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Anglers fishing the Bass Pro Shops Big Cat Quest (BCQ) launched under rainy conditions and expectations of storms throughout the day in Jefferson City, MO. The July 2, 2016 fishing was scheduled for the Missouri River and its tributaries. Any fishing waters reachable by boat from the tournament launch site at Carl R. Noren Missouri River Access in North Jefferson City were permitted. The launch is also known as Wilson’s Serenity Point. The weigh-in was at the same location.
Anglers could begin fishing at 6:00 a.m. and continue until 3:00 p.m. All boats were required to be on trailers and in the weigh-in line no later than 4:00 p.m.
The wet weather continued and by weigh-in time the angles were soaked from the daylong pounding rain. It was a tough and challenging day on the water.
It was a family affair in the winner’s circle. “This was Pop’s first tournament after having heart surgery,” reported Larry Muse. Pop is Larry’s stepdad and longtime tournament partner, Frank Meador. “He did just fine, but he was soaked to the bone.” Larry’s other fishing partner was his stepbrother Dino Meador.
The three-time BCQ Angler of the Year lead his team to the first place win using Gen 2 Warrior Cat Bumping Rods. “It was a tough bite,” said Muse. “It was thick here with fish in the early spring, but I think they may have migrated towards St. Louis. They don’t all leave, but I didn’t mark a lot of fish. I found one little stretch that had some fish and they were hard to get a bait to.”
Muse was referring to the fishing conditions of the Missouri River. “The Missouri River is kinda’ like the Mississippi River,” described Muse. “It has a ripping current and is always a little dingy. It wasn’t like chocolate milk, but it wasn’t far from it. We bumped bottom all day long using 6-ounce sinkers to get what we did. We tried to control the boat speed at about a mile and a half per hour.”
“I was really pleased with the new Gen 2 Warrior Cat Bumping Rod,” offered Muse. “It caught our biggest fish and most of our fish. The weather was awful. It started raining about 9:00 this morning and every thread on us is wet.”
Muse, Frank and Dino Meador, all from Corinth, MS, claimed the first place honors with a total weight of 53.49 pounds. Their big fish of the day was 24.37 pounds.
At the end of the day Muse’s thoughts went to his friend and competitor, Paul Strouth. His recent passing has a huge portion of the catfish community in mourning. “I would just like to dedicate this win to Paul,” said Muse. “Paul Strouth will be missed.”
Second place (picture to the right) went to Clint Geslin, Brunswick, MO and Marty Darrah from Lee’s Summit, MO. They weighed in 51.79 pounds that included the big fish of the day at 30.10 pounds.
“Rain, rain, and a few catfish,” said Geslin. “Unfortunately we only weighed 4 fish. We lost our 5th weigh-in fish on the way to the ramp. We were fishing rock banks on the current side using cut shad. We were anchored up fishing 9 to 14 feet down on 20- to 30-feet deep banks. We were fishing on the slope of the rocks. We did walk a few baits from the anchored position with very little success.”
The third place prize (pictured to the left) went to Boomer Wilson and John Spatafora or Jefferson City, MO. They weighed in a total of 49.11 pounds. Their big fish of the day was 14.79 pounds. They also reported a slow bite. They caught their fish walking baits. Equipment failure threw a monkey wrench into their strategy and caused them to revert to old fashion methods.
“It was a very tough bite,” reported Spatafora. “We only had 2 fish by 1:30 and caught 6 more by 3:00. We fished channel ledges most of the day, but found most of the fish around trail dikes. Unfortunately, our trolling motor stopped working about the time we figured the fish out.”
“Losing that trolling motor made it a frustrating end to the day,” continued Spatafora. “We were moving the entire time when the trolling motor went out. We pulled the anchor backwards to slow our drift, but had limited boat control. It was still somewhat effective.”
Fourth place went to Danny Salfen from Owensville, MO and Keff Schultz of Florestell. Their big fish weighed 18.46 pounds and their total was 34.48 pounds.
Jefferson City residents Chris Goff and Paul Henry pulled in the fifth place prize. They had a big fish of 20.53 pounds and a total weight of 28.40 pounds. (pictured to the right)
“We had lots of rain and storms in the area all day,” reported tournament organizer Ken Freeman. “Everyone came back safe and most with fish. The cool down in temp to 70 degrees for the high has been wonderful.”
“We had the use of first class facilities and first class folk here at Jefferson City,” continued Freeman. “This is a great place to visit for a day of entertainment regardless of what you are doing. It could be fishing, taking in a scenic boat or canoe ride, or enjoying some great music. Jefferson City offers great food and fun for the entire family or couple! I want to publicly thank Chris and his staff for everything. This has been a great tournament stop.”
If you have any questions about BCQ contact Ken Freeman at 731-234-1888. Follow the BCQ Website and the BCQ Facebook Page for more information, updates, results and photos from the tournament.
For information on visiting the area you can browse the Jefferson City Tourism Website.
By ODU Contributor Capt. Ron Presley
Photo Credit: All photos are from Big Cat Quest