Gary Grider and his buddies didn't want to be the best anglers in the Tennessee Valley or get rich fishing - they just wanted a way to have fun and learn more about fishing with fellow weekend warriors.
Grider, who works at McKee Foods, decided that the best way to do this was to form his own fishing club, so last year he created the Chattanooga Bass Assassins as a haven for anglers who want to fish, but are more interested in fun and fellowship rather than fancy bass boats and big prize money.
"We decided that if we wanted to fish in some tournaments, we needed to start our own club for guys like us," Grider explains. "Guys who don't have the time to fish four or five days a week but love bass fishing like we do."
To get started, Grider asked Seth Coleman to help him find like-minded anglers to join the club and participate in a members-only tournament schedule throughout 2012.
"We went after guys who wanted to fish tournaments, but they didn't want it to be all about money," Grider says. "It's more about a bunch of guys getting together and fishing and having a good time and laughing. If we win a little money, that's great, but if we don't then no big deal.
"If I'm going to spend $30 on a tournament, I'd rather lose that money to someone I like and somebody I know." As the Chattanooga Bass Assassins enters its second season, the club has grown from 17 members to 26 as the new tournament season launched in February.
While Grider is happy to have more members this season, the club remains private and only open to those who are invited to join. This is to keep the organization true to its roots and not become too competitive. "We've kept it private so we can kind of pick and choose members like us," Grider says. "We've got people in our club that can hardly catch a fish sometimes, and others that are really good and can win tournaments.
"We don't want our worst guy to feel like he's totally out of the competition. ... If that happens he's going to get frustrated and quit the club. We're trying not to do that so we're kind of hand picking our members who are like us - pretty much a working guy."
The Chattanooga Bass Assassins does host one tournament that's open to anyone, a cancer benefit tournament scheduled this year for June 15 on Chickamauga Lake out of Chester Frost Park. The proceeds from the cancer benefit are donated to the family of someone who is fighting cancer to help make their illness a bit more bearable. Grider says getting donations and help for this event is never a problem. "Chattanooga is such a giving city," he says. "I've been here all my life, and once we find a person who needs the help it's not a problem getting folks to chip in."
Moving forward, Grider wants to keep the club at a manageable size, but he is always on the lookout for recreational anglers that fit the profile of a Chattanooga Bass Assassin. Anyone interested in the club should get involved in the cancer benefit tournament, Grider says.