“It took 27 pounds to win the Sportsman’s Warehouse Fisherman’s Dream Tournament last weekend,” said Tom Kizziah, vice president of Chattanooga Bass. “I finished fifth with 20.30 pounds.”

Kizziah said there were seven 20-pound-plus bags of fish weighed in, several 19-pound bags and 15 to 19 pounds was the norm.

“I think everybody pretty much had that,” he said. “The lake is fishing really good right now. Some fish are still on the beds so I think it will be won shallow again.”

Kizziah noted that the shad are also spawning and anglers are catching fish both on topwater and flipping.

“I caught all mine on topwater. The lake is coming up and it is almost full pool right now. A lot of guys are flipping, targeting beds, flooded brush and some are fishing any kind of structure, rocks, stumps, any underwater structure.”

At this point the father-son team of Rogie and Alan Brown are sitting atop the points standings thanks to finishing no lower than 13^th in the first three tournaments. The Browns finished 8^th in the Feb. 26 tournament, 13^th in the March 12 tournament and 4^th in the April 9 tournament.

The Browns are leading the second place team of Tony Townsend and Galen James by 8 points and Townsend and James are ahead of the third place team of Haden Lamb and Jeff Richmond by 17 points.

“Rogie is one of the best fishermen on the lake,” Kizziah said. “He has been fishing the Bassmaster Opens and BFLs and has not spent as much time out on the lake as usual, but he is normally dominating on Chickamauga.”

With three tournaments already in the books, Kizziah said participation in the Chattanooga Bass series this year has so far been better than anticipated.

“Especially with the economy and the high gas prices, we have been really pleased with the entry,” he said. “We had 82 boats in the last tournamnet.”

The association’s youth program is also coming along, he noted.

“We started the program to get guys to fish with their sons, nephews or what have you, to get more kids involved in fishing. A youth 16 or younger can partner with an adult and pay half the entry fee but still be eligible to win all the prize money.”

Last year, the first year for the program, four or five youth teams participated with two that fished all year long. This year so far there are five teams fishing on a regular basis, Kizziah said.

Signups for Saturday’s tournament are being held at Chattanooga Fish-N-Fun, Soddy Custom Tackle, Nichols Marine, Boats and Motors of Dalton, and Hamilton’s Sport Shop. Anglers can come to Buffalo Wild Wings in Hixson at 6 p.m. today to try for a free entry and drawings for boats No. 1, 2 and 3 in Saturday’s tournament.

 

Chattanooga Bass Association

Chickamauga Lake

Chester Frost Park

Sat, May 14, 2011

Call Justin Medley, 423-667-5054

or Tom Kizziah, 423-593-3343

www.cbatournament.com