On May 30th 2015 the 5th annual SeaArk Boats Owners Invitational Catfish Tournament was held and Wheeler Lake in Alabama, one of the top destinations in the country for trophy blue catfish.
The SeaArk Boats Owners Invitational Catfish Tournament is exclusive to SeaArk boat owners and the only tournament if its kind held by a boat manufacturer as a way for SeaArk to give back to the catfish anglers that support them.
This is a 100% payout tournament that pays for the top 20 places in the tournament. Everyone that weighs in at least one fish is entered into a drawing to win the ultimate prize, a SeaArk Boat. The 2015 prize boat was a SeaArk ProCat 200 catfish boat.
Teams travel from all over the United States to fish in this tournament and get an opportunity to win the boat in this top notch event.
I spent the weekend helping at the tournament with the other SeaArk Boats Pro Staff and put together this video to highlight the event.
Wheeler Lake Alabama
If you follow anything going on in the “world of catfish” and whats taking place you’ve probably heard of Wheeler Lake in Alabama. It’s quickly become known as one of the top bodies of water in the United States for producing trophy class blue catfish.
Blue catfish near and over one hundred pounds are common at Wheeler Lake. Its been consistently producing monster catfish for a number of years and the lake continues to become a top destination for catfish anglers all over the United States.
The purpose of my trip was to help at the tournament but I’d planned to get to Wheeler early enough to allow a day of catfishing with some of the other SeaArk Pro Staff. The flooding in Texas unfortunately caused a delay and I ended up getting there a day later than originally planned.
After spending nearly 12 hours around the shores of Wheeler and not fishing I was getting a bit twitchy but we managed to get a couple of free hours and snuck off to see if we could catch some cats. There wasn’t much time to fish but in the 90 minutes or so we managed to fish we caught some excellent numbers of blues and managed several fish in the teens in this short time.
I’m already making plans to drag the SeaArk ProCat 240 back to Alabama this Fall to put in some serious fishing time and catch some of the monster cats on Wheeler Lake (as well as a side trip to do some fishing with Phil King).
SeaArk Owners Invitational Catfish Tournament Results
Here’s a quick rundown of the tournament results.
Total boats: 76
Cash prizes: $17,490
Door prizes: $1500
Tournament Results (Top 5)
1st Place: Ryan Gnagy and Kevin Parks
2nd Place: Jeff Dodd and Jason Bridges
3rd Place: Justin Neece and Mike Carpenter
4th Place: Jackie Cooksey and Jonathon Cooksey
5th Place: Pete Ochs and Louis Ochs
Big Fish: Jason Bridges and Jeff Dodd
2nd Place Big Fish: Justin Neece and Mike Carpenter
Winner Of The SeaArk ProCat 200: Joey Pounders and Mark Frady
The ProCat 200 that was given away is valued at $35,000.
I want to clarify again that the boat given away at the tournament is given away through a random drawing. You don’t have to win the tournament, you don’t have to catch the most or biggest fish. You simple have to weigh in one fish and your name goes into the drawing and a winner is selected at random.
Those are pretty good odds for winning a boat. That alone is well worth the entry fee to the tournament.
Here’s The Video
2016 SeaArk Owners Invitational Catfish Tournament
Keep an eye out for the dates on the 2016 SeaArk Boats Owners Invitational Catfish Tournament, you could be the next one to win a new SeaArk Boat like the ProCat 200 that was given away this year.
For more information on SeaArk Boats and the 2016 SeaArk Owners Invitational Catfish Tournament Visit the SeaArk Boats website.
How much is the entry fee for the seaark owners invitational catfish tournament at wheeler Alabama. Thank You in advance