Amid all the taste-testing of chili at Barrett’s Landing, Three Rivers Bass Club sponsored a fishing tournament last weekend.

Contestants were up bright and early as they set out on the Blackwater River at the landing in downtown Franklin.

“Today’s turnout of 11 entries was pretty good considering we were competing with two other tournaments going on in the area — and also considering this was a first-time tournament that was thrown in conjunction with the Downtown Franklin Association and the Chili Cook-Off,” said Ed Johnson, club master of the Three Rivers Bass Club.

Coming in third place was the husband-wife team of Derek and Cara Hartman with a total of 3.97 pounds. Coming in a close second was the father-son duo of Keith and K.J. Vick, weighing in with a combined total of 5.02 pounds.

But it was the brother-in-law duo of Marty Porter and M.A. Braswell who won the event with a combined total of 5.05 pounds. Braswell landed the big fish of the day — a 3.67-pounder.

“This was a great chance for us to spend some time together,” said Porter. “It’s a beautiful river here.

“An interesting thing that happened was that we saw a beaver cut a tree down; that scared us.”

Braswell added that “it’s always pretty on this river, the scenery and wildlife.”

“The competition is fun but not the most important thing,” he said, but rather “just spending time together on the water and enjoying a good day on the river.”

Braswell said his prize catch “was a pretty good fight, but when it bit I had no idea it was going to be a fish of that size.”

“It wasn’t a huge fish. It almost got tangled up in the limbs. I had to pull it out of that, and got the net and scooped it up, and we were lucky to get it in the boat.”