Cloudy skies, north winds at 10 – 15, temperatures in the high 80’s and day-long scattered showers greeted catfish anglers on the Cumberland River and a day of chasing whiskered critters. By all accounts it was a tough day of fishing.
The occasion was Cabela’s King Kat Tournament Trail. The tournament traveled to Cadiz, KY to fish the Cumberland River (Lake Barkley) on Saturday, August 13, 2016. Top catfish anglers from 9 different states, were competing for more than $5,000.00 in cash and prizes, and the opportunity to qualify for the 2016 Cabela’s King Kat Northern and Southern Championships to be held in the fall.
The winning team of Ronnie Hughes of Madison, North Carolina and Johnny Jones of Stoneville, North Carolina weighed in 69.54 pounds to claim the top spot. They were fishing 4 miles north of Prizer Point Marina on the Cumberland River targeting deeper flats on the Land Between the Lakes side of the river. They were drifting skipjack in 25 to 30 feet of water to land 10 fish for the day.
The North Carolina team used their first ever trip to the Cumberland River to earn $3,000 plus an additional $385 for catching the Big Kat of the tournament. The Big Kat weighed 28.80 pounds.
Less than 4 pounds behind the leaders were the Kentucky team of Rob Benningfield and Chris Debow. Benningfield, from Bowling Green, KY and Debow, from Madeira, KY weighed in 66.04 pounds to nail down the second place spot.
“We drug skipjack chunks on flats in 20 to 25 feet,” reported Benningfield. “I was expecting a much better bite. The fish didn’t seem to be in the normal deeper river channel areas for some reason and windy conditions made boat control a chore.”
“Fishing was as tough as I have seen it,” added Debow. “Rob and I pre-fished on Friday and never boated a fish. We eliminated a lot of the lake before ending up where we did.”
“Barkley is known to be a great fishery,” Continued Benningfield. “There is continued concern over Asian carp and over harvest of larger fish for sale to pay lakes.”
“Asian carp were a plenty as well as commercial fisherman,” chimed in Debow.
Team Benningfield/Debow earned $1,500.00 for the day. They caught a total of 7 fish.
Team King of Mt. Vernon, Indiana won third place. The husband/wife/son team of Wayne, Jennifer and Conner King weighed in 37.52 pounds to earn a check for $500.00.
“The Day started off pretty slow,” reported Jennifer. “It was very overcast and windy. We didn’t have much luck at our first stop so we moved upriver around 10 miles and was able to get a few more bites. We use skipjack for bait pretty much all day, but we always use shad as well.”
“We drifted the same area over and over, dragging the skipjack and shad. We only caught four fish but those four fish were enough to get us in the money. This tournament also qualified us for the Cabela’s Classic in Henderson Kentucky,” said a forward looking Jennifer.
“We love doing this as a family,” concluded Jennifer. “This summer Wayne has taught Connor how to take the boat off the trailer and put it back on. We are impressed by how interested he is, at age 12, with nothing but FISHING!”
Tournament director, Jeremy Coe, gave a special thank you to Bill Stevens and staff with Cadiz-Trigg County Tourism for making the event possible. “Also, a special thank you to Prizer Point for their willing cooperation and contribution to making the whole weekend a smooth running success,” said Coe.
Anglers qualifying for the 2016 Cabela’s King Kat Northern and Southern Championship will be able to fish the Ohio River or the Cumberland River this fall. The Northern Championship will be held September 23 and 24, 2016 on the Ohio River, Henderson, Kentucky. The Southern Championship will be held September 29 and October 1, 2016 on the Cumberland River (Old Hickory Lake) Gallatin, Tennessee.
The next King Kat event will be August 20, 2016 at Marietta, OH on the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers.
For more results, photos and recognitions click on www.kingkatusa.com or visit the Cabela’s King Kat Facebook Page. They can be reached by phone at 502-384-5924.