WADDINGTON – The Bassmaster Elite series hits the St. Lawrence River today with live music, games, vendors and one of the most competitive fishing tournaments in the world.

The Waddington Party in the Park features music attractions including the Waydown Wailers Friday night and tribute performers playing Stevie Ray Vaughn and ZZ Top tunes Saturday night. The full schedule is below.

A top prize of $100,000 will go to the best of the 109 professional anglers set to compete July 20 to 23 from in the competition presented by Go RVing.

This will be the third Bassmaster Elite national event in five years from Whittaker Park on Main Street at Sucker Brook in Waddington.

The tournament is a free family event, with live music, fireworks, rides and games for kids, plus much more for the crowds expected to watch some of the top anglers in the country compete for cash prizes.

The anglers will launch each morning at 6:15 a.m. from Whittaker Park Boat Launch and return each afternoon at 3:15 p.m. for the daily weigh-ins. The launch will be closed to regular boat traffic for the three days of the tournament.

Other attractions at Whitaker Park will be bass boat rides, a petting zoo, Giant Hawg Troughs Fishing Tank Show, a “Veil of the Nile” show, 100 vendors of assorted wares, the Elite Series Outdoors Expo, and booths offering food, beer, and wine slushies.

There will be a chance to meet with celebrity Elite pros for autograph and photograph sessions, and exhibits and demonstration from equipment purveyors GoPro, Huk Performance Fishing, and Power-Pole.

Skeeter, Yamaha, Nitro, Triton and Mercury will offer free boat and motor demo rides.

BASSTrakk will allow spectators to follow their favorite pros on the water with up-to-the-minute updates. Toyota will be on site with interactive displays and activities such as designing your own lure and a NASCAR video game.

The field of competitors includes fishing superstar Kevin VanDam and 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic champion Jordan Lee.

One New York angler, Jamie Hartman of Newport in Herkimer County, will be competing. He is a rookie on the Bassmaster Elite Series circuit this year. He has finished in the top 12 three times during his first six events as an Elite Series pro. Hartman finished second at the Bassmaster Elite at Cherokee Lake in Tennessee, third at Toledo Bend in Louisiana, and sixth at Lake Dardanelle in Arkansas. At the moment he is sitting in the top 25 in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race, and in the top three for Rookie of the Year.

Bassmaster organizers said the 34,000 spectators at their 2013 event was the biggest crowd ever for a Bassmaster event, which has tournaments al over the country every year. That crowd was one of the major factors in the organizers’ decision to bring the tournament back to Waddington in 2015, and their confidence in North Country fans remains strong enough that they are back this summer.

This is the seventh of nine regular-season Bassmaster Elite Series professional bass fishing tournaments scheduled for 2017.

The tournament officially begins at 6:15 a.m. Thursday when the full field of 106 anglers take their boats onto the St. Lawrence River to begin hauling in bass. Public launch viewing is available each day at the launch at Whittaker Park for the start and for the weigh-ins at 3:15 p.m. each day.

The full field takes to the river again at 6:15 a.m. Friday, and returns for the 3:15 p.m. weigh-in deadline. Also on Friday, the Bassmaster Elite Series Outdoors Expo opens at noon.

On Saturday, the top 51 contenders launch for semifinals at 6:15 a.m. hoping for the best total for the day’s 3:15 p.m. weigh-in. The outdoor expo will be open again at noon.

On Sunday, the field will be down to the top 12 anglers based on the scores for the first three days, setting out again at 6:15 a.m., hoping to build their totals for the final 3:15 p.m. weigh-in.

Presentation of prizes and trophies will follow.

There is a full schedule of musical acts Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday:

• Thursday, July 20

11 a.m. – noon, Big Papa & the Escape Key Band

12:30 - 1:30 p.m., Lime Hollow Boys

2 - 3 p.m., Atom Ghost

5 - 6 p.m., Hip Shot

6:30 - 7:30 p.m., Six Days

8 - 9 p.m., Stoddard Family

• Friday, July 21

11 a.m. - noon, Divided Roads

12:30 - 1:30 p.m., Northmen

2 – 3 p.m., KTX

5 – 6 p.m., Ten Cent Green

6:30 - 7:30 p.m., Tracer James Trio

8 – 9 p.m., Waydown Wailers

• Saturday, July 22

11 -11:45 a.m., Brittany Cean

Noon - 1 p.m., Wells & the Gathering

1:30 - 3 p.m., Tailor Made

5 - 6:30 p.m., SRV ( Stevie Ray Vaughn Tribute)

7 - 8:30 p.m., Eliminator KC (ZZ Top Tribute)

• Sunday , July 23

Music at Howie's Beer Tent

Noon – 2 p.m., Margarita Mike Blue Moon Cafe.

Bags coming into the park may not exceed 12"X6"X12". No coolers, dogs, golf carts or ATVs will be allowed in Whittaker Park. Beer and wine slushies will be available and must be consumed in the designated areas. Service dogs are welcome

There is more info at https://www.waddingtonpartyinthepark.com/.