Bryson Wofford jumped up and down on the shore at Chester Frost Park and pointed at a boat about 50 yards away when he saw his father's boat float close to the dock on Lake Chickamauga.
The 4-year-old had been waiting for his dad, professional angler Josh Wofford, and leaped into his dad's arms as he carried a bag of bass onto shore.
"I was about his size the first time I fished this lake, so I've fished it a lot," said Wofford, who resides in Ooltewah and works in construction after a couple of years of traveling full-time on the fishing circuits. "I'm a single-dad and that's why I don't get to travel like I used to."
Wofford is among a contingent of 18 professionals from Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia competing in an FLW Series Easter Division tournament on a lake they know well. Another 15 area residents are competing in the co-angler division.
They're all fishing in their own backyard.
"It's nice, having my fiancee [Kaitlyn Yates] here and family and friends," said Derrick Hicks, 26, who grew up in Rocky Face, Ga., and has competed in tournaments all over the country this year.
"I've waited my whole life for a big tournament on this lake," he said. "I've been doing this since I was 16, and I've waited that long to fish a major tournament on the lake where I grew up.
"I couldn't even sleep last night because I wanted to get started."
Jared Haas of Hixson had his wife waiting for him as he stepped down from the weigh-in stage. And Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., spent more than an hour catching up with old fishing buddies during the weigh-in. Morgan said that because he rarely fishes Lake Chickamauga this time of year, he barely recognized the lake. But he's still got a few ideas on how to improve today and Friday so he can compete on Saturday.
Darren Gallaher of Hixson arrived on shore in the first of nine flights Wednesday afternoon. He stuck around for a couple more hours to catch up with friends and even a couple fans.
"This morning when I woke up, my Facebook and text-messages were blowing up," Gallaher said, while explaining how his wife, Angela, gave him a kiss when he stepped off his boat. "One of my buddies took a crack at me and said, 'Remember, this ain't a crappie tournament.'"
Andy Montgomery, of Blacksburg, S.C., leads the professional division after the first of the four days. He landed five keepers weighing a total of 16 pounds, 11 ounces. Chattanooga-area pro anglers Rogne Brown, Wesley Strader, Patrick Baynes and Jenny Nevans are all in the top-25.
Aaron Combs of Jackson, Ky., leads the co-angler division by more than four pounds with Cleveland, Tenn., resident Garrett Goins in third and his city neighbor Pat Lay in sixth.
Harrison resident Jamie Wells spent part of Wednesday watching the professionals from a boat on the water trying to learn new techniques from the pros, then sat in some shade on shore for the weigh-in.
"We get in a habit on the lake, being locals, so I got to see how others tried to pick apart the lake," Wells said. "They do a lot of the same things, but they were fishing in water that I bypass a lot."
It's water the locals all know.
Contact David Uchiyama at 423-757-6484 or duchiyama@timesfreepress.com. You can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/UchSports.