Big Win could be on the Horizon for Walker at Chickamauga Lake

DAYTON, Tenn. (June 10) — After bringing home a seventh-place finish in his previous Bassmaster Elite tournament, pro angler David Walker is confident about his chances heading into the Bassmaster BASSfest this week, June 11-15, at Chickamauga Lake in Dayton, Tenn.

With this being a non-points event, the Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat Elite angler is feeling more relaxed than usual. Plus, the Sevierville, Tenn., native is glad to be fishing in familiar waters for a second consecutive Bassmaster tournament.

“It’s so rare to fish a tournament where points aren’t a factor,” Walker said. “It’s unusual but it does allow you to fish a little differently than you would in a normal point’s tournament. Now you can look for places that specifically have bigger fish. Obviously, you’re always looking for those bigger fish, but now you may not be as tempted to worry about trying to find an area where you know you can catch a limit. That’s the neat thing about this, you can rule out the worry of a limit and fish big.

“The other thing about BASSfest is we’re having it on one of the best lakes, in my opinion. The downside is that being this time of year, the fish are pretty small right now. Most of the fish are at offshore mode on river bobbers and everybody knows that. That means so far we’re all basically fishing the same way and in the same places.”

Walker will look to reel in those large catches this week when he launches from Point Park at 6:15 a.m. ET Wednesday and Thursday and at 7 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Weigh-in for BASSfest will also be held at Point Park at 3:15 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and at 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Second-chance Friday will have anglers launching at 6:15 a.m. at Nickajack with weigh-in at 2:30 p.m.

“We’re in early summer, so thankfully the weather has been great,” Walker said. “We do have a chance of rain every day though. Because it’s rained some and will again, we’ve got some cloud cover as well. It certainly hasn’t been as blistering hot, which is what I suspected it would have been. Not only does it make for good fishing conditions, but it makes the tournament even more fan-friendly.”

 

Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat angler David Walker plans to go after bigger fish during this week’s Bassmaster BASSfest on Chickamauga Lake.