Strong rainstorms moving through the region postponed Perryville’s July 3 fireworks display and forced event planners to postpone the Twisted Cat Outdoors Fishing Tournament, which was scheduled for the following Saturday.
The Perryville County Tourism-sponsored event, the first fishing tournament believed to have ever been held in the city, was also postponed until a future date — but in this case, for safety reasons.
“There were a lot of people involved in making this difficult decision,” said Trish Erzfeld, director of Perryville County Tourism. “In 10 years, the Twisted Cat Outdoors Fishing Tournament has only been postponed one other time. So typically, higher water doesn't affect the tournament, and it wasn't a factor until the Fourth of July. They got new readings that with all the rain that we got this week, the river was going to rise an additional seven feet — not only in Perry County but up above us as well.”
“With that new information, they realized there were a lot of safety issues for our team members. That's our number one concern — the safety of our team members. The other deciding factors were access to the ramps these teams would use and the floating debris coming down the river. So, all three of those things played a huge part in our decision to postpone it.”
Erzfeld said she wasn’t the only one upset that the tournament had to be postponed for the safety of all concerned.
“Alex Nagy of SeaArk Boats, the corporate sponsor for the Twisted Cat outdoor fishing tournaments, was also disappointed,” she said. “We had teams already here fishing because nobody fishes for the first time on tournament day.
“Alex called them personally, and he told me no one second-guessed the decision to postpone the tournament because they have years and years of experience on the river. They thought it was the best decision for everyone involved.”
This is the 10th year the tournaments have taken place across the Midwest. Perryville's Twisted Cat outdoors fishing tournament is one of 14 locations where the competition is being held, leading up to a culminating championship event.
When speaking with the Republic-Monitor about the tournament before the event was canceled, Nagy expressed hope that it would make anglers aware of the City of Perryville as a place where they could enjoy a day of fishing, eat a good meal and have safe and comfortable lodging available.
