The FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) is headed to Lake Chickamauga Sept. 29 – Oct. 1 for the first of six BFL regional championships. The three-day tournament, which is presented by Mercury, will feature the top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers from each of the Arkie, Hoosier, LBL, and Mountain divisions.
The winning boater will receive a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower outboard and a check for $20,000, while the winning co-angler will receive a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower outboard. The top six boaters and co-anglers at each regional will advance to one of the longest-running championships in bass fishing – the BFL All-American.
“I’m just about certain that this tournament will be won in the grass,” said Walmart FLW Tour pro Jason Lambert of Pickwick Dam, Tennessee, winner of the FLW Tour event on Kentucky Lake earlier this season. “The whole Tennessee River Valley chain is dominated by grass fishing in the fall, and when you find the right stretch, it can be very productive. I think frog fishing and punching patterns will be the deal in this event.
“Areas between the Highway 60 bridge and the steam plant will be strong for frog fishing,” Lambert continued. “There’s a lot of good grass there. There will also be some anglers catching them on swimbaits, but they’ll need a cold front for the bass to really turn on.
“For punching, I’d focus on the lower end, or anywhere in Harrison Bay,” said Lambert. “A V&M Split Tail Beaver would be my bait of choice . I prefer smaller baits in these conditions. They’re more slender and easier to get into the mats. Big weights can lose the fish sometimes.”
Lambert went on to say that a three-day catch totaling 45 pounds should be enough to win the event.
“The weights could be higher, but the cold front we’re expecting will need to come through and fire up the swimbait bite,” said Lambert.
Anglers will take off from Dayton Boat Dock, located at 175 Lakeshore St. in Dayton, at 7:30 a.m. EDT each day. Weigh-in on Thursday and Friday will be held at the marina beginning at 3:30 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at Walmart located at 3034 Rhea County Highway in Dayton beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
The BFL Regional Championship event on Lake Chickamauga is being hosted by the Rhea Economic & Tourism Council.
The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 50 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros.
By: Brian Johnson, FLW
