May 02, 2009 by MT Cats Staff
Lewellen, NE 5/2/09 – The 12th Annual Lake McConaughy Catfish Classic is in the books! The popular weekend kicked off on Friday May, 1st with a Calcutta and social at the Oregon Trail Trading Post in Lewellen. The tournament was held on Saturday and can be a long and grueling one for some, as tournament hours run from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. It provides a little different twist as well as it allows for teams to either fish in Lake McConaughy or within the North Platte River.
54 teams hit the water under steady overcast skies, with highs hovering around 50 degrees the entire day. Despite the cold front, sixteen teams were able to catch their limit of ten cats and four teams would break the magical 50 pound mark. The state of Colorado dominated the event, sweeping the top 3. After all the dust settled, Loyd Volgamore and Marnie Ryan would take home this years championship. It has been a long time coming for Loyd, who has competed in every Lake Mac Catfish Classic since its inception twelve years ago. He has been knocking on the door for years, placing 3rd three times and 5th three times. When asked what the key to their tournament victory was, Loyd replied, “ We setup on the warmest water we could find in the reservoir, used shrimp and shad guts, and had our limit by 9:15.” The duo will now cash a check for $2,028.60!! The top three teams were all fishing in a similar area and caught the majority of their cats between 4 to 6 feet. All three Colorado teams would catch well over 20 cats on the day and spend a lot of their time culling out their livewells.
Mike O’Shea, of the third place team, caught the biggest catfish of the day. The big cat fell for some shad guts and weighed in at 9.4 lbs, it netted Mike a check for $450. Three top 10 teams from 2008 found themselves back in the top 10 this year, as the tournament continues to be a great event for both the local and out of area teams. Montana Cats Field Staff members Brenner and Jason Flaten, both of Wyoming, returned to the event for a 3rd consecutive year placing 12th with 39.22 lbs.
If you are looking for a great time make sure you mark down the first weekend of May on your calendars every year for the Lake Mac Catfish Classic in Lewellen, Nebraska. Darrell and the crew at The Trading Post do an outstanding job and put on a great event. Montana Cats will be returning for years to come. Congratulations to the entire top 10! Below you will find complete results and photos from this past weekends event.
complete results
1. Loyd Volgamore – Marnie Ryan 58.82 lbs.
2. Darrell Fisher – Mark Hemmes 52.78 lbs.
3. Matt Ryan – Mike O’Shea 51.66 lbs.
4. Buck Johnson – Robert Stitt 51.48 lbs.
5. Henry Barker – Brandon Barker 49.48 lbs.
6. Mike Moody – Kevin Carlson 49.36 lbs.
7. Jeremy Canning – Nathan Robertson 48.84 lbs.
8. Robert Mallard – Kendal Kessler 45.98 lbs.
9. Nick Werth – Rick Spence 44.00 lbs.
10. Levi Gardner – Danny Garder 42.46 lbs.
11. Daryl Bertolini – Mike Purcell 41.62 lbs.
12. Brenner Flaten – Jason Flaten 39.22 lbs.
13. Joe Childs – Zach Barshdr 36.28 lbs.
14. Robbie Hain – Andy Hain 35.10 lbs.
15. Charles McDowell – David Collins 32.62 lbs.
16. Bob Sack – Leroy Sack 32.18 lbs.
17. David Carlson – James Duskin 32.14 lbs.
18. Stefan Kossick – Lee Calkins 32.12 lbs.
19. Wayne Hanson – Roy Parmely 30.98 lbs.
20. Bob Hattendorf – Doug Leopold 30.42 lbs.
21. Chris Schilz – Adam Lechman 30.04 lbs.
22. James Moseley Jr – Cory Adams 29.94 lbs.
23. Terry Wisdom – Bennie Vavra 28.26 lbs.
24. Sean Sanders – Kevin McCarthy 27.44 lbs.
25. Jesse Alexander – Stefan Schwalpacy 21.28 lbs.
26. Tyler Chavez – Linda Loudon 19.40 lbs.
27. Bryan Hattendorf – Teresa Hattendorf 18.72 lbs.
28. Jason Naeb – Scott Heaps 13.12 lbs.
29. Johnny Ramsey – Jenna Workman 12.36 lbs.
30. Jay Wilkerson – Dan Lindehaul 12.30 lbs.
31. Dean Kellogg – Jerry Clark 12.24 lbs.
32. Brad Hahn – Brian McLain 9.84 lbs.
33. Alan Pfannenstiel – Roy Walters 9.42 lbs.
34. Timothy Kumm – Michael Croxen 8.86 lbs.
35. John Berglund – Doreen Berglund 1.32 lbs.
36. John Sayaloune – Tavie Sayaloune 0.30 lbs.
37. Marvin Benthin – Mark Sewell 0.00 lbs.
37. Creg Barker – Creg Barker 0.00 lbs.
37. Butch Dugan – Bruce Petrerson 0.00 lbs.
37. Tom Bennett – Greg Polk 0.00 lbs.
37. Luis Maldonado – Rick Amaya 0.00 lbs.
37. Tater Johnson – Buck Johnson 0.00 lbs.
37. Dustin Chaon – Toby Marx 0.00 lbs.
37. Andrew Crom – Chad Bowden 0.00 lbs.
37. Keith Warner – Dennis Warner 0.00 lbs.
37. Kevin Kugler – Bobby Kugler 0.00 lbs.
37. Frank Landford – Steven Landford 0.00 lbs.
37. Brandon Toepfer – Matt Nordman 0.00 lbs.
37. Marcus Bourne – Jody Karn 0.00 lbs.
37. Jimmy Torrez – Brent Backowies 0.00 lbs.
37. Adam Hill – Jill Leopold 0.00 lbs.
37. Troy Evans – Kannon Parks 0.00 lbs.
37. Rod Smallfoot – Rick Smallfoot 0.00 lbs.
54. Duane Sayaloune – Jonathon Sayoloune 0.00 lbs.
Posted in: Other Tournaments
