With the unusual weather experienced so far this past winter and spring, tournament officials say they don’t know if that feat can be matched in this year’s tournament Saturday or not. The tournament will launch out of Chester Frost State Park on Lake Chickamauga, but anglers can also fish Nickajack and Watts Bar lakes.

“The weather has been extremely unusual here in Chattanooga,” said Coach Chris Neighbors, director of Capital Campaigns and Fund-Raising for Silverdale Baptist Academy which uses the money raised by the annual fishing tournament to support the school’s athletic programs. In its five-year history the tournament has raised more than $34,000 for Silverdale’s athletic programs.

“We had the hottest March on record for the past 140 years and then it got cool in April. Last Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, the temperature struggled to reach 60 degrees. Now it is in the mid to upper 80s,” Neighbors said Monday.

“Last year we had one of our better weigh-ins with several teams bringing in limits from 24 to 27 pounds. We just hope it will be that good this year.”

Neighbors said 20 boats had registered for the tournament by Monday, but he expects a lot more by the weekend.

“That’s about par. We’ve had as few as 10 going into the last week and wound up with 90 boats that year. We had 85 boats last year and we average about 75 to 80 boats each year.”

Entry fee for the tournament is $150 per two-man team with an additional $10 to enter the Big Fish pot, one of two big fish contests in the tournament.

“So far every boat has entered the Big Fish pot, and the prize money is distributed for first and second big fish determined by the number of entries. So, if we have 75 boats in the Big Fish pot, that is $750 in prize money and the pot would be split with $500 for the biggest fish and $250 for the second biggest fish,” Neighbors said.

There is also an hourly big fish contest with no entry fee. Neighbors explained that there will be four big fish hours during the morning of the tournament. The biggest fish weighed in from 8 to 9 a.m., 9-10 a.m., 10-11 a.m. and 11-12 a.m. will each earn $250.

Anglers entered in the tournament will also be automatically entered in a drawing at the weigh-in for a two-man, 8-foot Pelican Raider bass boat, Neighbors said.

“At this point we have $8,000 in cash and prizes to award at the tournament, with first place on down determined by the number of entries, but first place typically pays between $1,500 and $2,000.”

There will be a mandatory meeting for tournament anglers from 6 to 7 p.m. Friday at Sportsman’s Warehouse.

 

Sportsman’s Warehouse Fisherman’s Dream Tournament

Sat, May 5, 2012

Chickamauga Lake

Chester Frost Park

Call Brent Brady at (423) 718-0326 or Coach Chris Neighbors (423) 322-0311

www.sportsmanswarehouse.com

https://anglerschannel.com/sites/default/files/2012-Sportsmans-FishermansDream.pdf

www.silverdaleba.org