The Alabama Bass Federation will hold a qualifying tournament in Demopolis Saturday. The tournament is expected to draw upward of 100 anglers to the Demopolis City Landing.

Bringing the tournament to Demopolis was a collaborative effort between the Demopolis Area Chamber of Commerce and the city.

“We usually have 100 to 150 boats in the tournament,” Troy McGee, one of the tournament directors, said.

The draw will send the Top 50 finishers to the state tournament later in the year.

“It’s a state qualifier,” McGee said of Saturday’s competition. “They qualify to fish the state championship tournament at the end of the year.”

The event has used Demopolis’ waters before and will once again offer a quick overnight boost to the city’s economy as participants use local hotel rooms.

“All the directors get together every year and we search all the different bodies of water in the state and try to find one with the facilities to accommodate 100 to 150 boats,” McGee said. ” We also look for the cities that will help us out since we are a non-profit organization.”

Tournament participants will open festivities Friday evening at the Demopolis Civic Center when they get together to pair up anglers with boaters.

“We have a meeting that we all get together and pair up a boater and a non-boater,” McGee said. “They don’t know each other the night before. It is done by random draw.”

Friday’s meeting will also serve to brief fishermen on tournament rules and specific length regulations for area fish.

The tournament will begin at first light Saturday morning with weigh-in scheduled to start at approximately 3 p.m.