WOOD COUNTY, Texas — The Bassmaster Elite fishing tournament has professionals in the field from all over the globe. This week, they made their way to East Texas for one of the most competitive lakes in the country. Locals excitedly made their way to Quitman to check it out this week.
"Oh, it’s pretty cool man. It’s a blessing that we have a lake here like this. And they’re here at the right time where they’re catching a lot of fish out there. It’s going to be an epic tournament," said Mike Callahan, Wood County local.
Lake Fork in Wood County is known to hold some of the largest bass around, making it a hot spot for professionals to put up big numbers. An event like this also allows local businesses in Wood County to put up big numbers as well.
The event brings an extra crowd of professionals, families, and many others in town for the tournament. With that comes a much higher volume of business for local restaurants and hotels.
"We saw about an $860,000 impact just to Wood County alone. However, the overall impact was much greater than that," said Christophe Trahan, Executive Director of Wood County Economic Development.
Trahan expects a big turnout the rest of the weekend for the Bassmaster Elite festivities. The Bellamy Brothers will be performing live for fans to enjoy. There will also be a 5K run along the lake, as well as a family walk.
Overall, he's excited to see so many people from Wood County coming out to have a great time. He's also excited for people out of the area to discover what a special place Wood County is.
"It's not just for local businesses to come out and participate as vendors in the event. It's also for drawing these folks to Wood County.," Trahan said. "We’ve done a lot more this year as well to make sure we put on display all the other great assets the county has outside of Lake Fork."