“It wasn’t about the money when we decided to fish this weekend, but this needed to be done,” Donnie told the Vicksburg Post on Saturday. “This $50,000 payout sets a new standard for the catfish world.”
Fishing from a 24-foot Mossy Cat complete with electronics and a 300-horse outboard, the Fountain brothers went up against a field of 60 other teams. They caught all their fish from one half-mile stretch of river that was roughly 75 feet deep.
The strategy turned out to be a good one, and they found big cats on both days of the two-day tournament. They used cut skipjack herring baited on 12/0 circle hooks, and added eight ounces of weight to keep their baits on the river bottom. Their reels were spooled with 80-pound braid tipped with 80-pound monofilament leaders.
“We had three cats on Saturday weighing 179.95-pounds, including a 65-pounder,” Donnie says.
This put them among the four teams that competed for the top spot on Sunday.
“We pulled it out thanks to my brother,” Donnie continues. “He caught a heavy 58.3-pound fish just four minutes before we had to run in to weigh our fish.”
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The second-place team’s bag weighed 140 pounds, or roughly six pounds lighter than the Fountain brothers’ winning bag. That team took home $20,000 in winnings, while the third-place team earned a respectable $15,000. When asked what they’ll do with their winnings, Donnie didn’t hesitate.
“We split the money 50-50. And all of it is going back into our fishing—paying for tackle, gear, and other tournament expenses.”