Arkansas team wins 2024 catfish tourney, $100,000 prize

The team of Jason and Daryl Masingale and David Coughlin of Arkansas are $100,000 richer after taking home the top prize in Sunday’s final competition in the Bill Dance Mississippi River Monsters Mega Buc$ Pro Series Catfish Tournament.

“It’s absolutely unbelievable,” Jason said following his team’s win. “I think I said this earlier, but this is where we’ve always wanted to go and be a part of it. It’s the experience of a lifetime, for certain.”

The team jumped from 15th place in day one of the tournament with 83.19 lbs to finishing in the number one spot in the second and final day of competition Sunday with 115.85 lbs.

The Masingales sat onstage following their ascension to first place and watched as the remaining boats weighed in, the last of which belonged to 2023 tournament winners Lonnie and Donnie Fountain of Georgia.

Nearly 100 teams representing 23 states took place in the weekend’s tournament. It was the second competition to take place in Vicksburg and included the largest recorded payout for a competitive catfish event.