Montana Catfish Association - News & Updates

June 13, 2014 by MT Cats Staff

6/14/14 Savage, MT – The Annual Savage Fire Department Catfish Tournament has carved out quite the niche for itself over the past eleven years.  Savage’s unique “slot fish” rules have become common knowledge by now and has turned into an event where even the most avid “big fish” angler enjoys a weekend to just “change it up” a bit. For those in the dark, SVFD’s annual event is held in Savage, MT. on the beautiful Yellowstone River on the second Saturday of every June.  Anglers are only allowed to bring in their five biggest catfish to weigh-ins.  Here is the kicker however; all of those catfish must fall between 12” and 18”.  This causes veteran catfish anglers to change up their tactics a touch and also start looking in new areas.  Anglers must adjust their way of thinking, chasing the big fish won’t pay off here.  Everyone must try to focus on what attracts the little guys, so to speak.  Weigh-ins are always an adrenaline rush and that carries over to the awards presentation on Saturday night........

June 07, 2014 by Montana Cats Staff

You might ask; is there a weekend that is quickly becoming synonymous with Eastern Montana?  What about the 1st Saturday of every June?  Ask your average Joe, especially in North-Eastern Montana, and chances are they know the Milk River Catfish Classic will be exploding on the Glasgow, Montana area for a few days.

May 10, 2014 by Montana Cats Staff

The Montana Catfish Association kicked off their first of four tournaments this past weekend with the Yellowstone Challenge in Huntley. With the mighty Yellowstone fluctuating over 10,000 CFS the week leading up to the Challenge and dropping steadily throughout competition day, the difficulty level was ramped up significantly. Couple that with 40 degree ambient temp, 30 MPH wind gusts and 53 degree water and that’s just downright cruel.

February 25, 2014 by MT Cats Staff

2/26/14 – Every year around this time the catfish crowd starts to get a little restless. It’s like clockwork. The calendar flips to March and it doesn’t matter if its still 20 below with the wind chill outside, it could just as well be 70 degrees and sunny because the “catfish fever” is in full effect. Some common cures for this type of fever you might ask? Warmer temperatures, longer days, and trip and tackle preparations are just a few ways to start the healing process. It’s always a good time to start cleaning the fishing storage at the house or in the garage and do a little gear cleaning and maintenance as well. By taking these steps it’s easier to decide what needs to be fixed or purchased for the upcoming open water season. It is also a great time to start scratching off a few summer weekend days for some leisurely fishing with the friends or family. For the avid tournament angler, what better time than to get signed up for anyone of the outstanding events scheduled for 2014 on the Montana Cats Tournament Circuit? For us on staff, March isn’t all that bad. March signifies that we are that much closer to catfish season and it won’t be long before we see the bend in our rods and the pulling of our drags. When that time comes, the “catfish fever” will have subsided and will be replaced with months of fishing adventures.........

September 09, 2013 by MT Cats Staff

For the past 27 years, Bruce Storlie of Glendive, MT., has been hunting elk on the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge far west of the Crooked Creek recreation area on Fort Peck Reservoir. He has made it a habit of chasing big game during the morning, while chasing cats all afternoon. This year, however, would turn out to be unlike any of the previous 26 years. At 11:00 a.m. on September 26th, while fishing with his hunting partner and brother, Mike Storlie, Bruce set the hook on a massive fish. Bruce remembered joking with his brother at the time of the initial fight, “I think I got the new state record catfish here.” Bruce knew it was big; after all they had caught catfish up to 18 lbs. on previous hunting trips to the area. But this was something bigger and much stronger than ever before. Fishing with only 10 lb. monofilament and his reel nearly out of line all together, Bruce decided to step out of the boat that was wedged near the shore and start walking after the fish with fear that it might just snap him off. After walking an estimated 3/4 of a mile and battling him for nearly a half hour, Bruce was finally able to wrestle the behemoth to shore.

Taking his time to catch his breath, the two immediately knew it was the biggest catfish they had ever seen. Conversation shifted to getting the beast on a scale right away and find out just what they were dealing with. Bruce had a 28 lb. Deliar spring scale on hand, so they put the fish on it and it immediately bottomed it out. The brothers had another 8 lb. Deliar and worked feverishly to try and rig something up using both scales in order to get a more accurate weight but to no avail. They did however, have a tape measure available, and measured the length at an incredible 40″, with a 25″ girth. They both came to the conclusion that the fish was more than likely in the 32 lb. range. Recalling previous conversations had with other anglers and friends, Bruce was quite sure the current Montana State record was 32 lbs. Mike agreed.

tual catch.