Team Outlaw won $1500 after winning first place stringer with three catfish weighing a total of 126.4 pounds at the First Annual Howdy Y’all Feel the Bite Noodling Tournament on June 29. Outlaw also had the Big Fish which won them an additional $500. The noodling tournament was conducted at the Keota Rodeo Grounds from 3-11 p.m.

“Our main setback was the heat. We had one of our fish that was almost dead by 11 a.m. but he hung on until we got to the tournament (for weigh in). We didn’t expect the win so it was really a surprise and nice to experience a win,” Outlaw team member Dvaid Wilde said.

Wilde, Jett Carver and Jesse Rice were members of Team Outlaw which is a newly formed team from the Poteau area and this was their first tournament win. Although they haven’t discussed how their winning will be split, team member David Wilde stated there has been talks of upgrading equipment in an effort to help keep the catfish alive better. They started the tournament at 7 a.m. as they went to Wister Lake and Poteau River for their prize fish.

Team Outlaw won first place stringer and first place big fish for a total of $2000. Team Power Catfish won second place stringer with three catfish weighing a total of 125.8 pounds for $500. Members of Power Catfish were JT Ray, Clayton Kriger, Damion Tripp and Clay Ogden.

Team Okie Outdoors won first place big blue with a 31.6 pound blue catfish for $500. All members of Okie Outdoors are from Keota which included Billy Greenwood, Garren Drummonds, Shane Drummonds and Colby Brown.

Team Watkins won $250 as they finished second place in the big fish category with a 48.2 pound catfish. Watkins team members were Waylon Watkins, Zack Morrow, Bear Fredrick and Kace Fredrick.

A total of 18 teams entered the tournament while only 10 teams had one or more fish weighed in. “The event was a huge success and went way over our expectations and that we hope to have next year even bigger and better. Thank you to all that participated and a huge thank you to all our sponsors. See y’all next year,” Howdy Y’all owner and tournament organizer Morgan Buckner said.

First Place Big Blue. From left are Lucki Greenwood, Garren Drummonds and Billy Greenwood.