Brenner Flaten & Chad Dawson Get it Done Again.

8/18/2018- Williston, ND – The 8th Annual Missouri River Catfish Clash took place in Williston, ND. over the weekend as 40 boats hit the water on a beautiful sunny day. The Clash never seems to disappoint in terms of the number of catfish caught or the overall size of the fish and this year was no different. An impressive, NINETEEN teams weighed in over TWENTY pounds. Only once before in the tournament’s 8-year history has there been more 20-pound baskets brought to the scales. (23 in 2013) To make things more exciting, thirty-five of the forty teams weighed in fish and big cats tipped the scales with regularity.
Despite all of the fantastic fishing, there can be only one champion for each event. That title went to seasoned catfish anglers, Brenner Flaten, Glasgow, MT., and Chad Dawson, Dickinson, ND., who cleared the field by just 1 1/2 pounds with their basket of five cats weighing in at 33.28 lbs! The title marks a back-to-back championship for Flaten, who teamed up with Cole Plouffe to win the 2017 Catfish Clash. It is also a 2nd Clash title for Dawson. Chad topped the field in 2012 with Lars Sorensen. When asked about their day on the water, Flaten quipped; “It was a bit of a different day from last year. We caught 26 cats on the day, so the action was hot. We had 28 lbs. real early but then we had to upgrade four times late into the day. We fished extremely hard and it paid off.”
Taking runner up honors was the father-son duo, Josh Marottek, Medicine Lake, MT., and Charles Marottek, Poplar, MT., with 31.67 lbs. The Marottek’s are circuit veterans and have really been impressing over the last two seasons. It was just an outstanding day by the two of them.
Another father-son team, James and Luke Bergeron, of Sidney, MT. claimed hardware with a third place finish. Brothers, Rod Seder, Billings, MT, and Rob Seder, Hardin, MT., did it again with an impressive 4th place showing. Local anglers, Jeremy Workman and Brett Colebank, both of Williston, rounded out the top five at just under 30 lbs.
Just as impressive as the top five teams, were the big fish that the Missouri produced once again. Three cats came in at over 10 lbs. and that was led by Austin Bement’s 10.49. It was later passed up by Jeremy Workman’s 10.97. As impressive as Austin and Jeremy’s catches were, it wasn’t near enough to take big fish honors. That accomplishment went to Kirby Lynch, Williston, and his 12.39 pig. The giant fish was worth $700 cash and a beautiful plaque for the wall.

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KaCee McPherson & Nicole Peterson are all smiles after making history.

7/21/2017– Sidney, MT – Congratulations goes out to KaCee McPherson and Nicole Peterson both of Savage, MT on winning the 10th Annual NE Montana Monster Cat Round-up today in Sidney with 33.28 lbs! It’s a truly historic victory. McPherson and Peterson are the first “all female” team champions in Montana Cats Circuit history. They are also the first shore team to ever win a MT Cats event outside of the Milk River Catfish Classic! Until today, there had never been a shore champ at the Yellowstone Challenge, the Missouri River Catfish Clash, or the Monster Cat Roundup. Very impressive! The ladies stayed in one spot all day and it produced early and often as they had over 30 lbs. within the first hour of the event. Making things even more impressive, this is Nicole Peterson’s 2nd WIN on the Yellowstone River in less than two months. She was on the 3-man team that took the title at the 14th Annual Savage Catfish Tournament, an event put on by the Savage Volunteer Fire Department, on June 9th.
Claiming runner-up honors, were the Flaten brothers, Jason and Brady, out of Glasgow, MT. and West Wendover, NV., respectively. The long-time tournament anglers found success throughout the day, but fished upwards of twenty different spots to land over 30 lbs. The win puts the elder brother, Jason, in the drivers seat for the 2018 Montana Cats Angler of the Year Award. Jason had already secured titles at the first two events of the season in Huntley and Glasgow; so adding a 2nd place finish to the mix will lock it up and do so in record breaking fashion! Jason Flaten will be awarded the prestigious accolade at the year-end Missouri River Catfish Clash in Williston, North Dakota in mid-August.
The bronze plaque went to the husband and wife duo of Blake and Lindsey Gauer of Park City, MT. The veteran fishermen caught just five fish on the day, but they made them count! Their five fish basket tipped the scales at 30.83 lbs. The Gauer’s fell Just short of runner-up honors, however, they did claim the all-important “Big Fish” award for the day. Lindsey hauled in an 11.63 giant post-spawn kitty. The catfish broke the tournament record and was worth a HUGE payday of $2,000.
Yellowstone County anglers finished out the top five. In fourth, brothers, Rod Seder, Billings, MT., and Rob Seder, Hardin, MT. Brothers, Zac and Matt Bushman, both of Billings, MT., secured fifth place.
Another important Monster Cat Roundup record was set as fifty-five teams weighed in fish, breaking the old record of fifty-three in 2015. Spawn/Post Spawn can make Catfishing very difficult at times, add in 90+ degree temps, and the fisherman were challenged, but not defeated.

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Jason Flaten & Cole Plouffe with the “Hardware” from a hard fought victory.

6/2/18 (Glasgow, MT) – Big Fish. The 19th Annual Milk River Catfish Classic will be remembered for two words. Big Fish. For the first time in Montana Cats Circuit history, six (6) cats were weighed in over 10 lbs. in a single event. 14 year old, Jake Kuka, led the way with his 12.26 lb. pig, his award winning “Jumbo Whiskers” is the 4th largest in Classic history. Montana Cats Circuit veteran, Bobby Wise of Billings, added an 11.6 lb. kitty. The catch earned him the “Big Whiskers” award for the 2nd largest of the evening. One other 11+ lb. cat was landed to go along with three other 10+ pounders. Simply unbelievable.

After 15 years of including tributary creeks within the tournament boundaries; 2018 marked the first time since 2003 that the Cat Classic was contested solely on the banks of the main river channel. The change aligned the event with the rest of the Montana Cats Circuit and energized an 80-team field that was interested to see if they could now knock off some of the traditional powers. At the same time, the year marked an about face for many of the veteran 2-man teams as they returned to more traditional locations and the majority of the field set up shop “below” the dam. A challenge that every team must contend with on a year to year basis is the decision to fish above or below Vandalia Dam. This year’s version of the Cat Classic will always be remembered as the year the bottom section produced much like the “upper” section has in recent years.

Jason Flaten, of West Wendover, NV., and Cole Plouffe, of Glendive, MT., returned to the winner’s circle with an impressive 33.3 lb. basket. The Glasgow Native’s used a run and gun approach to secure the victory by just over one pound. It is Flaten’s 3rd Catfish Classic title and his 1st since winning the 2nd of Back to Back titles in 2004. Plouffe also added to his Milk River legacy winning his 2nd title. Plouffe claimed a championship in 2006 as a High School Sophomore. When asked about the key to victory on stage, Flaten quipped, “We went old school on them…we returned to a handful of spots we used to fish a long time ago, and the fish were still there.” Even more impressive for Flaten, is it marks his 2nd title in a row on the 2018 MT Cats Circuit, following a victory at the Yellowstone Challenge in Huntley last month.

Flaten and Plouffe weighed in late, but there was still one team to follow at the famous “midnight weigh-ins”. They took their rightful place in the “hot seats” and awaited the approach of fellow Milk River Rats, Willy Lauckner and Chris Kolstad. There was a lot of anticipation in the air and it was a moment that defines just how great these events really are. Lauckner and Kolstad stood in front of the large LED screen as they watched their weight jump up over 30 lbs….only to fall just short at 32.03 lbs. The anglers came oh so close to their 1st Classic titles, but there was no shortage of respect on the stage as all four hugged it out. It marked the sixth straight top 20 Classic finish for Lauckner and Kolstad and a 3rd time in the Top 5. Impressive indeed.

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Brenner & Jason Flaten show their excitement after record setting day.

5/12/18 (Huntley, MT) –  Over its 12 years in existence, the Yellowstone Challenge catfish tournament has proven time & time again to be incredibly unpredictable. This year was not an exception. The record snow pack, high temps and rain showers the night of the event, set the stage for a rip roaring Yellowstone River. The increased flows peaked around 40K CFS on tournament day, over doubling the flow from the previous week. The floating debris, 40 degree temps and increased flows forced the anglers to cover more water and increased the numerous challenges presented.

The top catfish anglers in Montana met these obstacles head on, highlighted with 33 teams capturing over 20lbs of cats. That is JUST under the previous record of 34 teams set last year. To put this in perspective, consider that only three other times in tournament history has the field eclipsed 10+ teams weighing in 20lb+ baskets. It’s safe to say that with increased flow, comes increased action. In the words of famed catfish angler and In-Fisherman editor Doug Stange, “FAST WATER, FAST ACTION”!

Circuit vets James Decker (Sidney, MT) and Steve Lowrey (Fairview, MT) tipped the scales 25.75 lbs. That marks this squad’s second straight top 10 at the Yellowstone Challenge. Local legends, former champs and father/son combo Robert and Bobby Wise finished in 9th, with just over 26 lbs. “We had that weight by mid-day. We just struggled to upgrade to a bigger kicker fish” explained Bobby. 2nd year anglers Dan and Amber Achten finished an impressive 8th place. Last year’s event was their first and one of the first times they’d ever fished for Catfish. “We are loving it. We spent a lot of time on the river fishing after last year’s event” exclaimed Amber.

Local anglers Michael Erdman and Alexander Kochman tipped the scales at 26.58 lbs, good enough for 7th place. Alexander said, “We were just excited to compete against some of the best anglers in the state. We’re pretty happy.” Blayze Mikkelson and Dustin Neely out of Shepherd got a pleasant surprise when the scale flashed 28.21 lbs. “I thought we were just over 25 lbs” explained Blayze. That weight was good enough for 6th place and a LONG wait in the leader chairs.

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Brenner Flaten and Cole Plouffe Celebrate Title

8/19/2017- Williston, ND – We couldn’t have asked for better conditions for the 2017 Catfish Clash, as 53 boats set out to conquer the Mighty Missouri this past weekend! The Williston section always provides big fish and plenty of them. The days leading up to this year’s 7th annual “Clash” were consistent and in-turn it provided a bit of river stability that all anglers were able to enjoy. Weather on the day of the event was about as ideal as one could hope for. Some gusts of wind picked up during the last hour of the event, but for the most part you couldn’t have asked for a much better day. Air temperatures stuck in the mid 80’s, storms stayed by the wayside, river flows (although higher than years past) lacked any major fluctuation, and water temperature was a reasonable 70 degrees.

Targeting post spawn Channel Cats in mid August is not always a gimme, but as the fish look to regain a few lost pounds coming out of spawn, one will always maintain high hopes of coercing a few big cats into taking their baits. Coercing seemed to be the name of the game for many anglers as the ‘sit and stay to make it pay’ method seemed to be a popular vote during weigh in interviews. Fishing was certainly more difficult for this year’s tournament than it had been in the past, however.

Tournament champions Brenner Flaten of Glasgow, MT and Cole Plouffe of Glendive, MT focused on a 3 mile stretch of river to pull away from the field. In a last ditch effort during Friday’s pre-fishing, the duo targeted a short stretch of river that seemed to be holding some decent catfish. The duo had strategized going into Saturday, and as the horn sounded the next morning, Brenner and Cole ventured to that same familiar location to find their theory was indeed correct. They landed the majority of their fish in the first few hours of the day and credited frogs to being their bait of choice. They had their limit of five cats at just under 36 pounds just before the noon hour. They were unable to upgrade in the afternoon, but it didn’t end up mattering. Their “hot stretch” of river produced nearly 25 cats in total for the seasoned tournament anglers! Flaten and Plouffe had teamed up for three previous Catfish Clash events and had placed in the top 8 all three times, this year they finally scaled the mountain. The championship is Brenner’s 6th career MT Cats Circuit victory.

Brady Flaten of Glasgow, MT and Nate Molstad of Havre,MT are the two most decorated anglers in Clash history, and they nearly pulled it off once again! Concentrating on just a handful of spots, both above and below the bridge, they too ‘grinded it out’ so to speak. The bite may have been a grind as they were only able to land ten fish, but the quality of fish (including Nate’s Big Fish Runner Up of 10.95 lbs) was enough to put these two in second place with an outstanding 33.60 pound basket. The 3-time champions certainly have nothing to hang their heads about after another fine performance.

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