Bass Pro sets amateur event
Bass Pro Shops and founder Johnny Morris unveiled plans Monday for a national amateur bass fishing tournament to kick off the company’s 50th anniversary celebration.
No professional anglers will be allowed at the Bass Pro Shops U.S. Open National Bass Fishing Amateur Team Championships, a three-day event that will pay $1 million to the winning team. It will air Nov. 21 on NBC Sports Network from Table Rock Lake in Missouri’s Ozarks, and a regional qualifier to get there will take place April 17 at Lake Ray Roberts, north of Denton.
“This tournament is our way of giving thanks and rewarding our customers with the chance to land the catch of a lifetime,” Morris said in a statement. “Beyond offering the ultimate prize in fishing, we’re excited to celebrate our heritage, raise funds for conservation, and have some big fun with people who love fishing as much as we do.”
In addition to the $1 million championship payout — a purse Bass Pro is proud to proclaim the largest cash prize of any freshwater fishing tournament in history — a total value of $4.3 million will be awarded to competitors. Biggest bass and other category winners will get prizes and a junior angler between the age of 11-18 will receive a $250,000 scholarship.
Proceeds from entry fees will also go toward conservation, with a third directed to the National Fish Habitat Initiative. Bass Pro Shops and Toyota will match the donations to equal 100 percent of entry fees.
“Never has there been a freshwater tournament like this,” angler Bill Dance said during the announcement.
He and other celebrities from the outdoor world, including Jimmy Houston, Roland Martinl, Kevin VanDam and country singer Chris Janson, are set to be guests and weighmasters at the regional events.
The tournament is open to owners of Tracker, Ranger, Nitro, Triton, Sun Tracker, Tahoe and MAKO boats. Entry fees are $450 per person and $250 for children ages 12-17. There is no additional fee for those who qualify for the final event and 350 two-person teams are slated to participate at Table Rock.
The regional qualifiers will be open to 250 teams each. The first will be Lake Okeechobee in Florida on March 13, followed by Ray Roberts near Dallas, Lake Mead in Nevada on April 24, Chesapeake Bay in Maryland on July 17, Lake St. Clair in Michigan on Aug. 21, Old Hickory Lake in Tennessee on Sept. 11, Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees in Oklahoma on Oct. 16 and for those who did not get a spot in the first ones, a last-chance qualifier at Bull Shoals Lake in Arkansas on Nov. 17.
Finishing in the top 40 at one of the regional qualifiers will punch a ticket to Table Rock. Winners of several other fishing tournaments organized by the specified boat dealers will also be eligible. And the three winning teams from the major collegiate tourneys will get to go, too.
International teams from Japan, Spain, Germany, Romania, Mexico and Holland are set to compete as well.
Online registration at basspro.com/usopen for the first three regional qualifiers, which includes Ray Roberts, will open for 24 hours beginning at 10 a.m. on Feb. 10.