We described sociodemographics and expenditures of black bass (Micropterus spp.) anglers participating in eight different tournament types on Lake Guntersville, Alabama, in 2013. We estimated 9035 anglers fished in 259 tournaments. Most anglers were middle- to older-age Caucasian males with an annual household income of over US$75,000, and who had participated in tournaments for over 15 years. Travel distance, expenditures, non-Caucasian participants, residence location, number of times fishing on Lake Guntersville, entry fees, and club membership all differed among tournament types. Anglers spent $4.5 million (average of about $500 per tournament per angler) that generated $208,000 in state and local tax revenue over a one-year period. However, expenditures varied over an order of magnitude among different tournament types. Discrimination of unique tourna- ment types was an important variable in understanding the complex sociodemographic and economic aspects of competitive black bass tournaments. This information can be used to promote local economic benefits of competitive fishing. For example, large open, semi-professional and professional tournaments, which attracted large proportions of out-of-state anglers and associated overnight trips, resulted in the greatest local economic impact, and should be the events local tourism bureaus and Chambers of Commerce focus on to attract tournaments to the area. Also, approaches to encourage minorities, younger anglers, and women to participate in tournaments could be pursued to increase participation, hence economic impact.
