MATT TYSON

Staff Writer

This past week, some of the world’s top bass fishermen made their way to various waterways in and around Coffee County.

The area hosted the Toyota Heritage Cup presented by Off! Deep Woods Repellents, a six-day event held from last Sunday through Friday. The tournament was a part of Major League Fishing’s Starlink Team Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, with Manchester designated as the host community.

“We’ve absolutely loved the week here. We love the area. We’ve got multiple anglers that were in the event from the state of Tennessee. I’m a Kentucky boy, so not that far away, but you can’t ask for better scenery and the weather, A-plus all week on that,” tournament director Daniel Fennel said. “Fishing, it’s a fall transition time right now, but these are some of the best anglers in the world that went out there and got the business done.”

Each day featured a different fishing location, with each potential fishing area within a 60-mile radius of Manchester.

Area lakes used included both Tims Ford and Normandy, with the championship round held at Tims Ford on Friday. Coming out on top in Friday’s championship was the MillerTech team of Birchwood, Tennessee-based Jacob Wheeler and Adrian Avena of Marmora, New Jersey.

The team of Wheeler and Avena came away with 23 scorable bass Friday, weighing 41 pounds, 5 ounces to secure the championship.

“Being from Tennessee, I’ve not had the opportunity to spend a lot of time here on Tims Ford. First day the other day was awesome and then obviously going to Normandy yesterday was really cool as well. Just two completely different fisheries,” Wheeler said prior to Friday’s championship round. “Now being able to go out here and fish against this group for another chance at a trophy is awesome. It would probably mean a little more being here in Tennessee.”

While there have been lower-level MLF events in this area in the past, Fennel said this year’s Toyota Heritage Cup marked the highest-tiered event that the league has hosted at Tims Ford.

Fennel added that the conditions in this area make for entertaining tournaments due to the abundance of species.

“It’s just really fun. You’re gonna go to these fisheries and you’re gonna find out they have all species of black bass. You can catch smallmouth on these waters, largemouth and spotted bass here,” Fennel said. “That helps, because some of these anglers really gravitate to one style of fishing and so this offers options for every style out there.”

Wheeler added that events like this help to promote the abundance of fishing areas throughout the state.

“I’ve spent a half a day here at Tims Ford before, but I didn’t know there was a lake called Normandy. I got there yesterday morning and just said ‘What is this?’ and it ended up being some solid bass fishing,” Wheeler said. “These kind of tournaments allow for us to realize how much good fishing we do have in the state of Tennessee and sometimes we get these opportunities to go out here and you just say ‘Dang, I didn’t know there was a big population of smallmouth that live in a lot of these lakes up here.’, so it was something that definitely opened my eyes even living only an hour and a half away.”

Fennel also complimented the area, saying it went above and beyond what the league had expected for the tournament and praised the opportunities Tims Ford and Normandy presented for the anglers.

“We love it. This is six days of tournament fishing and I can tell you that we have had zero logistical issues, on the water issues,” Fennel said. “Everything has been perfect this week for us and we’re just so pleased to have come here for this event.” Major League Fishing’s next event on the Starlink Team Series is the B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup presented by MillerTech, which will be held in Emory, Texas from November 15-20.