Skylar Hamilton is only 19 years old, but he has some big-time bass tournament fishing experience. Hamilton finished 24th in a B.A.S.S. Open event at Douglas Lake when he was 16. Hamilton is fishing the Opens again this year, and would love to kick his tournament career into high gear with a good showing this week.
"I was tickled to be invited to fish in this event, especially here," said Hamilton during Tuesday's anglers' meeting.
Hamilton lives in Dandridge, Tenn., so he's familiar with Chickamauga and the community holes along the miles of Tennessee River ledges here.
"You might have 10 miles of ledges and only 100 yards is productive and 20 yards is the best," Hamilton said. "A really hard bottom is the key. It might be a shell bed or river rock, but that's what the fish relate to. It might even be an old busted culvert, just any kind of hard bottom along the ledge."
Hamilton noted that Chickamauga is fishing especially small right now.
"There are not any secret spots," he said. "We're going to have to work together. To win this tournament, I think you're going to have to fish in a crowd at least one day."