GRAFTON - Participants from all over the region swam upstream to the Twisted Cat Outdoor Classic fishing tournament, held between 7:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12, at the Grafton Harbor.
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A total of 21 teams of fishing enthusiasts loaded up their boats and headed out on the waters of the Mississippi River early on the brisk September morning to try their hand at catching some large catfish in hopes of winning some cold hard cash and cool prizes.
After spending the day on the mighty Mississippi, the teams came back to the Grafton Harbor to weigh in their catches. Each team’s largest fish was weighed separately from the rest so the event officials, Alex and Elizabeth Nage could write down their weight in comparison to everyone else’s catch.
After the catfish were weighed and placed into tanks, graduate students from Western Illinois University were on hand to tag and take samples from the fish to study their muscle tissue. The fish were then released back into the waters of the Mississippi River.
“Hopefully we’ll catch them next year,” Elizabeth Nage said.
Dan Moreland and Chance Henke won the honor of biggest fish in the competition. Moreland and Henke’s catfish weighed a whomping 33.8 pounds. The weight of all of their catches was then combined to a grand total of 56.9 pounds, which allowed the gentlemen to gain the 2nd place prize for largest total weight. Zed and Josh Moore took home the title of 1st place in the largest total weight category with 72.1 pounds for three fish.
“Today was a good day,” Alex Nage said, “Overall, there were a lot of good fish caught.”
CLICK HERE OR LOOK BELOW FOR A PHOTO GALLERY OF THE TWISTED CAT OUTDOOR CLASSIC:
