Covington, TN and the Mississippi River was the location of a recent Cabela’s King Kat Tournament Trail event. The affair was one of sixteen tournaments to appear in 10 states across the country in 2016. They are followed by two national championship events later in the year. King Kat tournaments provide local and travelling anglers an opportunity to demonstrate their catfishing skills, fish for cash and prizes, and compete for a berth in the national championship events that come up in Sept.
The August 6, 2016 event allowed anglers from 12 states to fish the Mississippi River from the I-155 Bridge, South to the I-40 Bridge at Memphis, with no pre-fishing allowed from midnight until 6:30 am on tournament day. Tournament fishing began at 6:30 am and continued until 3:00 pm. Anglers had to be in the weigh-in line at Duvall Landing on Coon Valley Rd. in Drummonds, TN by 4:00 pm or be disqualified.
Most anglers commented that the bite was tough and the heat was overbearing. Winds cooperated at 5 to 10 mph out of the NNW, but the river flow changed. “The river had been falling all week,” commented Larry Muse. “Then it went on the rise and scattered the fish. The bite was tough and the temperatures were hot out there today!”
Team Masingale agreed, “That heat wiped us out today.” Nevertheless, Daryl and Jason Masingale (Masingale Catfishing) brought in a 81.36 pound stringer to claim the first place honors. The Paragould, Arkansas team earned $3,000.00 for their efforts.
They launched on the Mississippi River at Ramp 19 and fished up to just South of Barfield. Their strategy changed partway through the day as they adapted to changing river conditions. They began by targeting wood structure in 40 to 50 feet of water. When that strategy did not produce they began fishing a revetment bank using skipjack for bait. They landed a total of 9 fish for the day.
“We started bumping but ended up on the anchor,” reported Jason. “We just couldn’t get a bite on the drift.”
Summing up the day, Jason stated, “When you put this caliber of anglers on the river with good, fresh bait and you win the tournament with what we had, yeah, it was tough!” Their first place win included second big fish of the tournament at 30.82 pounds.
The second place spot went to David Magness of Hernando, Mississippi and Russell Jackson of Olive Branch, Mississippi. They came in less than 2 pounds behind the leaders. They weighed in 80.76 pounds to earn $1,500.00.
B’n’M pro staffers Magness and Jackson fished 8 to 10 miles north of the Duvall Ramp. They were fishing main river ledges in 35 to 55 feet of water. They drifted all day using skipjack for bait to land 9 fish for the tournament.
“All in all it went well,” said Magness. “It was hot as heck and the fish did not want to cooperate. They would grab bait, gnaw on it, and let it go. We fished hard and only caught five fish, but it worked out for us today.”
The B’n’M prostaffers were using the new B’n’M Prostaff Bumping Rods that were just released at the ICAST show in Orlando, FL this past July.
Glynn Grogan of Arlington, KY and Walter Hayes of Cunningham, KY placed third. Grogan and Hayes weighed in 79.06 pounds to earn $500.00 for their day’s work. The conservation minded team weighed 4 fish earlier in the day and then returned in search of more whiskered critters. They headed south towards Memphis in the morning and then fished at the Duvall Ramp towards the end of the day.
Grogan and Hayes pre-fished north of the weigh-in site, but were not happy with the faster moving current. They found their fish in slower moving water behind sandbars. They used mooneye for bait in 45 feet of water to land 12 fish on the day.
A total weight of 78.66 pounds put Gary Campbell and Mike Crews in the fourth place position. The Mayfield, KY team fished North of Duvall Landing using skipjack as bait to land 5 fish for the event. They caught all their fish off the anchor in 25 to 30 feet of water.
Fifth place went to the 2015 World Champions of Catfishing, David Shipman and Brooke Wilbanks. Makaden Barnes, also from Corinth, MS, fished as a third team member. They weighed in 78.42 pounds, which include the Big Kat honors with a fish weighing 34.60 pounds.
Team Shipman entered the tournament after placing second last year. He also recognized the high caliber of the competition. “All the conditions were the same as last year’s tournament, so we did the exact same thing we did last year and had about the same weight. It just didn’t hold up to today’s competition.”
The B’n’M team was also using the new B’n’M Prostaff Bumping Rods to catch some of their fish. They used skipjack for bait, targeting structure in 50 to 70 feet of water. They boated 5 fish for the day, finding their Big Kat of the event in 57 feet of water.
Tournament director, Jeremy Coe, gave a special thank you to B’n’M Pole Company and Homer Skelton Auto Group of Millington, TN for making the event possible. “We are so happy to have B’n’M Pole Company as a National Sponsor,” said Coe. “They were the first company to introduce a catfish specific bumping rod to the industry a few years ago. Now they have recently released the new Prostaff Bumping Rod, improving on the older model, to become what many call the best bumping rod on the market.”
Anglers were competing for $5,515.00 in cash and prizes, and the opportunity to qualify for the 2016 Cabela’s King Kat Northern and Southern Championship. This year’s Northern Championship will be held September 23 and 24, 2016 at the Ohio River, Henderson, Kentucky. The Southern Championship will be held September 29 and October 1, 2016 at Cumberland River (Old Hickory Lake) Gallatin, Tennessee.
The next King Kat event will be on the Cumberland River at Cadiz, KY on August 13, 2016.
For more results, photos and recognitions click on www.kingkatusa.com or visit the Cabela’s King Kat Facebook Page.