It is held annually in New Orleans' City Park and is the country's oldest freshwater fishing tournament.
The New Orleans Item newspaper sponsored the inaugural event and used a scale borrowed from Schwegmann Bros.
He built a 400-gallon tank and asked fisherman to turn in their live catch, which were reintroduced to the lagoons.
Due to Hurricane Katrina, City Park was unable to hold the Big Bass Rodeo in 2006 and 2007 while the lagoons were restocked.
This is a festival surrounding the fishing rodeo which includes live music and wildlife, ecology and conservation educational exhibits.