The 1st Annual Greater Wethersfield "Whisker Round Up" Catfish Tournament was held on Saturday, August 3rd and Sunday, August 4th. This maiden event for Wethersfield was co-sponsored by Farmington Bank and Connecticut Outfitters (CTO).
Over 50 Anglers spent the 12-hour evening (7pm Saturday until 7am Sunday) enticing would-be winning catfish in the Connecticut River and its coves with baits like chunked bunker, dry dog food balls, marinated hot dogs, live Arkansas shiners and even socks filled with chicken livers and cod liver oil.
The event t-shirts (15$ from CTO) were a big hit with the crowd, with a "fishing cat" on the front and spouting "I fished all night long at whisker round up" printed on the back. All proceeds of the event are donated to the Connecticut Fund for the Environment.
A base camp and weigh station were manned "All Night Long" at the base of the old boat house on Historic Wethersfield cove’s south-east shore. Fish were weighed-in at all hours of the night and morning. Red Bull and AMP were the beverages of choice for the weigh-in staff. All fish entered were released unharmed into Wethersfield cove to fight another day.
Over 30 fish were weighed, and many, many more were caught and released without official weights because the anglers were allowed to call in to check the leader board. Any fish under the weight of the current third place weight were released where they were captured and not brought in for weighing.
By 7 in the morning the final fish were weighed-in, with an appropriate amount of drama as Captain Joe Netolicky and son, Dustin, rolled in to the weigh station just 15 minutes before 7 with three huge contenders. Two of these late-entered fish knocked out the third and second place holders up to that point.
By 7:15, $850 in cold, wet cash was distributed to the anglers with the three largest (by weight) catfish. The winners were; Third and second place with two fish at 9 pounds 2 ounces, and 9 pounds 14 ounces, Dustin Netolicky, and in First place, winner of $500, Steve Luzzi with an impressive 11-pound 7-ounce channel cat. Other Anglers turning in impressive fish include Tom "T-bone" with a pair of 6-pounders, John Aldridge with two 8-plus-pounders and Ethan "Elcapitanmas" Kloehn with multiple fish in the 8- to 10-pound range.
Catfish in the waters in and around Wethersfield cove regularly weigh in at 10 to 13 pounds with a confirmed 15-pound, 9-ounce behemoth caught and released last summer.
Next year’s event is already in the works for the first weekend in August!
