HICKORY, N.C. — As the weather heats up so does the tournament action for the Catawba Valley Community College bass fishing team in 2022.

The Red Hawks are competing in tournaments the next three weeks — starting this Thursday and Friday with the Major League Fishing (MLF) Open on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tenn.

"This is going to be a tough tournament," said Catawba Valley head bass fishing coach Angela Mayo. "The weather doesn't look good with rain and possibly high winds. It's tough to get up every morning before daylight knowing that you are getting ready to go spend 8 or 9 hours battling the elements while trying to find fish on a lake you have only been on once before. It's not just physically exhausting, but mentally also."

This will be the second time the Red Hawks have competed on Lake Chickamauga in the past six months after fishing in the 2021 MLF Southeastern Conference tournament on the lake on Oct. 22, 2021.

"Chickamauga got the best of us last time we were here so our anglers are working really hard to figure the lake out and bring fish to the scales," Mayo said. "I have no doubt that our boys will figure it out."

The next three weeks for the Red Hawk bass fishing team include two trips to Tennessee — this weekend and March 12-13 for the Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Bash and a trip next weekend to Lake Guntersville in Alabama.