BassMasters Elite Series professional angler Ott DeFoe fishes on Chickamauga Lake on Monday in a practice session for the BASSFest tournament which well be held in Dayton, Tenn., starting today and running through Sunday.DEFOE CHARITY EVENTBassmaster Elite Series professional fisherman Ott DeFoe will be hosting a charity fishing tournament next week to benefit Goodwill Industries of Knoxville. It will be held June 21 on Douglas Lake at Dandridge, Tenn. The entry fee is $100 per boat in advance, $125 the morning of the tournament. The winner will receive $1,000 cash and a $500 gift card from Bass Pro Shops. For more information, visit www.ottdefoe.com.
The Bassmasters Elite Series returns to Chickamauga Lake starting today, bringing some of the top professional anglers in the country to compete in the series’ first-ever BASSfest at Dayton, Tenn.
While BASSfest is a non-points event in the race for Angler of the Year, an $875,000 total purse — including $125,000 and entry in the 2015 Bassmaster Classic for the winner — provides more than enough incentive for the 140 competitors who have converged on Dayton to battle it out this week.
The full field will fish today and Thursday, with the top 50 anglers advancing to the weekend. In a new twist, anglers outside the top 50 will travel to Nickajack Lake on Friday to fish in a one-day second-chance qualifier, with 10 final spots in the weekend on the line. Saturday’s fishing will narrow the field from 60 to 12 anglers, who will battle it out Sunday for the top spot.
Bassmaster has not held a tournament on Chickamauga in years, and there are no area pros in the Elite series. The lack of familiarity should make for some wide-open competition.