Brothers Go Back to Back

June 04, 2016 by Montana Cats Staff

6/4/16- Glasgow, MT – The 17th Annual Milk River Catfish Classic lived up to its high expectations this past weekend. As is customary, the festivities began Friday on Glasgow’s famous front street with the fishermen social, calcutta auction, and live band performance. The popular hi-line Phillips County band, “Trial by Fire”, and “Ashes to Ashes”, a premier band from the pacific-northwest, thrilled the crowd throughout the evening. Paul Monson, owner of the Montana Bar, also received the 6th Aaron Chatten Memorial Award during the Friday festivities. It was a perfect start to another action packed Catfish Classic! Montana Cats would like to thank Sarah Partridge with Farm Equipment Sales and the Montana Bar for teaming up with us to provide the Friday night music entertainment.

As for the fishing, there was a level of uncertainty heading into the big show on Saturday for many of the teams involved. The Milk River had been running very high and well above average for over a month leading up to this year’s Classic, however, the flow was stable this time around. Catfisherman were looking forward to the chance at attacking a Milk River that was not rapidly rising or rapidly falling for the first time in many years. Combine that with little to no wind and 80 degree sunny temperatures and the Cat Classic field would take full advantage of the conditions. A RECORD 74 teams, out of the 80-team field, would weigh-in fish at the midnight weigh-ins. Well over half the field caught their limit of five catfish and nineteen teams weighed in over twenty pounds. It is safe to say, the health and population of the channel catfish in the Milk River drainage, is alive and well.
Nobody handled the conditions quite as well as the defending champions. Tyler George, Sheridan, WY., and Ryan George, Joliet, MT., enjoyed a repeat performance for the ages. The brothers battled a “slow bite” to weigh in five cats at 35.20 lbs. and narrowly win the 2016 Cat Classic. “We landed ten total cats on the night, had thirteen legitimate bites, and lost three that could have helped us”, said Tyler. The duo becomes just the third team to go back to back in Cat Classic history. Four-time Champions, Jerry and Nate Molstad, fell just short of a fifth, taking runner-up honors, with 34.34 lbs. Nate quipped, “I figure we caught about a dozen cats, two big ones in the first twenty minutes.” Nate said on stage at the weigh-ins, that him and his father were disappointed in last year’s performance and were happy to be back fighting for the top prize. Chad Dawson, Dickinson, ND, and Brady Burgess, Glasgow, came in third place, weighing in 33.41 lbs. Although it didn’t come easy, as they landed only seven cats on the night, this is Chad’s third consecutive top four performance at the Classic. Local anglers, Brady Flaten and Jason Molstad, finished in fourth, marking the tenth time they have finished in the top four. Impressive. Rounding out the top five, Mitch and Jim McIntyre, both of Glasgow, with 28.76 lbs. Tyler George won the Jumbo Whiskers Award, for the biggest catfish of the evening. His 10.43 lb. toad came after the darkness had long set in and made the difference in another tournament championship.

The Catfish Classic would not be possible without all of the hard work behind the scenes by a great group of volunteers and the continued support of our countless valuable sponsors. Registration is beginning immediately for the 18th Annual Milk River Catfish Classic to be held in Glasgow on Saturday June 3rd, 2017. This year’s Top 40 will be guaranteed a spot, provided they register between now and Jan 1st. On January 2nd, the remaining spots will be opened to the general public. In the meantime, it is time to prepare for the back half of this year’s Montana Cats Circuit. The Monster Cat Roundup held on the Yellowstone River in Sidney will get underway on July 16th. There is still time to join in on the fun, as of press time there are only sixteen spots to be had.

Please enjoy the pictures from this past weekend’s event and the complete final results below.

pictures

Pictures for this event can be found here.

big fish

complete results

Top 10 (80 teams)

Posted in: Milk River Catfish Classic