COLUMBUS, Miss. — It’s all about connectivity. That’s the name of the game for a unique fishery, as well as those who’ll compete there during the Mountain Dew Bassmaster Elite at Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.
Competition days will be March 26-29 with daily takeoffs from Columbus Marina at 7 a.m. CT and weigh-ins each day at the Marina at 3 p.m.
To set the stage, the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, often referred to as the “Tenn-Tom,” is a 234-mile canal that connects the Tennessee River to the Tombigbee River. Completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1984, the waterway begins with a 175-foot-deep Divide Cut coming out of Yellow Creek on Pickwick Lake (a Tennessee River reservoir) and includes 10 locks and dams separating major pools.
With the Tombigbee River running to the Gulf of Mexico (via its merger with the Alabama River, which flows into Mobile Bay), the Tenn-Tom connects commercial navigation from inland ports to oceanic shipping lanes. Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series pro Justin Atkins, who grew up in the event’s host city of Columbus, Miss., said this waterway also has the potential to connect anglers with competitive bass limits.
“I’d say to make the Top 10, you’ll need 36 pounds after 3 days and it won’t take a lot less than that to make a check,” Atkins said. “You might need 10 to 11 a day to get a check, but if you get 12 a day, I believe you’ll make the Top 10.”
Predicting a winning weight of 60 pounds, Atkins said that, while the Tenn-Tom rarely produces the double-digit giants that often make crowd-pleasing appearances at Florida and Texas events, this fishery holds plenty of quality fish. Day-makers in the 5-plus-pound range may not be common, but Atkins expects the field to find a handful of impressive bass.
“There will be a couple of 6-pounders caught,” he said. “My dad had a 10 several years ago and I have caught a couple of 8-pound spawners.”
Atkins said the Tenn-Tom’s habitat assortment includes stumps, submersed grasses, primrose, hyacinth, water willow, timber, riprap, docks and laydowns. This event will see anglers throwing a mix of swim jigs, spinnerbaits and frogs, while sight fishing for spawning fish will also come into play.
“It’s a typical shallow water river,” Atkins said. “Sure, It can be challenging at times, but sometimes it will make you look good.”
In the classic risk-reward premise, this fishery offers tremendous habitat diversity throughout the different pools, but anglers will need to carefully calculate their travel times. Locking decisions always matter, but compared to the Upper Mississippi River, a familiar fishery for Bassmaster Elite and Turtlebox Bassmaster Opens presented by Battery Tender events running out of La Crosse, Wis., locking on the Tenn-Tom will present a different scenario.
“When you lock from Pool 8 to Pool 9 (on the Mississippi River), you fall approximately 4 feet, so it’s a pretty quick little deal,” Atkins said. “When you lock on the Tenn-Tom, it’s a 30-minute endeavor.
“When a barge gets involved in that 30-minute turnaround, it extends that wait. There is a lot of barge traffic on the Tenn-Tom, so locking can be risky here. I’ve never felt in danger (of losing too much time) on the Mississippi River. Here, I’ve only been burned one time, but it will get you.”
As Atkins explained, the defining factor is elevation. The greater the difference from one pool to the next, the longer it takes the lock operators to safely move boats through these control structures.
“The (Tenn-Tom locks) rise and fall roughly 18 to 25 feet, depending on the section of the waterway,” Atkins said. “If you are traveling north, they rise; if you are traveling south they fall.
“The waterway travels through a part of the country that has significant sea level change in parts of it, so the locks are closer together. The more the water level has to rise or fall in the lock the more of a commitment it is.”
Lock hopping will help some and hurt others. In some cases, anglers will make long runs up or downstream only to find that better opportunities were waiting elsewhere. Elsewhere, tournament history has seen cringeworthy cases of anglers locking down or up, catching big limits, but failing to make it back to weigh-ins on time.
“If somebody can string a couple of locks together during the day and have some time to fish and get back, that could be the recipe to do well; it could also be the recipe for disaster,” Atkins said. “The guy that stays close and figures out how to catch ’em with the pressure, could have the recipe for success, but he could also burn his fish out by Day 2 and that could be the recipe for disaster.”
Stating what he believes to be the key to Tenn-Tom success, Atkins said: “Good decision making, to include time management and good use of fish. I think limits could be difficult, because if guys try to lock a bunch of items, it’ll shorten their days and they’ll have to generate bites.
“This is an ultimate tournament venue because it’s a little tough and it has a lot of options. I don’t think it can be won doing one thing, so making good decisions will be critical.”
Bassmaster LIVE will be available all four days of the event, starting on Bassmaster.com and Roku March 26 and March 27. FS1 will host the morning session on March 28 from 8-11 a.m. ET before heading to FOX from Noon-3 p.m. On Sunday, March 29 action can be found on FS1 from 8-11 a.m. before heading to Bassmaster.com for afternoon coverage. All weigh-ins will be available live on Bassmaster.com starting at 4 p.m. ET.
Visit Columbus is hosting this event.
