National Catfish Expo (Owensboro, KY): Seminars, Tournament & Gear Guide

What the National Catfish Expo is

The National Catfish Expo brings catfish anglers and families together in Owensboro, Kentucky, at the Owensboro Convention Center (most recently May 15–16, 2026). It's built around the things catfishermen actually care about: seminars from experienced anglers, the World Catfishing Championship, youth activities, and a floor full of catfishing gear, poles, and boats. If you fish for catfish — bank or boat, casual or tournament — it's the kind of event where a weekend pays off in better setups and new water.

Why it matters for how you rig

Catfish events like this one are where setups get compared side by side — and the same thing that wins on the water shows up on the expo floor: gear that survives a big-cat run. A trophy blue or flathead doesn't tap; it loads the rod and goes. That's the whole reason Monster Rod Holders are Made in the USA from heavy-gauge stock — a holder has to lock the rod butt so a fish can't pull it in, hold its angle under sustained load, and shrug off mud, sand, and spray.

If the expo gets you thinking about your own rig, the building blocks are:

• Holders from the rod-holder lineup — matched to how you fish (bank spike, boat rail, spider-rig spread).
• Bases from the bases category — the part that actually makes the setup no-flex and repeatable.
• Anchors for holding a drift line or a current seam where the cats are staged.
• A HydroWeb landing net for getting a big channel, blue, or flathead boatside and handled clean.

(Confirm exact product names/links with Ron — see the TODO list in the frontmatter.)

Tournament-minded? Follow the trails

The Expo's World Catfishing Championship is one stop in a broader catfish-tournament scene. If you're chasing events, the spread discipline and boat-control setups that win tournaments are the same ones worth dialing in at home. See the Tournament Calendars hub for the catfish events we track, and the complete catfishing boat-setup guide for the rig details.

Plan your trip

• Where: Owensboro Convention Center, Owensboro, KY.
• When: mid-May (May 15–16 in 2026) — re-check the official site for the current year's dates before you go.
• Who it's for: catfish anglers and families — seminars, the championship, youth activities, and a vendor floor of catfishing gear and boats.

Built heavy, Made in the USA, and built for exactly the fish this expo celebrates — that's the rod-holder setup to walk the floor thinking about.