If you’re a fan of tournament bass fishing, or just bass fishing in general, one of the coolest tournament opportunities I’ve seen is coming to Music City.
World Bass Enterprises (WBE) is launching the ultimate bass fishing tournament dubbed “The Champions,” tournament, which will bring the 50 best bass anglers in the entire world (plus two “average Joes”) together to compete for a record-setting $1.25 MILLION prize for the winner. Second place gets half a million, and even the 5th place angler will still take home $100,000. Even the last place angler is taking home a check for $8,000.
Just for perspective, Evan Kung won the final Bassmaster Elite Series event this year on the St. Lawrence River, he cashed a check for $101,000. Second place angler, Trey McKinney got $20,000. For more perspective, you can fish at the top level for a decade and never touch a million dollars. We’re talking life changing amounts of money for these fishermen.
But the entire premise is unlike anything we’ve seen in recent memory… if you know bass fishing, you know there’s basically two top level leagues in the United States… the Bassmaster Elite Series and the Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour. Normally, they never fish against each other… it’s two completely separate, but relatively equal leagues. But this new tournament will take the 25 best anglers from the Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour, and the 25 best anglers from the Bassmaster Elite Series, all competing together for the largest purse is bass fishing history.
The five-day event, with three days of competition, will kick off on October 28th, right outside of Nashville, Tennessee, on Old Hickory Lake at Sanders Ferry Park. Old Hickory is a 22,000-acre reservoir on the Cumberland River, about 25 miles from Nashville.
The tournament will be a 5-fish limit like the Elite Series, and that there will be forward facing sonar limitations. Additionally, World Bass Enterprises will hold a pro-am derby on Sunday, November 1st at Percy Priest Lake, another popular Nashville-area lake, which will feature the top 15 anglers from “The Champions” tournament fishing alongside legendary anglers, celebrities and more.
However, there is more… country music singer, Riley Green, will be headlining WBE’s “Concert 250” on Saturday, October 30 at The Pinnacle in Nashville.
Of Riley Green, WBE Founder and CEO Brian Bird says:
“When I decided to host the inaugural The Champions Tournament this fall, I knew we had to go big. There’s no bigger name in country music right now than Riley Green. Beyond who he is as a performer, Riley is a true outdoorsman and perfectly represents what The Champions is all about. We’re looking forward to welcoming the top anglers in the world for five days of events all centered around our love of bass fishing. Riley headlining WBE Concert 250 the night before we crown the official champion is going to be a lot of fun.”
In addition to Riley Green, Randy Houser will open the WBE Concert 250. Lee Greenwood will perform hit megahit “God Bless the USA” during Opening Ceremonies on October 28th, as well as the National Anthem live before Blast Off on October 29th. Trace Adkins is slated to perform the National Anthem on Championship Day, which will be October 31st.
World Bass Enterprises Founder and CEO, Brian Bird, calls the tournament an opportunity to crown a true world champion:
“As a longtime bass fishing enthusiast, I have always marveled at the incredible skill of the world’s top anglers and believed they deserved a marquee platform to showcase their talents to the world. And there is no better way to crown a true world champion than by bringing the two biggest tours together to fish on the same lake. We’re thrilled to introduce this world class event that will unify the sport, establish an annual tradition, and increase exposure to pro fishing by welcoming in new audiences.”
MLF Bass Pro Tour defending champ, 4x Angler of the Year, and quite inarguably the best angler in the world right now, Jacob Wheeler, echoes that sentiment, saying all the friendly banter between Bassmaster and MLF anglers will get a chance to prove itself on the water:
“There has always been friendly competition and banter between the anglers on each tour, but no way to actually settle the score on the water. The opportunity to crown a true world champion across the entire sport is something our anglers have wanted for a very long time, and we’re thrilled to finally have that chance this October in Nashville. The fact that there is more than $3 million in total prize money is remarkable and a true testament to the elite nature of this competition.”
We’ll finally see who the best in the world is…
Who Gets In?
So how do we decide who gets in? To determine the 25 anglers from each pro series, it starts with the winners. The 7 anglers that win a Bass Pro Tour event this year will automatically get in, and the guys who win the 9 events in the Elite Series will also qualify automatically.
And with both seasons being over, we officially have our field locked in place…. they are as follows:
MLF Bass Pro Tour
Stage Winners (Automatic Bid)
1. Zack Birge
2. Jacob Wheeler
3. Drew Gill
4. Cole Floyd
5. Takahiro Omori
6. Banks Shaw
7. Justin Lucas
Rest of the Top 25 according to AOY Standings
8. Dustin Connell
9. Spencer Shuffield
10. Michael Neal
11. Jacob Walker
12. Jesse Wiggins
13. Brent Ehrler
14. Jeff Sprague
15. Ott DeFoe
16. Matt Becker
17. Wesley Strader
18. Adrian Avena
19. Alton Jones Jr
20. Mark Daniels Jr
21. Brent Chapman
22. Ron Nelson
23. Jacob Wall
24. Keith Carson
25. Bryan Thrift
26. Chris Lane
27. Nick LeBrun
28. Mark Rose
29. Mitchell Robinson
30. Nick Hatfield
BASS Elite Series
Stage Winners (Automatic Bid)
1. Paul Marks
2. Chris Johnston
3. Jacob Foutz
4. Jason Christie
5. Fisher Anaya
6. Hank Cherry Jr
7. Evan Kung
8. Bryan Schmitt
Rest of the Top 25 according to AOY Standings
9. Trey McKinney
10. Cory Johnston
11. Drew Cook
12. Brandon Cobb
13. Cole Sands
14. John Garrett
15. Caleb Hudson
16. Andrew Loberg
17. Patrick Walters
18. Jay Przekurat
19. Seth Feider
20. Bob Downey
21. Jordan Lee
22. Stetson Blaylock
23. Kyle Welcher
24. JT Thompkins
25. Pake South
26. Bryant Smith
27. Cody Meyer
28. Matt Robertson
29. Tyler Williams
30. Jeff Gustafson
There you have it… the field is set.
As an avid fishing fan, and bass angler myself, this sounds like a dream come true. I am always watching every tournament on both the Bass Pro Series and the Elite Series, and you can’t help but wonder who would dominate if they were fishing in the same tournament. Fans and anglers talk about the Bassmaster Classic being the “Super Bowl” of bass fishing, but it doesn’t really feature all the best anglers in the world right now.
This is really the first time in a long time that we’ve had a true “Super Bowl” of bass fishing… and the prize money to match it. Plus it’ll be televised, there will be tons of fan events and other ways to get involved, you’re in Nashville, there’s a Pro-Am derby which is always fun (if you’re looking for a Z-list celebrity blogger on behalf of Whiskey Riff, give me call), the entire thing is just such a great way to grow the sport, and truly what it has been needing.
I love both tours, but they’re different… they have different anglers, different rules, and there does feel like an disconnect in the industry at times. This should help bring it all together. I’m PUMPED.
