When Jason Christie, an 18-year professional angler, was practicing on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway before the 2026 Mountain Dew Bassmaster Elite Series tournament earlier this month, he said he struggled to get anything to bite his line.
Christie said he wasn’t sure how he’d kick his bad luck until he saw alligators slinking into the riverbank on the first day of the tournament. Once the alligators hit the water, he said, the fish were bound to start moving.
“I’d start seeing (alligators) floating out in the center, (and) I knew that I needed to be on point, because the fish were about to start biting, and it happened every day,” Christie told The Dispatch.
That trick helped Christie mount a comeback from 38th place at the end of day one to the top of the leaderboard by the tournament’s end.
Eric Lopez, Bassmasters’ director of event operations, said that kind of exciting comeback is exactly what organizers hoped to see on the Tenn-Tom.
“(Fish) weights (from the Tenn-Tom) aren’t as big, (and) aren’t as heavy as some of the other locations that we go to,” Lopez said. “And what that does is it causes the competition to be a lot closer and a lot tighter. … So it becomes a game of ounces as opposed to a game of pounds. … That can present more drama.”
The tightly contested competition days, along with strong attendance and excellent hospitality from Columbus locals, make the city a strong contender for future tournaments, Lopez said. Thousands of spectators, he said, showed up to the tournament’s expo, which featured kids’ activities, live music and food trucks.
“We were pleasantly surprised,” Lopez said. “Probably, I would say, about an hour into our expo being open on Saturday afternoon … we could tell this is going to be a really good event. … I looked at my coworkers, and I’m like, ‘This is going to get big.’ And it certainly did.”
The Tenn-Tom’s changing elevations through 10 locks, dams and stumps, along with generally shallower water, made for a difficult course for the tournament’s younger anglers, Lopez said.
“(The Tenn-Tom) represents an older style of fishing, … basically getting back to the roots,” Lopez said. “With technology, anglers are able to go out into very deep bodies of water and use forward-facing sonar. That wasn’t at play here. So it gave them the ability to perform in a more traditional manner, the way that kind of older folks grew up (fishing).”
Along with the difficulty of the waterway, organizers and anglers alike also appreciated the hospitality of locals, whether at hotels or in restaurants, Lopez said.
Frances Glenn, tourism director for the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau, estimated about Saturday and Sunday drew 3,000 spectators each, with smaller crowds Thursday and Friday.
“People from all over came, and that was another thing I didn’t realize, there’s a group of people that follow the Bassmaster Elite,” Glenn said. “… They were here Wednesday through Sunday. So I think that was a little bit surprising to me. All (those) out-of-area overnight stays for spectators (that came) with it.”
The tournament, like all other Bassmaster Elite Series events, was broadcast on FS1 during the weekend. However, because of an opening on the Fox network, the tournament also received a midday slot on the channel during its Saturday competition, Lopez said.
Viewership numbers were not yet available for the broadcasts from Columbus’ tournament on Tuesday. Across two tournaments aired on FS1 so far this year, the Bassmaster Elite Series has drawn more than 1 million viewers combined.
Glenn said getting that kind of national recognition will help continue building Columbus’ notoriety as a tourism destination and as a strong location for other future fishing tournaments.
“I think it’ll definitely keep pushing the waterway and Columbus into the spotlight and get on (more) people’s radar,” Glenn said.
Tournament organizers estimate that each Bassmaster Elite Series tournament, on average, brings in about $1 million of economic impact to its host city, and Lopez said he expects a similar impact from this tournament.
While no official plans have been made toward scheduling a Bassmaster Elite Series tournament in Columbus next year, Lopez said it certainly isn’t off the table.
“We just kind of have to regroup with the powers that be on our side and on the local side and if the definition of success was met by both sides. Then, by all means, let’s explore,” Lopez said. “If anyone was at the event, they heard the anglers say, ‘We hope we come back.’ (and) We’d love to come back.”
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