The Tom’s Marine Team Trail is holding its second tournament of the year Saturday on Cherokee Lake. This tournament was originally scheduled on Douglas Lake, said tournament director Richard McMaster, but with the PAA holding its first tournament of 2013 on Douglas Thursday-Saturday, the Tom’s Marine Trail moved to Cherokee for the tournament.

“The Chamber of Commerce asked us to move,” McMaster said. “We are still in Jefferson County, but this time we are at Cherokee Dam.”

That was probably a wise decision. PAA always attracts a pretty large field and Tom’s Marine had 123 boats entered in the first tournament March 9 on Cherokee.

“We had absolutely no drop-off from last year’s first tournament,” McMaster said. “It’s a good thing to maintain what you were doing the year before – and we had a really good year last year.”

Fishing was good for that tournament on Cherokee, he noted, and should still be good this weekend.

Howard Greenlee and Jim Burchfield weighed in a limit at 20.33 pounds to win the opener. We are looking for about the same results as far as the amount of fish weighed in. Fishing conditions are almost the same as they were then.”

McMaster said the water temperature has remained at about the same level – 48-52 degrees – not enough of a rise to make the fish move shallow.

“I think the majority of the fish will be caught on jerkbaits and Tennessee rigs, and there are sill some deep fish being caught on jigs. A Tennessee rig is like an Alabama Rig, but Tennessee law allows only three hooks. You can have as many baits on the rig as you want, but only three can have hooks,” he said.

“I would also like to remind anglers that you can still make our championship if you fish the last six events. Even if you missed the first tournament you can still make it in with no problem.”

Entry fee for the Tom’s Marine tournaments is $100, plus a $10 lunker fee. Payout is at least 90 percent of entry fees, paid one for every six entries at the ramp.

The trail offers most major boat bonus programs, including the Ranger Cup, Triton Gold, Stratos 2X, Skeeter Real Money, Phoenix First Flight, plus other incentives including the Bass Pro Shops Tournament Rewards, Motor Mate and the PAA Pay Day Program.

In addition, anglers who own a 2010 or newer truck bought new from Ramey Ford will get a $500 bonus for winning a regular season tournament.

“We are looking forward to another great season of tournament fishing this year,” he said. We’ve been doing this for nine years and we are looking forward to our 10^th anniversary next year. I can’t say enough about Tom’s Marine and Ranger Boats. Without them this trail would not exist. Tom’s Marine is a home town dealership that does a lot for the local fishermen.”

McMaster also pointed towards the2014 season when Tom’s Marine will launch its new Tom’s Marine Elite Series. Anglers will qualify for the Elite Series through points earned in the established Tom’s Marine Team Trail.

“Hopefully, the Elite Series will complement the Tom’s Marine Team Trail,” McMaster said. “It’s still in the process of being worked out, but we will have a maximum field of 50 boats in the Elite Series, based on the top 30 percent in the points for 2013.”

McMaster said the new wrinkle was developed to get more anglers to fish the trail and weigh in their fish. The new series will have fewer places paid back, but the payouts will be larger to reward the anglers who do well, he said.

Tom’s Marine Team Trail

Sat, Mar 30, 2013

Cherokee Lake

Dam Access – TVA Cherokee

Call Richard McMaster 423-748-3240

www.tomsmarinetn.com