For the second consecutive year, Mother Nature placed a roadblock in the path of the Cabela’s King Kat Tournament Trail, which was scheduled for a June 21st tournament date at the French Bottoms Access on the Missouri River. The roadblock came in the form of major flooding problems.

This year’s tournament was officially placed on hold due to the massive amount of flood damage occurring along the Missouri River. Tournament host Tanner Tador said “We’re in the process of trying to reschedule an event for the St. Joseph area, but nothing has been finalized yet.”

Tador said they are tentatively shooting for an August date and possibly a night tournament. While nothing is set in stone, local anglers will be able to compete in an event hosted by the Kansas City Catfish Club in a worst case scenario. The top 20 anglers will be qualified to fish the Cabela’s King Kat Classic, which will be in Henderson, Ky., later this year, Tador said.

The King Kat Trail first hit the St. Joseph area in 2007 after being postponed for several months when spring rains caused serious flooding around the region. The tournament date was re-scheduled for mid-July, and anglers came out in numbers for a chance to land a limit of cats which would earn them thousands of dollars in prizes and a chance to fish in the King Kat Classic, which was held at Milford Lake in Kansas.

While the fishing during the mid-summer 2007 event was slow, around 60 of the top catfish anglers in the region took to the “Big Muddy” facing hot, summer conditions. At the end of the day when the final fish had been weighed, one area family reigned supreme in the rankings.

Roger (Jr.) and Cole Whetstine, of Troy, Kan., took home a check for $3,000 and a first-place win after weighing in a combined catch of 37.75 pounds. The Whetstines traveled south toward Kansas City on the river and caught their winning cat in about 20 feet of water using cut shad.

Second place in last year’s tournament went to the team of Bernard Sutton of Troy, Kan., and Jamie Embry of St. Joseph with a weight of 36.5 pounds. (Sutton is incidentally a relative of the Whetstines). Sutton and Embry had pulled in their catch near Langdon in 25 feet of water using shad. Bernard and Jamie received $1,500.

Rounding out a third place finish was the team of Roger (Sr.) and Jason Whetstine of Troy, Kan., with a weight of 31.8 pounds. Roger and Jason were fishing near Brownville in 18 feet of water, using cut bait and took home a check for $500 for third place.

For tournament participants and spectators, the event was a big draw. With such a large field of competitive catfish anglers, there were many exciting moments and big fish brought to the weigh in. In the 2007 event, Bernard Sutton and Jamie Embry brought a 32.25 pound monster to the scales, which earned them an additional $500 and a new Minn Kota trolling motor for the biggest cat of the event. The 2008 events promise even more with cash prizes of $5000 paid back to the top 15 percent of participants.

The Cabela’s King Kat Tournament Trail gives catfish anglers and club fishermen the opportunity to advance to a new level of competitive fishing with a major payback and recognition for their abilities. The trail is a team event, and teams consist of one or two persons with one exception. A third person may accompany the team provided the third person is under 16 years of age or older than 65 years.

For entry forms or information on any of Cabela’s King Kat Trail Events you can phone (270) 395-6774 or visit Cabela’s Web site at www.cabelas.com.