CAMPBELL COUNTY, Tenn. — The seventh annual Brandon Card College & High School Bass Open, hosted by Bassmaster Elite Series angler and former Campbell County Cougar Brandon Card, will take place Saturday, Dec. 3 at Lonas Young Park on Norris Lake. This unique event features both a college and high school tournament, with each division competing at the same time for separate trophies, payouts and prizes.
Highlighting this year’s event is guest speaker Clay Dyer. Despite being born without any lower limbs, no arm on the left side and a partial arm on the right, Dyer has been fishing tournaments since he was just 15. Dyer is currently a motivational speaker and Bassmaster Opens Series angler.
Through the annual event, Card hopes to help grow sportfishing among student anglers. His own history and career path serve as motivation for building more grassroots support for fishing.
“I fished for the University of Kentucky and was the first collegiate angler to qualify for the Elite Series,” said Card, an East Tennessee native who now lives in Salisbury, N.C. “If we can push high school anglers along, they’ll be better when they get to the college ranks. And, the better they are at the college level, the better they’ll be in the Opens which will give them a better chance to move into the Elite Series.”
While every angler receives a swag bag, the first-place collegiate team will win $2,500 while the top high school team will walk away with $1,500. A huge prize raffle caps off the Saturday event.
“The presenting sponsors for this event are Suzuki, Navionics and the Campbell County Chamber of Commerce. There are a lot of other sponsors, too. I cannot say enough about their help and participation,” said Card. “Last year we were able to give away more than $20,000 in cash and prizes for the tournament payouts and prize raffles.”
The team event is $50 per boat. Registration will be held at Campbell County High School in Jacksboro, Tenn., at 5 p.m. ET followed by dinner. On Saturday morning, takeoff will be from Lonas Young Park in LaFollette. The high school weigh-in takes place back at the park at 2:30 p.m. with the college weigh-in to follow. For more information, contact Tournament Director Drew Russell at 423-494-0891 or cardbassopen@yahoo.com.