Teams and event coordinators are in town and the day has arrived for Selma to host the Cabela’s King Kat Tournament for the first time ever.

Anglers from around the country will hit the Alabama River on Saturday at 6:30 a.m. to try and catch a prized catfish before the weigh-in at the Selma City Marina at 3 p.m.

Tanner Tabor, tournament director, said things have been going well leading up to the King Kat Trail’s stop in Selma, and he’s hoping it continues .

“Everything’s in good shape,” Tabor said. “I’ve been getting good reports the last couple weeks from teams coming down and pre fishing, reports from locals pre fishing, and that’s good and everything, but it comes down to between 6:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday). Things can change.”

Tabor said the expectation is that nearly 100 anglers will participate in Saturday’s event, with the top finishers advancing to the King Kat Classic Tournament — also in Selma — on Sept. 27-29 with a shot at winning $60,000.

“We’ve got some of the top teams from all over the country and we’ve got four classic champions that are going to be here fishing this weekend,” Tabor said. “We’ve got teams coming from as far away as North Carolina to Indiana. We anticipate close to 100 anglers in all fishing this weekend, with the top 20 teams in the tournament qualifying to come back down here in September.”

Tabor said while most of the catfish are generally smaller right now, he’s anticipating a few teams will break the 100-pound total mark, and numbers will only go up when Cabela’s returns to Selma in the fall.

“Right now, I’ve had some teams tell me they’re catching 40, 50 pound flatheads,” Tabor said. “Right now, these fish have just come off the spawn, so they’re going to be thinner and not as heavy as they will be come September. The fish are starting to feed again, so the bites should be pretty good. However, water flow, currents, and water temperature will be a factor. Come September, if you catch the same fish tomorrow that you catch in September, it’s going to weigh 10 pounds more just because it’s had time to feed. In September we’ll see heavier weights than we will tomorrow.”

Tabor said the community has played a big role in supporting the tournament.

“We want to thank the community of Selma and Dallas County, tourism and everyone for being a sponsor and hosting this event,” Tabor said. “We want to thank all the sponsors for having us, and the whole town really for being a part of this.”

Cabela’s is also hosting its Free Kids Fishing Rodeo for ages 12 and under Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m. at the East Selma Fishing Pond located on Plant Street, with registration starting at 8 a.m.