Choo Choo Ch'Boogie

Choo Choo Fly & Tackle has partnered with Outdoor Chattanooga to host the Chattanooga Bass Bug Classic. Some of the best anglers in the region and throughout the nation will be participating in this inaugural event. This tournament is one of the first “Fly Fishing Only” tournaments for Bass to be held in the country at this level.

The tournament will be held on the scenic Nick-a-Jack section of the Tennessee River. This is considered by many to be world-class bass fishery. The City of Chattanooga is no stranger to tournament bass fishing. The City’s long history began with its first major tournament, the BASS Master Classic in 1986. Since the Classic, several other BASS and FLW affiliate tournaments have been held on this section of the Tennessee River. The Chattanooga Bass Bug Classic is a welcome addition to the resume of Chattanooga, as a world-class bass fishing destination.

Proceeds from the tournament will be donated to the Chambliss Children's Home & Shelter. This agency has been helping abused and neglected children in Chattanooga since 1872. Tournament proceeds will exclusively fund their fishing program that allows area children the opportunity to spend time with mentors catching bass, brim, and trout.

The official launch and weigh-in will be at the TVA Raccoon Mountain boat ramp due to its proximity to downtown Chattanooga and its strategic "half-way point" location in the reservoir.
The two-day charity tournament, June 18-19, will have live weigh-ins starting at 1pm, followed by an award ceremony on the last day. These tournament events are free and open to the public.

This is an invitational tournament, parties interested in participation or sponsorships are encouraged to contact Ben Austin, at Choo Choo Fly & Tackle via phone 423.267.0024 or by email, banjoaustin@gmail.com.

How Long Would it Take Piranhas to Eat a Person?

After a trip to the Amazon jungle, President Teddy Roosevelt famously reported seeing a pack of piranhas devour a cow in a few minutes. It must have been a very large school of fish—-or a very small cow. According to Ray Owczarzak, assistant curator of fishes at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

LINK (Via: Popular Science)

River Monster Sampler

The series premiere of Animal Planet’s River Monsters delivered 1.3 million viewers making it the best series premiere in the network’s history and the most watched regularly airing primetime telecast in over six years.

Carnivorous

Kispiox dollies enjoy a nice cut of meat here and there.  This one hammered a 6" big nasty before properly finishing his previous meal.

Sent to us by Nate McDonough - Head Guide Bristol Bay Lodge

Vintage Chum - Black Sea Bass Edition

384 lbs.

436 lbs.

428 lbs.

New Rule

When your monster Kispiox steelie goes viral, then lands on the cover of Fly Fisherman, you should make the Picassa gallery of the other 60 shots of you manhandling the fish private.

The gallery has recently been edited but not before someone grabbed some screen shots.

Some of the deleted images were posted on the forum pages of Piscatorial Pursuits back in February. According to the forum post there were 61 images of the fish out of water.

Here at the Chum we've never met a big fish picture we didn't like, but we do our very best to minimize the amount of time a fish is out of water for photography. The excitement of the moment probably contributed to the excessive documentation but it's no excuse for not handling fish responsibly.