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First tournament of the season: The CBA has a tournament Feb. 27. Visit cbatournament.com for the full schedule and rules. Connect with the group at facebook.com/chattanoogabassassociation.
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Bigger still…Last year, while preparing for the CBA’s first tournament, Gabe Keen reeled in a largemouth bass that broke a 61-year state record. In 1954, James Barnett caught a 14-pound, 8-ounce largemouth bass in Sugar Creek in Lawrence County. Keen’s Lake Chickamauga catch weighed in at 15 pounds, 3 ounces.His rig: Tennessee Rig with 20-pound test line
The Chattanooga Bass Association is celebrating a big one - anniversary, that is. This year marks the group's 40th of serving the area's anglers and the surrounding community. For the CBA, though, it's just business as usual, working hard to better protect and preserve the various lakes and tributaries as well as fostering growth in the Chattanooga fishing scene.
From humble beginnings of trying to build a tournament scene in Chattanooga to playing a major role in turning Chickamauga Lake into the national hotspot it is today, CBA President Shane Frazier says the organization is eagerly awaiting what comes next.
"We're still growing quickly," he says. "The addition of the new senior and college divisions have increased participation, which has enabled us to grow sponsors, which in turn increases the opportunities available for Chattanooga fishermen."
Frazier has been elected president of the CBA every year for the last three years. He says the group is especially looking forward to the growth of the youth programs it has been developing, including the CBA High School Championship that saw its first year last year and which the association is working to make an annual event.
"We're getting involved in high school bass fishing from the ground up," says Steve Kite, an officer with the CBA for over a decade. "These guys are the future of bass fishing, and we're proud to help them however we can."
While the CBA awaits the continued growth of Chattanooga's bass fishing scene, Frazier says the group's most significant accomplishment was its restocking effort in Chickamauga Lake. The CBA worked in conjunction with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency to fill the lake with Florida-strain largemouth bass, as well as to monitor and protect their growth and that of the environment.
"We're constantly fighting state and local laws to not only improve bass fishing in the area, but also maintain the health of the habitat and wildlife," Frazier says. "We're currently working on getting gill netting banned. It kills thousands of fish and waterfowl every year, and there are safety concerns to boaters who use gill nets. We're really just looking to preserve the health and work as a watchdog for the lake."
Anytime he's out on the lake, he says, people from over a dozen states and even other countries are there fishing for bass.
"The CBA is proud of its efforts to grow and protect the lake and the growth of Chattanooga fishing. And we're looking forward to another near half-century of service," says Frazier.