Cabela’s King Kat Anglers Prove Watts Bar Lake One of the Top Catfish Lakes in the Nation
OutdoorHub 06.02.14
This past Friday and Saturday May 30 & 31st, 2014 the Cabela’s King Kat Tournament Trail hit the waters of the Tennessee River at Lenoir City, Tennessee for a 2-day $10,000.00 Super Event. .
In the Super Event over 100 top anglers from 12 different states were competing not only for the $11,245.00 in cash and prizes, but the opportunity to qualify for the 2014 Cabela’s King Kat East and West Championship. This year’s West Championship will be held September 19 & 20, 2014 on the Mississippi and Rock Rivers at Quad Cities, Iowa. The East Championship will be held October 3 & 4, 2014 on Lake Wateree at Camden, South Carolina. Be sure to check out our website at: www.kingkatusa.com. It’s a site with new and exciting information on our events along with special information on catfishing for catfish anglers everywhere.
Results for the Top 5 Teams
Taking first place was the Bowling Green, Kentucky team of Rob Benningfield and Nathan Helm with a 2-day total weight of 276.04 pound and earning $4,500.00. Rob and Nathan were fishing the Kingston area where on day 1 the team fished in 12 feet of water weighing in big flatheads and day 2 bringing in big blues in 50 feet of water. The team anchored down and was drifting both days to catch 40 in the 2 days on skipjack.
In second place was the team of Christian Vittetoe of Knoxville, Tennessee and Samuel Cate of Mascot, Tennessee with 219.2 pounds and earning $2,200.00. The team fished the Kingston area anchored in 60 feet of water using river herring to catch around 40 fish for the 2 days.
Third place went to Scott Cress of Covington, Kentucky and Steve Collins of Williamsburg, Ohio weighing in 207.64 pounds and earning $1,200.00. Scott and Steve also fished in the Kingston area but were drifting in 25-50 feet of water. The team was using skipjack and caught 70 fish during the tournament.
David Hart of Otway, Ohio and Teresa Shelpman also of Otway took fourth place with a weight of 201.08 pounds and earning $500.00. David and Teresa drifted both days in the Kingston area using skipjack in 50+ feet of water. Catching over 100 fish this weekend. David and Teresa both said: “We love this area and the lake and we would love to be back. Watts Bar is a great Fishery”
Fifth place went to Paul Strouth and Anthony Robinitte of Louisville, Tennessee weighing in 187.32 pounds and earning $500.00. On day 1 Paul and Anthony were fishing around the Fort Loudon Dam and the Kingston area on day 2 drifting and anchored up both in 35-50 feet of water using skipjack to catch 50 fish for both days.
Taking Big Fish of the Event was the 12th place team of Vic Sheppard of Mount Orab, Ohio and Chris Debow of Madeira, Ohio with a 53.98 pound blue cat which give the team a payback of $1,145.00.
Cabela’s King Kat Free Kids Fishing Rodeo
In conjunction with the tournament Cabela’s King Kat held their Kids Rodeo on Saturday morning with several local children attending the event. All the participants signed up for a chance to win one of 6-$1,000.00 scholarships to be drawn for at the Cabela’s Crappie USA Classic this fall.
Cabela’s King Kat, Crappie USA and our anglers have contributed nearly $322,000.00 to the “Outdoor Kids” Scholarships since 1997. We are very proud to be a part of the education process for the youngsters who participate in our tournaments as adult/youth teams and those who fish in the Cabela’s King Kat, “Kids Fishing Rodeos”.
Special thanks to Clayton Pangle and the staff with the Loudon County Visitors Bureau
for their sponsorship and hard work to make the event a huge success. Also thanks to the team of Paul Strouth and Anthony Robinette for their assistance in the weigh in lines.
“Watts Barr Lake is one of the best catfish lakes we have found in years, not only for huge blues but for the giant flatheads as well. All the teams had a great time on Watts Barr”, said CEO Darrell Van Vactor.
NATIONAL SPONSORS:
Cabela’s The World’s Foremost Outfitter , Evinrude Outboards, Minn Kota Trolling Motors, Talon Shallow Water Anchors, Mustad Hooks, Adventure Products- EGO Nets, Humminbird Electronics, Alumacraft, Driftmaster Rod Holders, GAMMA LINE, Grizzly Coolers, Rippin Lips, Venture RV, B ‘n’ M Silver Cat Rods, RIGRAP, Cat River Anchors, Stubby Steve’s Bait and WFN-World Fishing Network.
