RIDGEWAY – When Brett Collins started running bass fishing tournaments back in 1997, he says it was just something he did for fun. The tournaments then usually just included a group of other Lake Wateree fishermen. He says he never expected it to grow the way it has in the 27 years since.
“We used to put up $30 apiece and fish for winnings of $350 back in 1997,” he says. “Between what I do [running tournaments for Skeeter Boats] and what I do on my own, we pay out over $2 million a year,” says Collins, who grew up in Winnsboro and now lives in Ridgeway.
“Now there’s a group of us over three states – 3,500 of us,” he says of his fishing series in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.
The series, called the Carolina Anglers Team Trail, features several qualifying events and then a championship.
The winner is determined by a combined weight of 5 fish, typically caught by two partners fishing together but sometimes caught by an individual.
“I know guys who are happy to win $600 a year. I have some guys win $40,000 every year. I know it sounds like a lot of money, but a doggone boat is like $80,000, so they’re probably spending it,” Collins says.
“I know guys that, they just like to come to the tournament, and they never win a dime, but they come to every tournament and they just love being around it.”
Collins says the biggest tournament he runs is at Kerr Lake on the North Carolina-Virginia line, which last time had 218 boats and 436 people fishing.
The tourism revenue impact, Collins says, can be significant for the areas where events like this are held.
The smallest open tournaments, meanwhile, have fewer than 20 boats.
Entry fees for bass fishing tournaments vary from $60 to $200.
He says the fishing tournaments also become social events, and fishermen who participate often run into each other many times over the years, especially with so many local lakes in South Carolina.
“Some of these things are like family events, and some of them just the guys get together fish, eat, go home — it’s just something people do, and it’s real popular,” he says.
“I do over 300 tournaments a year in 3 states.”
He says he never thought when he first started that it would grow like it did — and he credits his success to the people who run the events — fellow bass fishermen who love the sport.
“I’m proud of it, because it’s something that other people tried to do and they didn’t make it,” Collins says.
“The reason mine grew like it did is the people that’s running it.”
For more information about the Carolina Anglers Team Trail and upcoming events, you can visit cattteamtrail.com.
Brett Collins with granddaughter Addi and their catch when she was three. 
Now, Addi, 16, drives the boat for her grandfather during tournaments.
