Tom Miller and Ken Craft. They weighed 71.16 pounds to earn $300 dollars on the rising and muddy river.
Tournament director, Jeremy Coe, gave a special thank you to the Portsmouth – Scioto County Visitors Bureau for hosting the event and allowing King Kat to use the visitors center for the captains meeting. “It was a rough first year in 2015 with flooding and bad weather,” said Coe. “Conditions definitely improved this year and it turned out to be a great tournament. We saw a lot of quality Ohio River blue cats, which is what Portsmouth is known for.”
The next King Kat event will be on the Mississippi River at Covington, TN on August 6, 2016.
For more results, photos and recognitions click on www.kingkatusa.com or visit the Cabela’s King Kat Facebook Page.