LONGVIEW, Texas — The Big Bass Bonanza on Lake O' The Pines, one of the biggest and longest running bass tournaments in East Texas, is about a week away.
CBS19 Chief Meteorologist Brett Anthony recently visited with Harlan the Sports Guy at KYKX 105.7 about why this fishing event is so popular.
This is the 23rd year of the event and Harlan said it's continuing to grow.
"It is growing as usual. We added the cornhole tournament this year. We have a karaoke contest. But most importantly, we have more fishermen to this point than we had last year at this point," Harlan said.
The tournament might not be the biggest tournament in the state but some anglers say that it might be the best to win.
"We have the champions dinner; they get a ring. They come back every year, and we shower them with prizes, and it's a fun tournament to win," Harlan said.
While this might be the best tournament to win, you can't be a professional.
Harlan said, "if they've competed at certain levels and we have those defined on our website, you become a pro. That's not for us."
This event is for all type of anglers. They can fish on kayaks, off the pier, with a buddy in their boat or by yourself. As long as the fish are caught during the tournament and alive at weigh in, an angler could win.
"Then there's all kinds of categories: first five pounder pays $1,000. And then of course, there's hourly prizes, daily prizes, categories for top female, top junior, top high school, U.S. veteran, senior first responder. There's lots of subcategories," Harlan said.
There is a special category, if an angler has a fish that weighs exactly 5.700 pounds, you win a Ram 1500 courtesy of Paterson in Marshall. And it has been done before.
"We've had two winners in our 20 plus years," Harlan said. "We have two parts of the high school competition. We have the top individual that's going to pay $1,000. Now, the team competition is the four best from the same high school. You got to see our lures of fame, which is all the winning lures going back to 2002."
This year's tournament is May 3 to 5 and there is still time to sign-up. Click here for more information.