KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — On a big basketball day for the Tennessee Vols Sunday, Thompson-Boling Arena was lit up Bassmaster green.
The lines outside and mic checks from the arena floor signaled the start of the finale of the biggest event in bass fishing.
But an event this big can't be put together with just a worm and a rod.
"It requires a lot of infrastructure to support the fans and the competition and everyone coming to town," Eric Lopez, B.A.S.S. Director of Operations, said.
Lopez says the organization typically begins planning for its next Bassmaster Classic two years in advance.
"We have to build the stage, we have to bring technology to the fans. I mean we're competing with every form of entertainment that's out there," he said.
They cast a wide net with more fans than fish in the river.
License plates from Virginia, Illinois, Colorado and Minnesota in the parking lot show how far fans are willing to be reeled in by the promise of a big catch.
"This is not your grandfathers fishing tournament by any means," Lopez said.
They've got boats spread across 100 miles and more than 50 cameras following every splish and splash.
"We have to figure out how to get all that great imagery everyone is seeing back to a central location and on the air as it's coming off the water," he said.
It's all coordinated in production trucks placed strategically around the area.
And if something smells fishy, it's not the scales---those are certified--but the fish themselves. They're weighed alive.
"That angler steps off that boat, he’s digging deep into his live well with his biggest fish. The crowd is going to go nuts. There’s going to be 15, 20 thousand people here screaming as he’s holding up those fish," Lopez said.
And after their moment in the slimy spotlight, TWRA releases the fish back into the river.
But their story doesn't stop there: these are fish of gold for the companies that make the rods and bait that hooked them.
"There are factories around the world right now waiting for the winner to be announced because they know they're going to sell out likely within the next two days of whatever was used to win," Lopez said.