Young Soldier Bests All Others in
Triple-Digit Finale of
3rd Annual Big Catfish Tournament

 

by: Bobby McDonald

 

Fishermen were headed for the dock in search of shade and refreshment, as the temperatures rose
to triple-digit levels on Lake Fork, Sunday.

 

With temperatures climbing for the second day to triple-digits and temperatures reaching as high as 107 on vehicle thermometers, 702 contestants in the 3rd Annual Big Catfish Splash Tournament, on Lake Fork, began coming into dock at noon, Sunday. With comments about how hot it was on the water, many contestants opted to come ashore and seek shade and refreshments. The last weigh-in was scheduled for 3:00 p.m., where an hourly prize was awarded to the top five fish weighed during the hour. And, as the countdown came, a large crowd battled the heat to watch the awards ceremony and match tickets for door prizes, awarded by the Lake Fork Chamber of Commerce.

This year's tournament drew contestants from as a far away as California and Colorado and featured fisherman who were willing to brave the heat and a little bit of discomfort with hopes of "catching the big one!" The annual catfish tournament is a "boon" to local Lake Fork business and finds motels and hotels in surrounding cities, as well as restaurants receiving trade from the participants. These businesses gave graciously to award prizes to the participants in the drawings.

 

Lake Fork Chamber of Commerce members, sponsor of the tournament, gave away some 80 prizes
to ticket holders who had purchased the raffle tickets, as the final results of the tournament was being
tabulated.

And, the young lady on the left was the winner of this 20" television, in the drawing.

 

With the crowd sweltering in the heat, a loud hurrah was sounded as the tournament results were brought to the stage. The fifth place individual in the tournament was announced as Dan Miles, of Irving, Texas, who weighed in a 7.93 pound fish. He admitted to using shrimp as bait and announced that he had caught the fish while fishing from an inner-tube!

Fourth place awards went to Greg Taylor of Quitman, who caught his 8.02 pound catfish from a boat. And, third place in the tournament went to Tony Johnson of Athens, Texas, who weighed-in a 8.53 pound fish and used his grandfather's baiting instructions of soaking shrimp in Vanilla Extract.

Second place honors went to Michael Littlejohn of Duncanville, Texas, who used shrimp to catch his 8.62 pound catfish and land in the runner-up position in the tournament.

 

2006 Winners were from left to right, Wells, Littlejohn, Johnson, Taylor, & Miles.

However, it was a young soldier stationed at Randolph Air Force Base, who fished from the dock and won the 3rd Annual Big Catfish Tournament. Brian Wells, fishing in his first fishing tournament, bested all of the others with his 10.04 pound catfish caught using dead shrimp. Cheers erupted from the crowd as he was hailed for his three years of service to the U.S. Military and many in the crowd became misty-eyed, as he indicated that he could possibly be called to the Middle East during the winter months. Tournament officials announced that they wanted him to "take care of himself" and to be back at next year's tournament in the new Triton Aluminum Boat, Motor, and Trailer, he had won! They even offered to pay his entry fee in next year's tournament!

U.S. Air Force soldier, Brian Wells, won the 2006 tournament, fishing from the dock, and won a
Triton Aluminum Boat, Motor, and Trailer for his efforts.

Over $50,000.00 in prizes were awarded, making it the largest catfish event in the world, and organizers indicated that new sponsors would make the 2007 tournament even richer.

 

One of the smallest "fish runners" was five year old Derek Robinson of
Moody, Texas, near Temple.

The Big Catfish Splash Tournament is headquartered at The Minnow Bucket, located on Highway 154, South of the bridge, and is a "catch and release" tournament, meaning that all fish are returned to the lake. The release program was handled by the Lake Fork Sportsmans Association and the fish were all delivered to the "live wells" in the boat by Boy Scout Troop 323, throughout the tournament. The Boy Scouts were from Emory, Texas.

 

The "Live Release Boat" was sponsored by the Lake Fork Sportsmans Association, who released the
catfish back into Lake Fork, after they were weighed-in.

Sealy Outdoors, Inc. who handled the tournament announced that the Big Bass Tournament on Lake Fork is scheduled for September 22, 23, & 24th, 2007, when fishermen will return to the lake, to try their luck at winning another cache of outstanding prizes.

 

These two members of Boy Scout Troop 323 of Emory were rewarded with new rod 'n reels for their
devotion and hard work, transporting fish from the weigh-in area to the live release boat!

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