Nashville Wrap-Up

“Music City Mayhem”

by: Brooks Beatty

Another first time stop for the River Bassin Trail was in Nashville, TN. The host location was at Bass Pro Shops, which was under water from serious flooding in May of last year; but they are back up and running with a beautiful store. Nashville is obviously known for country music and musicians looking to make it big. One thing you don’t hear about Nashville too often is its bass fishing, but this area is full of bassy rivers and boasts several different black bass species within the boundary.

If you ask any local musician in Nashville, they will tell you they have spent numerous hours practicing and several nights playing any gig they can find to help them make it big. Well in the same way the tournament anglers must put in the time and effort if they want to win. They spend the time practicing and fishing on local rivers so that they are familiar with the waters when it comes tournament time. They often try different and new techniques, which could be different lures, line, weight, retrieve speeds, etc., to see which ones work best for them in different situations and conditions. In a similar way, musicians will learn different songs and styles of songs that work better in different situations or with different crowds. In either situation one has to be able to please the crowd, whether it is a school of smallmouth or college block party, you have to be able to adjust and figure out what they like. These principles don’t just apply to fishing and music, they will hold true in anything one wants to be successful at. He or she must put in the time and effort and be ready to adapt to any situation or obstacle they may face. If prepared and well trained, these won’t be obstacles but stepping stones to the top as they were for our winners in Nashville.

Nashville was definitely amongst some warm summer temperatures for this tournament stop. With highs in the low 90’s and chances of possible thunderstorms, it was typical summer weather for a weekend in the south. They had seen some recent summer rains that muddied up the main rivers but didn’t reach back to the smaller creeks off the big water. Anglers can usually come across bigger fish in the main river, but would the muddy waters and faster current slow that bite down or turn it on. With 20 anglers out in the field, some chose to wrestle the big water while others took their chances in the clearer smaller rivers and streams.

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Paddle and Trail Young River Basser Division

Two Young River Bassers braved the heat on this day and they proved they have the talent to be a force even among the adults. Our two Paddle and Trail Young River Bassers were Jacob Wood and Jacob Frawley, and one of these guys would give the whole field a run for their money. That angler was Jacob Frawley, who was our Young River Basser Division winner. He had a 48.25 inch virtual stringer which landed him in 2^nd place overall! Amongst his nice virtual stringer included a 19.75 inch smallmouth; this beautiful bronze back took home the NuCanoe Big Fish of the tournament award. It’s becoming fairly obvious that the youth anglers are at no disadvantage in these tournaments, and have just as good a chance as anybody to take home the big prizes!

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In the Kokatat Team Division we had 8 teams come back with virtual stingers, and 5 of those had a full limit. There was only a difference of 8 inches between the top 5 teams, as well as a tie for 4^th and 5^th place. Ties are decided by whoever has the longest individual fish, and if that results in a tie, it then carries on to the next longest fish and so on. The team consisting of Tim Perkins and Lance Coley just came off a win in Columbus, GA, and just kept on rolling as they took the title in Nashville with 65.75 inches. The nearest team, Doug Markham and Chris Nischan, was a little over 4 inches behind with 61.50 total inches. The Father/Son duo, Rick and Jacob Frawley took home the third place honors with a respectable 58.00 inches. Terry Adolph and Joe Maione took the 4^th place finish with their largest fish of 19.00 inches, caught by Terry Adolph. Erin Cotham and Jason Nassan had fun day on the river bringing in 57.00 inches and taken 5^th place.

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Aqua Bound Individual Angler Division

The Aqua Bound individual angler division top 5 came down to Jacob Frawley, Tim Perkins, Terry Adolph, Jason Hassan, and Lance Coley. As the field was narrowed down to the top 3, Lance Coley (4^th place) with 46.50 inches and Jason Hassan (5^th place) with 45.00 inches, were asked to step down off the stage. This left Jacob Frawley, Tim Perkins, and Terry Adolph. The crowd already knew that Jacob had a nice stringer from winning the Young River Basser Division, but would it be enough to take home the Aqua Bound Individual division too? He still had to see what Tim Perkins and Terry Adolph had from the day; these are 2 of the tournament trail’s familiar faces. Jacob’s virtual stringer still stands at 48.25 inches from the earlier division. When Tim Perkins came in and gave his memory card to tournament director Brooks Beatty, he said, “I just don’t think it’s going to be enough today, I would’ve had it won but I lost a monster probably around 5 pounds that came off a spinnerbait”. It was evident he was concerned about losing that fish and wondered if it would come back to haunt him. Well it proved good enough to take the lead for now. His total virtual stringer took the lead from Jacob by .50 inches, with a total of 48.75 inches. Up next is Terry Adolph, a seasoned river basser with plenty of good fish to his name. After 2 fish Terry has a competitive length of 29 inches, this means his 3^rd fish has to be a 20 inch fish. When the picture is displayed it is a good kicker fish, but only measured up to 19 inches, leaving him 1 inch shy of the victory and .50 inch shy of tying for 2^nd. These anglers put up some nice fish for an exciting results show and proved that Nashville can do more than crank out some good music!

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Big Fish Award

Jacob Frawley, the Young River Basser Division Winner and 2^nd Place overall, also took home the NuCanoe Big Fish Award with a healthy 19.75 inch Tennessee smallmouth.