More than 160 student anglers representing 40 universities from across the nation are headed to Paris, Tennessee where they will compete on Kentucky Lake to determine the best collegiate bass fishing team in the nation.
"We're excited to be the host of the inaugural Collegiate Bass Fishing Open presented by Pepsi on Kentucky Lake," said Carl Holder of the Henry County Alliance Tourism Initiative. "It is our hope to establish Paris Landing State Park as the permanent venue for this tournament, making it an annual event. We feel this is a great partnership that combines the Association of Collegiate Anglers' extensive experience organizing collegiate bass tournaments with our expertise serving as the host of major, highly successful events."
The tournament will pit university against university in a true team format. The unique format allows each university to send as many teams as they like. A team may consist of up to 6 anglers and 3 boats and there's no limit to the number of teams that can participate. The full field will compete both days. Winners will be determined by the combined weight of each team's two heaviest boat weights each day. For clubs that are only able to send 1 boat, the single boat weight will be doubled each day. Numerous prizes and awards will be made to the top finishers.
"Pepsi has been a longstanding supporter of bass fishing and we're pleased to extend that support to the collegiate level through this event," said Adrian Blanco, senior sales manager, Pepsi-Cola North America Beverages. "We hope this championship will introduce more people to this exciting form of competition and the beauty of Paris Landing Park."
Extensive coverage of the event will be nationally televised on the Versus network from August -October 2010 as part of the BoatU.S. Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship Series. The television series will also feature coverage of the Stephen F. Austin Bucketmouth Bass Tournament, Arkansas Tech University Invitational, Southern Collegiate Bass Fishing Series Championship and the BoatU.S. Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship.
"This is our newest collegiate event and it's designed to allow more anglers to participate and experience the thrill of national competition," said Wade Middleton, Tournament Director. "We're looking forward to crowning the 2010 Open team champions and providing increased television coverage again this year. Since our humble beginning in 2006, the BoatU.S. Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship Series has continued to grow at an amazing pace. The Open event will contribute greatly to the future growth of collegiate bass fishing and Pepsi's support will help make this a truly special event."
The anglers will pre fish through Wednesday and the two day competition will begin on Thursday. Weigh-in on Thursday and Friday will begin at 3:00 p.m. All activities, including daily weigh-ins will take place at Paris Landing State Park.
