By MLF Communications Staff

Major League Fishing returns to Lake Chickamauga and Dayton, Tenn. this week, for the fourth event on the 2021 Bass Pro Tour schedule. Competition runs today through Wednesday.

The six-day event, hosted by Fish Dayton and the Rhea Economic & Tourism Council, will feature 80 of the best professional anglers in the world, including local favorites like Dayton’s Andy Morgan and Michael Neal, Spring City’s Wesley Strader and John Murray, and Harrison’s Jacob Wheeler, fishing for a purse of more than $805,000, including a top payout of $100,000 and valuable points in hopes of qualifying for REDCREST 2022, the Bass Pro Tour championship.

When the MLF Bass Pro Tour last visited Lake Chickamauga in 2019, hometown favorite Andy Morgan boated 34 bass weighing 80 pounds even in the Championship Round to win by more than 19 pounds and claim the $100,000 top prize. Although Lake Chickamauga has played host to dozens of MLF BIG5 (previously FLW) tournaments over the years, 2021 will mark just the second time that the Bass Pro Tour has visited BassTown USA.

“This is going to be a fun event,” said Spring City’s Wesley Strader, who has more than $2 million in career earnings in MLF competition. “The lake has had a lot of pressure on it, but that’s pretty much everywhere because of COVID. But the numbers will still be really good – it should be a typical June offshore bite – and we’re still going to see some Chickamauga giants.”

Strader said the key to doing well will be having multiple different patterns in play.

“The key will be mixing things up,” Strader said. “I don’t think you’re going to be able to rely on one spot – you’ll need several areas. Bait selection and timing will be important, and also the water flow situation. If it rains a lot before the tournament or there is a lot of power usage, the water will be flowing and that would be good.

“I’ll definitely have a Zoom Superfluke on a scrounger-head jig tied on,” Strader continued. “A Zoom Ol’ Monster worm, a crankbait like a (Strike King) 6XD, and maybe even a mid-depth PH Custom Lures Balsa Crankbait.”

The tournament will feature anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The Bass Pro Tour features a field of 76 of the top professional anglers in the world – joined at each event by 4 pros who qualify from the MLF Pro Circuit – competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country. The four anglers from the Pro Circuit who'll take part in this event are Matt Becker, David Williams, Tai Au and Evan Barnes. Those anglers qualified via their finishes in the third Pro Circuit event of the year at Lake Murray in South Carolina.

The 40 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day Qualifying Round on on Friday and Sunday, with the 40 anglers in Group B fishing on Saturday and Monday. The anglers who finish in 2nd through 20th place from both groups advance to Tuesday’s Knockout Round, while the winner of each group advances directly to Wednesday’s Championship Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed and the remaining 38 anglers compete to finish in the top 8 to advance to the Championship Round. Weights will again be zeroed for the finals and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

Anglers will take off from the Dayton Boat Dock, located at 175 Lakeshore St., in Dayton, at 6:30 a.m. ET each day of competition. Takeouts will also be held at the Dayton Boat Dock beginning at 3:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all takeoff and takeout ceremonies and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW! livestream and SCORETRACKER coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action on all six days of competition from 6:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CT. MLF NOW! will be live-streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Notable

> Fans will be treated to the Stage Four Hangout at Bass Pro Shops in Chattanooga on Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. The free event includes the opportunity to interact with Bass Pro Tour anglers, enjoy activities and special fan-only giveaways provided by MLF sponsors, and to learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities in fishing seminars.