Okay, I have been talked into going to the Tennessee River to observe a big summer event that is here for the first time.

I have never been to a fishing tournament of any kind before.

A fish is a fish is a fish ... has been my cubist reasoning for a long time, though the biologist in me knows that is not entirely true.  

It feels like August in Alabama. It is early June. Neither crowds nor sun without shade are really appealing to me.  So I observe the crowd and cruise the vendors tables out of curiosity.  There is an abundance of raffles and free prizes to bid on.  The spirit of competition and the excitement of the event is tangible.  Or was that just sweat?

People of all ages laugh, walk, sweat, smile, eat, talk, sweat, drink and most of all WAIT for the boats to come in.  The anglers left around 6AM in their quest for the trophy largemouth bass.

The longest line is at the Shaved Ice booth. Why am I not surprised? Yes, the clown has a yellow umbrella, with a duck beak on the front. It looks like a big Donald Duck head on a stick. Odd. But then that is what clowns are supposed to look like, right?

This is a Bassmaster Elite tournament, the Southern Challenge.  It is a four day competitive fishing event with pros and co-anglers and youth sections.  They use boats. Fancy, expensive, COLORFUL boats. They have sponsors with colorful ADS painted on their trucks and boats. The anglers wear colorful clothes and sunscreen and hats. Notice I said anglers not fishermen.

On the first day there are more than 100 contestants from all over the country. At the boat ramp there is a crowd early and late in the day.

Each angler has to weigh the catch of the day. How many fish (up to five) were caught? How big are they? What do they weigh? Each day there is a prize for the person who catches the biggest fish. And these prizes are DOLLARS, lots of dollars.

By the third day the competition is down to the top fifty people. By the fourth and last day there are only a dozen anglers going out. The stats on the "leaderboard” show the serious competiton is between the top 5 or 6 anglers. The real results lie in how responsive the fish will be on scorching June day.

I  learned how contagious and affable the tournament atmosphere can be.  It is a little like a county fair with games and events for kids and families while they eat and wait.  The excitement is indeed palpable, it is not a heat-related illusion. The prizes are well-earned by these folks. And the companies that support them are well-heeled and well advertised. ESPN carried the event live at the weigh in times and at special presentations throughout the day.

It was fun to see the tables turned topsy turvy when the top guy did not win.  No offense.  But I enjoyed seeing the guy in third place rise to the top.  It was his first trophy and it was a $100,000 prize. 

Congratulations Jeremy Starks from Charleston,West Virginia!

In four days he caught 78 pounds and 10 ounces of largemouth bass. Just 8 ounces more than the guy in second place, Kevin Van Dam who was favored to come in with the top prize. Terry Scroggins came in first on day one.

Jeremy Starks left the state with his first pro trophy from the Bassmaster Elite-Southern Challenge. And I left with a sense of humility and learned what people do in the South on a hot day in June.