Byrdstown Chamber Preparing For Largest Fishing Tournament To Date

Anglers already arriving to Byrdstown as the Major League Fishing Toyota Series at Dale Hollow Lake starts Thursday.

Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Billy Robbins said 288 fishermen are participating this year making it the largest fishing tournament ever held at Dale Hollow Lake.

“It’s a big impact for us,” Robbins said. “Our local businesses, all the local area, places to stay and eateries will be ran over probably as far as people. We started having people here Saturday.”

Robbins said he has an 18-man team working this week to make sure the event runs monthly. Robbins said the chamber will have a pre-competition meeting with all the anglers and share a published a map of local spots supporting the competition.

“We have a poster in front of their business saying we support MLF tournament,” Robbins said. “I’ll tell them these are the people that are supporting you being here. Go look for this sign, see them, talk to them and trade with them.”

Robbins said the event beats the next largest fishing competition by about 60 boats. Robbins said each boat has two fishermen, so 576 will be in town. On top of that, Robbins said each boat has a crew and family members travel, so thousands are expected.

“We were just at the park finalizing how we’re going to park all these people and get them in out of their boats,” Robbins said. “It’s a monumental task. It takes a lot of coordination.”

The three-day event is the second of the Toyota series this season.