Even with the winter chill still in the air, the Music City Division of the Bass Fishing League will begin Saturday with a tournament at Percy Priest Lake.
It will be the first of five tournaments leading up to the Oct. 14-16 regional championship on Lake Guntersville in Alabama.
The National Weather Service reports February was the coldest in Nashville since 1979 and with an average temperature of 35.6 degrees, this has been the 11th-coldest winter for the city on record.
"It's going to be a slow bite because it's been so cold and the water is not warming up and I don't think there is going to be near as many fish that have moved up as there usually is at this time of the year,'' said DeKalb County's Tim Stanley, who won the Music City Division Regional Championship last year. "It's not going to take a lot of big fish to win this tournament."
Temperatures are expected to reach 59 degrees Saturday with a low of 36.
About 400 anglers are expected to compete in the tournament.
Tournament director Mike Hale said anglers turn in their biggest five fish at weigh-ins at Fate Sanders Marina in Smyrna at 3 p.m.
The total purse is $45,000 with $6,000 going to the tournament winner based on a 200-boat field.
"It's hard to say with it being as cold as it's been, but I think it will take 14 to 18 pounds to win," Hale said. "That's actually about average for that division in the BFL. The bite is normally pretty good at Percy Priest during the first week in March. But it's been so cold this winter, we're just not really sure how it will be."
Stanley said he actually enjoys competing when the bite is slow.
"It puts it more on an even playing field for everybody,'' Stanley said. "Just like when I won the regional this past year (at Clarks Hill Lake, Appling, Ga.). "It was actually tough and nobody was catching any big fish."
The next tournament in the series will be March 27 at Center Hill, then April 24 at Kentucky Lake. The final two stops before the regional will be on Old Hickory Lake on June 12 and Oct. 2-3.
Anyone interested in competing in the Bass Fishing League should call 270-252-1000 or visit flwoutdoors.com.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or morgan@tennessean.com.
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