Soddy Daisy, TN. Banks Shaw comes away with the American Bass Anglers Pro League win, Presented by Caymas Boats, East Tennessee Division 4, held May 11, 2024, at Lake Chickamauga. The fishing seemed pretty good for most, with the top 6 anglers bringing a five fish limit to the scales of over 19 pounds. It was about 52 degrees at takeoff time, with the temperature only rising to about 75 degrees at weigh-in time with a wind of about 8 miles per hour. Launching at Chester Frost Park in Soddy Daisy, TN, Shaw from Harrison, TN, came in with a 5-bass tournament limit of 25.17 pounds for the victory. He pocketed a check for $2900.00 1st place.
Banks stated, “a lot of things changed over this week. The water came up about 2 feet and muddied up a lot of the main river. I really didn’t know what I was going into today, so I kind of just went into it with an open mind. I found some clean water, and that was the deal. I found the bait, the fish in the clean water, and the fish hanging with bait balls. I basically caught my fish just scoping the bait balls. I was using a de icky bait.”
Carl Gillespie of Old Hickory, TN, took 2nd place. He had a 5-fish limit of 20.34 pounds with a kicker of 6.22 pounds. With his 2nd place finish was a check for $1,300.00
“I ran about 10 miles past Dayton today. I was concentrating on fishing the cypress tree clumps and the edge of the grass. I was using a Senko rig in 2 different ways. In around the cypress clumps I would use the closed wacky hook; around the grass I would use the open hook. They were up in the middle of the cypress clumps, and on the edge of the grass,” stated Carl.
Jess Beihoffer of Soddy Daisy, TN, took home third place with a 5-fish limit of 19.79 pounds and a kicker of 6.43 pounds, which was worth $1,000.00.
“I started out this morning in about 20 feet of water throwing a football jig dragon of the ledges. They were all about two pounders. I was able to get a six-pounder in a much deeper spot. Then, later in the afternoon, I went looking for grass and used the slobber knocker in the shallow grass and finished up my day there,” stated Jess.
James Nuckols Jr. from Rockhill, TN, had the big fish for the day. He only had three fish, but he had an 8.42-pound fish worth $340.00.
James stated, “I was able to catch the big fish in shallow water, in about 2 feet of throwing shad-colored chatter bait. I didn’t catch that fish and one of my three until about 2 o’clock today.”
Top 10
This was the final 1-day event for this division, the next will the 2-day event. It is scheduled for September 14-15, 2024. This event will be at Nic-A-Jack Lake, out of Marion County Park in Jasper TN. For more information, you can go to our website at americanbassanglers.com or call me at 256-230-5633
About American Bass Anglers
American Bass Anglers, committed to providing low-cost, close-to-home tournaments, offers an exciting platform for individual angler progression. With the support of industry-leading companies, ABA continues to advance the sport of bass fishing.
For more information on the Military Team Bass Tournament and all other other series, visit www.americanbassanglers.com or call (256) 232-0406.
American Bass Anglers is proud to be sponsored by Caymas Boats, Mercury Marine, T-H Marine, Power Pole, RT Outdoors, Optima Batteries, Hotel Planner.com, and LurePartsOnline.com.
