Long-distance anglers wrap up Big Cat Quest
By Bryan Brasher
The Commercial Appeal

July 29, 2007

By the time this weekend is done, Glenn Grogan and Walter Hays will have spent far more time driving than they have fishing. But in that limited amount of fishing time, they accomplished much.

Instead of traveling to Memphis and fishing foreign waters during Saturday's Bass Pro Shops Big Cat Quest tournament, the Arlington, Ky., natives chose to stay home and fish familiar waters in Kentucky. They fished until 11:15 a.m. and then raced down the highway to Mud Island River Park with a winning catch of five catfish that weighed 122.9 pounds.

"We were willing to give up that fishing time just to fish areas that we knew a little bit better," Grogan said. "We only had about five hours to fish, but that was enough."

Anglers were allowed to launch anywhere on the Mississippi River as long as they were in the weigh-in line by 4 p.m. Grogan and Hays took advantage of the rule, weighing in a catch that featured a 32-pound catfish and a 35-pounder.

They used a rather unconventional method, fishing live and cut mooneyes under floats on the main body of the Mississippi. Mooneyes are small shad-like fish with sharp teeth that are common in some tailrace areas.

"You have to catch them on crickets below a dam," Hays said. "We did a lot of work getting ready for this tournament, pre-fishing, catching bait and trying to keep that bait alive. A tournament always means more than one day of work."

With that hard work, they earned $5,000 -- and they bested some of the better catfish anglers in the country.

The three-man team of Bill Dance, James Patterson and Benny Lendermon -- all from the Memphis area -- placed second with five catfish that weighed 118.45.

Lendermon, the president of the Memphis Riverfront Development Corporation, said the trio caught "about 30" catfish. But they were unable to get the giant kicker fish they needed to put them over the top.

Those giant fish weren't nearly as common during Saturday's weigh-in as some anglers predicted.

Mississippi anglers Phil King and Tim Haynie, who are known for catching monster catfish all over the Southeast, couldn't find a trophy fish to anchor their catch either. They placed eighth with five solid catfish that weighed 86.50.

Other anglers found trophy fish, but failed to boat the necessary five-fish limit, and thus, failed to earn a check.

Sandy Wissbaum took big-fish honors with a 67.70-pound blue cat, earning $1,500. But she and her partner, Al Strokhoff, weighed in little else and finished in ninth place.

Commercial Appeal outdoors writer Bryan Brasher, who fished with Jeff and Robert Dodd of Trenton, Tenn., weighed in a 53-pound blue cat. But the trio weighed in only three fish overall, and finished 10th with 78.55 pounds.

"We got off to a great start, catching that big fish at about 7:30," said Jeff Dodd, a west Tennessee cotton farmer and a member of the Tracker Boats Tennessee Fishing Team. "But the bite was tough for most of the day. With two more good keepers, we might have been in pretty good shape."

Bass Pro Shops Big Cat Quest Top Five

Weight / Pounds

1. Glenn Grogan/Walter Hays / 122.90
2. James Patterson/B. Dance/Benny Lendermon / 118.45
3. Daryl Masengil/Jason Masengil / 117.20
4. Chris Stephens/John Troutt / 114.20
5. Greg Stairs/Ronnie Grogan / 107.10
Big fish: Sandy Wissbaum / 67.70