CBAA Names Lewis Smith Lake as Championship Venue for South East Championship and Bayou Regional Event!

Plymouth, IN (September 11, 2008) – Lewis Smith Lake, AL will see history made on October 11 and 12, 2008 as the Collegiate Bass Anglers Association brings the inaugural South East Championship and Bayou Regional to the waters of north-central Alabama. "The South East Championship is something that has been asked for, and an event we have had on our radar for sometime.  Recent business decisions have allowed us to develop the relationships which made this event possible this fall… we are excited about the opportunity to provide this event for the student anglers of the South East and Bayou area,” said Mark Heckaman, CBAA Deputy Commissioner.   

Well known to southern anglers, Lewis Smith Lake (Smith Lake) is a jewel of north central Alabama whose 35 miles offer anglers 21,200 acres (max depth 264’).  Nearly 500 miles of shoreline provide diverse structure and habitat for anglers to pursue black bass.  Smith Lake is recognized for its outstanding fishery with a good population of black bass that includes plenty of quality large mouth bass and spotted bass reaching record size.      

“The South East and Bayou regions have some of the best amateur anglers and collegiate programs in the country.  We are happy to have formed the partnerships that allow us to provide this opportunity to showcase their skills, sportsmanship and the sport of collegiate angling.  What a tremendous time for our sport!”  related Troy Heckaman, CBAA Commissioner. 

Keeping to CBAA tradition, the South East and Bayou tournaments will be contested as a team event with each school being allowed to field three two-angler teams with each school's official team score being determined by the weights from each school's top two boats.  “Our competition and ranking model are unique to collegiate angling in that they are team-based with tournaments being determined by the overall success of each school's team performance rather than solely the highest placing boat.  This model was developed by members of the CBAA Athlete Advisory Committee to help level the playing field for participating teams and has proven to be very popular among student anglers," explained Commissioner Heckaman. 

Collegiate Bass Anglers Association is excited to bring this event to the city of Jasper, the Walker County area and surrounding communities and would like to thank the Walker County Chamber of Commerce, Alabama Federation, Midwest Trophy, Jameson Inn, Jim N’ Nicks, Walker County 4H, Bass Edge and  Evergreen Four-Star for supporting student anglers of the South East and Bayou area.  For additional information about the 2008 Bayou Open or the South East Championship please contact the CBAA at info@collegiatebass.org or via phone at 574.780.4390.      

The Collegiate Bass Anglers Association (CBAA) is an independent national non-profit (501c3) amateur athletic organization functioning uniquely as the sanctioning body of collegiate angling.  CBAA is dedicated to the recruitment and retention our next generation of anglers, vigilantly pursuing the promotion and enhancement of intercollegiate angling as a unified and standardized collegiate sport.  CBAA 2008 >< ( ( ( ‘>