THE ROANOKE REGION OF VIRGINIA

It may still be chilly but it’s almost time for the pros to prep the tackle.

The Bassmaster Elite Series returns April 15-18 to Smith Mountain Lake, one of the finest bass lakes anywhere.

The 20,000-acre lake offers more than 500 miles of winding shoreline along its 40-mile length. That means it’s full of coves, cuts and drainages, with plenty of shallows where largemouth bass love to hide.

The Advance Auto Parts Blue Ridge Brawl will lure dozens of pro anglers and thousands of spectators to the Roanoke, Virginia Region.

And many of those will be on the lake to watch.

While the number of boat registrations grew by just 0.4 percent in Virginia from 2006-2008, the Roanoke Region outpaced that growth. Franklin County, which borders the lake with continued residential development, saw a 4 percent increase, with the region as a whole gaining 2.2 percent.