The Roane County Chamber of Commerce will be hosting its first major bass fishing tournament this fall on Watts Bar Lake in east Tennessee. The Rock-N-Reel Fishing Tournament will be held on October 13-14 at Dr. Tom Fuller Park in Rockwood, just off Interstate exit 347 of Interstate 40.
On Oct. 12 from 4 – 7 p.m. a picnic and registration for the participants and their families will be held at the Roane County Park with activities for all ages. Also, late entries will be accepted at that time.
Top prize for the event is $12,000 guaranteed and there could be as many as 40 additional prizes ranging from $5,000 to $400, depending on the number of entries. The entry fee for the event is $250 per team, which will be 100 percent paid out to the participants.
Invitations are being sent to fishermen in a seven-state area for the tournament. The tournament director is James Nuckols, who has participated in and directed more than 1,000 fishing tournaments across the country. “Holding this event here puts Roane County in the big leagues as far as fishing tournaments go,” said Nuckols.
"We have included a team category for youth (16 and under) accompanied by an adult, as well as a co-ed category for female/male teams,” Nuckols emphasized. “This is going to be a real family event.”
Major sponsors are: Food City; Knoxville Coca Cola Bottling Co.; City of Harriman; City of Kingston; City of Rockwood; Comcast Communications, Inc., Eagle Distributing; Grande Vista Bay; Skeeter Boats/Yamaha Motors; Southern Media Group 105.7 The Hog, All-Star Promotions; and TVA Kingston Fossil Plant.
Sponsors at the next level are: Bunch Marine; Caney Creek Inn; Citizens National Bank; Coldwell Banker/Jim Henry and Associates; Roane County Chamber of Commerce and Roane State Community College.
Additional sponsors include: Big Rock Building Supplies; ORNL Federal Credit Union; Rockwood Water and Gas; Rocky Top General Store; United Community Bank and Dave Westberg.
“Each of our towns will be featuring events all weekend long for visitors during the weekend of the tournament,” said Chamber Tourism Committee Chair Jane Ollis. “Families of the fishermen are encouraged to come and enjoy the shopping, festivals and other activities we have to offer.”
For more information about the Rock-N-Reel Fishing Tournament call Jan Collins at the Roane County Chamber of Commerce at (865) 376-5572 or visit www.roanealliance.org.