August 20, 2016 by Montana Cats Staff
8/20/16- Williston, ND – The 2016 Missouri River Catfish Clash was off and running Friday August 19th with the catfish social and Calcutta at the Four Mile Bar in Williston, North Dakota. Fifty-one teams showed up for the festivities and plenty of tips and techniques were shared amongst the anglers. A record amount of bidding was the perfect intro to an absolutely stunning day on the water. Tournament fishermen couldn’t ask for much better than 70+ degrees, sunny, with little to no wind. Teams were released in flights of ten beginning at 9:00 am from the Lewis and Clark boat launch just outside of Williston. Most teams struggled early, but they were consistently catching fish every hour from there on out. The champions experienced the same during their time on the water. Brady Flaten, Glasgow, MT., and Nate Molstad, Havre, MT, caught an impressive basket of 34.52 lbs., all of them on cut bait and leopard frog. The championship marks the duo’s third Catfish Clash title in only six years of the event. For Nate, it means a record 8th MT Cats Circuit tournament title. (Three more than any other angler.) Congratulations! This championship, however, did not come without a battle. Coming in a very close second was Caleb Wells, Williston, ND, and Joshua Pruitt, Watford City, ND., weighing in s stout 34.36 lbs. Despite missing the top spot by less than two tenths of a pound the Dakota squad was more than satisfied. Third place went to a veteran team, Rod and Rob Seder, out of Billings, MT., with 33.7 lbs. on five fish. Bringing in the big fish honors was Derek Carda, Sidney, MT., catching an 11.99 lb. cat. The Missouri River beast was one of three cats that broke 11 lbs. on the day.
As is customary, at the conclusion of the Catfish Clash. Montana Cats handed out their annual B’n’M Angler of the Year Award. Taking home this year’s Co-Angler of the Year award was Nick Fortier and Randy Franco, both of Billings, MT. Randy and Nick fished all four tournaments and used three impressive finishes to help propel themselves to the top of the mountain. 1st place in the Challenge, 2nd place in the Roundup, and 7th place in the Clash was enough to post 68 AOY points and secure the top spot over Brady Flaten, who tallied 66. Last year’s Angler’s of the Year, Bobby and Robert Wise, came in a very respectable tie for fourth with 65 points, just three points away from a repeat performance.
At this time, we would like to say thank you to ALL of our valuable sponsors and volunteers that helped us run this year’s Catfish Clash. It simply could NOT be done without all of your continued support. We hope to see everyone back August 19th, 2017 for the 7th Annual event.
| Derek Carda | 11.99 lbs. | Big Fish Award |
| Caleb Wells | 11.77 lbs. | 2nd Biggest Fish |
| Brady Flaten | 11.33 lbs. | Other Big Fish |
| 1. | Brady Flaten, Glasgow MT & Nate Molstad, Havre MT | 34.52 lbs. |
| 2. | Caleb Wells, Williston ND and Joshua Pruitt, Watford City ND | 34.36 lbs. |
| 3. | Rod Seder, Billings MT & Rob Seder, Hardin MT | 33.70 lbs. |
| 4. | Brenner Flaten, Glasgow MT & Cole Plouffe, Glendive MT | 32.23 lbs. |
| 5. | Josh Moore, Sidney MT and Jordan Riedman, Bismarck ND | 27.65 lbs. |
| 6. | Bryon Armour & Ty Thomas, Lewiston MT | 26.66 lbs. |
| 7. | Randy Franco & Nick Fortier, Billings MT | 26.15 lbs. |
| 8. | Chase Rehak & Darrin Hanson, Williston ND | 25.35 lbs. |
| 9. | Casey Heller & Jason Arnson, Williston ND | 24.21 lbs. |
| 10. | Troy Cotter and Mike Licking, Sidney MT | 23.96 lbs. |
| 11. | Kirby Lynch and Ryan Wilson, Williston ND | 23.20 lbs. |
| 12. | Steve Harris JR, Sidney MT & Blake Gauer, Park City MT | 22.80 lbs. |
| 13. | Tyler Colebank & Blaine Stevens, Williston ND | 21.20 lbs. |
| 14. | Matthew & Zac Bushman, Billings MT | 20.76 lbs. |
| 15. | Robert & Bobby Wise, Billings MT | 20.25 lbs. |
| 16. | Tyler Becker, Billings MT and Cody Hoeckelberg, Williston ND | 20.09 lbs. |
| 17. | Derek & Nikki Carda, Sidney MT | 18.51 lbs. |
| 18. | Lance Kuylen and Eric Kougioulis, Sidney MT | 17.90 lbs. |
| 19. | Kevin Howie & Travis Kennedy, Billings MT | 17.79 lbs. |
| 20. | Rick Ellingson and Jeremy Stancel, Williston ND | 17.21 lbs. |
| 21. | Robert Ferrell & Terry Dishon, Williston ND | 16.79 lbs. |
| 22. | Matt Reynolds and Carrie Niblock, Sidney MT | 16.27 lbs. |
| 23. | Chad Mueller and Justin Jones, Sidney MT | 16.16 lbs. |
| 24. | Josh Morottek, Medicine Lake MT & Charles Morottek, Poplar MT | 16.03 lbs. |
| 25. | Austin Bement, Sidney MT & Robert Bauer, Williston ND | 16.01 lbs. |
| 26. | Jason Haugen and Brandon Blomberg, Williston ND | 15.39 lbs. |
| 27. | James Bergeron and Luke Bergeron, Sidney MT | 14.05 lbs. |
| 28. | Jeremy Workman & Wyane Colebank, Williston ND | 13.23 lbs. |
| 29. | James Decker Sidney MT & Steve Lowrey, Fairview MT | 12.54 lbs. |
| 30. | Scott Schmidt & Shane Litten, Sidney MT | 12.23 lbs. |
| 31. | Roger & Sheila Degenstein, Oakes ND | 11.12 lbs. |
| 32. | Nick Taylor, Williston ND and Robert Rees, Culbertson MT | 11.07 lbs. |
| 33. | Steve Harris SR. & Bill Harris, Sidney MT | 10.92 lbs. |
| 34. | Corey Nay and Kara Nay, Sidney MT | 7.47 lbs. |
| 35. | Mike Turner and Chad Feller, Williston ND | 6.84 lbs. |
| 36. | Brady & Brandon Mueller, Sidney MT | 6.24 lbs. |
| 37. | Brandon and Amy Wynne, Watford City ND | 5.21 lbs. |
| 38. | Ashley Harris & Melissa Sanders, Sidney MT | 4.96 lbs. |
| 39. | Garrick Olson and David Benth, Williston ND | 4.57 lbs. |
| 40. | Eli Frisk and James Hazard, Sidney MT | 2.04 lbs. |
| 41. | Doug Marottek & Ryan Marottek, Poplar MT | 1.74 lbs. |
| 42. | Rory Cowan, Williston ND and Cody Cowan, Sential Butte ND | 1.69 lbs. |
| 43. | Lyle Edwards and Randy Sonstegaan, Williston ND | 0 lbs. |
| Evan Ritter and Kori Samora, Williston ND | 0 lbs. | |
| Matt & Mindy Degenstein, Williston ND | 0 lbs. | |
| Kelly Moody and Tanner Farsveet, Williston ND | 0 lbs. | |
| Eddie White and Spencer White, Billings MT | Scratch | |
| Tom Day and Ann White, Billings MT | Scratch | |
| Todd Dooley & Sam Syth, Sidney MT | Scratch | |
| Otis and Austin Oblander, Ballantine MT | Scratch | |
| 51. | Corey Bushman & Jeremey Greenfield, Billings MT | Scratch |
Posted in: Missouri River Catfish Clash
