When it was all said and done, the Twisted Cat Outdoors Fishing Tournament held last weekend in Perryville broke at least two records — but more about that later.
Perry County Heritage Tourism Director Trish Erzfeld could barely contain her excitement as she spoke about the event that had originally been planned for the July 6 weekend. However, because of high river stages and floating debris caused by heavy rainstorms that moved through the region, it had to be postponed until Aug. 10.
“The catfish tournament was phenomenal,” she said. “We hope it’s going to be an annual event. This is the first time we've ever had a fishing tournament like this in Perryville, so it was very well received and very well attended. We had to cancel in July. It just wasn't safe, and our access points weren't good to load onto the river.”
Thirty-five teams took part, made up of 85 anglers.
“Four of those anglers were females,” she said. We also had two youths who were under 18. The total amount of fish that we brought in was 1,227.81 pounds. That's a lot of fish, and it was a lot of big fish. We had a total payout of $11,000 plus $500 of added money from Castaway Customers which is an affiliate with their tournaments. What is really exciting to me is that we had 11 states represented. Those anglers came from 11 different states, all the way from Texas up to Iowa, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi. I mean, they were from all over.”
Erzfeld said the anglers were very impressed with the city of Perryville.
“They just couldn’t speak well enough of our community — how welcoming everyone was and the hospitality they were shown. They’re really excited about coming back again.”
The top three teams received cash awards, while the other teams had the satisfaction of catching some really big fish.
“I think they all received a little something,” Erzfeld said. “The first-place team was Justin Borgfield and John Spatafora — and they were local. They received $500 for the largest single catfish, which weighed 96 pounds, 28 ounces, and their three-catch limit was a total weight of 191 pounds, 6 ounces. Add to the $500 for the largest catfish a first-place prize of $4,200, and the team walked away with $4,700.”
The event started early, with trucks and boats lined up next to the courthouse square at 5 a.m. for check-in.
“Out of the 35 teams that checked in that morning, 22 teams came back at 5 p.m. for the weigh-in,” Erzfeld said. “Either they didn’t catch anything, or they knew they couldn’t beat what was already brought in.”
Erzfeld was proud that Perryville provided several firsts for the tournament.
“First of all, they’ve never had the first boat that came in be the winner of the event,” she said. “A lot of times, these guys kind of hang back and see what else is brought in and swoop in and grab the first-place trophy, but these guys were confident and barreled right in. They were able to catch early, and they were feeling pretty confident.
“Also, Perryville set the Twisted Cat record with the three fish that weighed 96 pounds, 28 ounces, and we also set the record for the smallest fish brought in and weighed. It was the only fish the team caught, and it weighed in at 0.09 pounds. The man who caught it could hold it with one hand.”
At the weigh-in, Erzfeld said she asked one of the anglers how their day had gone. He responded with an “Eh.”
“I told him I was sorry about that, but he said, ‘I told my daughter, if we’re going to fish competitively, whatever you catch is what you weigh. That’s why we’re in line.’ There are a lot of great lessons to learn from these guys who have been fishing for so long — not only how to fish but how to treat other people.”
