King/Thompson win

SHEFFIELD - Phil King is known throughout the country for his ability to catch big catfish from Kentucky Lake.

King, a Corinth, Miss., fishing guide, can add Wilson Lake to his resume of where he can catch big catfish.

King and his fishing partner Stacey Thompson of Paris, Texas, caught seven catfish weighing 187 pounds Saturday to win the Cabela's King Kat Classic with a two-day total of 233.75 pounds.

The tournament, which is the richest catfish tournament ever, began Friday on Pickwick and Wilson lakes out of Sheffield's Riverfront Park.

King and Thompson received $10,000 for their win.

James Patterson of Bartlett, Tenn., and Harold Dodd of Jackson, Mo., were second with 176.65 pounds. Doug Parker and Kris Gresham of Florence were third with 164.20 pounds.

Although they had only a 46.75-pound catch Friday and were in 14th place, Thompson said he and King made no changes in their fishing techniques for Saturday. There were confident if the weather cooperated they could catch plenty of big catfish were they fishing on the upstream side of Wilson Dam.

"It was just too rough there Friday. We had water coming into the boat. The waves were jerking our baits up and down and we couldn't keep them still for the fish," said King.

But calmer water Saturday allowed King and Thompson to keep the skipjack cut bait they were using in the strike zone for the large catfish. Their biggest fish was a 50.25 pound blue cat. Their catch was so large they needed four tubs to carry them from the boat to the weigh-in scales.

King said he and Thompson caught their fish in water around 85 to 90 feet deep.

Patterson and Dodd were also fishing on the upstream side of the dam and caught their fish in water 80 to 85 feet deep.

Dodd said he and Patterson caught most of the seven catfish weighing 152.70 pounds near the Wilson Dam Lock. "We were so close to the lock you could have thrown a rock and hit it." The fish were caught on cut bait.

Parker and Gresham, who led the first day of competition with 107.70 pounds, had only a 56.50-pound catch Saturday.

Gresham said he and Parker lost four fish that would have weighed at least 20 pounds each Saturday.

"We had the fish on that could have won the tournament for us, but they pulled off," Gresham said.

Rounding out the top five were Tim Haynie and Bruce Paulk of Corinth with 163.25 pounds and Carey Ricketts of Darden, Tenn., and David Caughlin of Jackson, Tenn., with 160.35 pounds.

The largest fish of the day as a 54.35-pound blue catfish caught by Gene and Dawn Cooper, of Indiana.

Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746 or dennis.sherer@timesdaily.com.