Bartlett says the new tournament series is a way to give back to the bass fishing CFF members.

He said, “The content and involvement of our bass anglers has shown a terrible decline in the past year or so. If we pull the active members together once or twice a month and put on a good show for everyone, then hopefully we can increase involvement and get some “bass banter” going again on the CFF. Besides, our tournaments are always a hoot. It wasn’t uncommon to launch later than planned because we were all still up in the parking lot making fun of each other. The tournaments also allow us to put faces with our cyber pal’s names.”

CFF organizers typically keep entry fees low to encourage everyone to play along. The 2009 series will be $25 per boat, with an optional $5 Big Fish Pot. Of course lower entry fees mean a lower payout, but CFF folks say their tournaments are more about comradarie and fun that they are about money.

Visit www.ChattanoogaFishingForum.com to see the payout schedule.

In addition to the low entry fee however, you must be an “active” member of CFF.

Bartlett says, “Any CFF member can join us to fish, but each boat in the tournament must have a combined total of at least 150 posts on the CFF – this can be one angler with at least 150 posts, or two anglers with at least a combined 150 posts. This isn’t meant to exclude, rather its designed to promote the active exchange of ideas and reports on the CFF. We have plenty of members who log on and contribute daily, so the qualifier is also a way to thank them for their efforts to promote local bass fishing.”

Lots of bass tournament series come and go in the Chattanooga area. CFF organizers say they haven’t really thought about any longterm plans.

“It was never our ambition to create the next great tournament trail,” said Bartlett. “We just like fishing with our buddies on the CFF. In fact, some of our guys will fish other events – typically much more competitive trails – we just wanted something for our members that would be fun, inexpensive to fish, and pay a little deeper than some other trails. No one will get rich fishing these, so that could deter some, but we’ve never concerned ourselves with the money and just focused on having fun. I guess the best answer to the longevity part of this is that a lot of us are dear friends – best friends, even – off of the water, so there’s no reason why this would ever have to fold so long as we all still enjoy getting together.”

CFF Organizers include:

CFF SCREEN NAME – REAL NAME
— cutthroat – Damon Taylor
— Wet Willie – Al Lovelace
— TAzGa – Randy
— flip1up – Karl Arnold
— Pointer 78 – Jerry Cornwell
— XLDVee – Adam Thornton
— Bprice – Brandon Price
— churly – Justin Medley
— BBass – Billy Buoymaster
— RangerRob – Rob Bartlett

Organizers have set their schedule to avoid any conflicts with the very popular CBA Tournaments:

3/7/09 – Guntersville – Jackson Co Park
– Safe Light – 3PM *5 Fish Limit

4/4/09 – Chickamauga – Harrison Bay SP
– Safe Light – 3PM *5 Fish Limit

4/25/09 – Nickajack – Marion Co Park
– Safe Light – 3PM *5 Fish Limit

5/16/09 – Chickamauga – Grasshopper
– Safe Light – 3PM *5 Fish Limit

6/5/09 – Chickamauga – Chester Frost
– Friday Night – 6PM – 2AM *5 Fish Limit

7/18/09 – Nickajack – Marion Co Park
– AM DogFight – Safe Light – Noon *3 Fish Limit

8/15/09 – Chickamauga – Chester Frost
– PM DogFight – 6PM – Midnite *3 Fish Limit

9/5/09 – Nickajack – Riverpark
– Safe Light – 1PM *3 Fish Limit

9/19 – Chickamauga – Chick Dam ramp
– Safe Light – 1PM *3 Fish Limit

10/10 – *CLASSIC* – Nickajack – Sullivans
– Safe Light – 3PM *5 Fish Limit