Professional bass fishing has another millionaire.
When World Bass Enterprises first announced plans to put together the ultimate bass tournament, I was immediately stoked.
The best anglers from Major League Fishing’s Bass Pro Tour going up against the best anglers from the Bassmaster Elite Series… and a cool $1.25 MILLION to the winner? Say less…
And I have to say, it was absolutely phenomenal… just an incredible weekend all the way around. The setup, the broadcast, the talent, the musical guests (Riley Green, Randy Houser and more)… Brian Bird and company pulled out all the stops.
It was such a win for professional bass fishing and I can’t wait to see what they have in mind for next year. That being said, you have to hope that MLF and Bassmaster look at this and figure out how they can step their game up in their own leagues. There’s no reason why some of the best anglers in the world can’t get paid like it.
Of course, the big story of the weekend is Matt Robertson’s dominant showing on Old Hickory (right outside of Nashville) that cashed him a record-setting $1.25 MILLION first place check. The Elite Series angler found himself a pile of smallmouth early near the dam, and it produced over the course of the entire tournament.
The Kuttawa, Kentucky, native called the entire experience “life changing,” and indeed it is:
“It’s freaking insane, I don’t think it’s really hit me yet. I just won the biggest tournament ever in bass fishing.
$1.25 million will drastically change my life…This was an awesome experience, this is the Super Bowl of bass fishing, I don’t care what anybody says, I know because I stood on the Super Bowl stage.”
Texas native, Pake South, finished in second place ($500K prize), Tennessee’s own Wesley Strader came in third place ($300K prize), Elite Series AOY Trey McKinney landed in fourth place ($200K prize), and another Tennessee resident, Michael Neal, wrapped up in fifth place ($100K prize).
Pake South added:
“An awesome payday, it’s really life-changing money, and it’s wild that I can win second place and still win that much money, and it’s truly a blessing from God, it’s really been a blessed week.”
On Friday night, country music star Riley Green headlined the “WBE Concert 250” at The Pinnacle in Nashville, with Randy Houser opening the show. Additional musical performances throughout “The Champions” Tournament included Lee Greenwood, Trace Adkins and more.
World Bass Enterprises CEO Brian Bird reflected on the inaugural run of what we can all hope is an annual thing:
“We set out to host the biggest and baddest tournament the bass fishing community has ever seen, and we did just that.
I want to send a huge congratulations to our winning angler, Matt, and the full field of participants. To the fans and all of Nashville, thank you for your support.
This has been a fantastic few days celebrating the best in the world.”
WBE The Champions Final Standings:
- Matt Robertson (Kuttawa, Ky.) (20-02*) (5 fish)
- Pake South (Winnsboro, Texas) (13-07) (4 fish)
- Wesley Strader (Spring City, Tenn.) (11-02) (5 fish)
- Trey McKinney (Carbondale, Ill.) (11-00) (5 fish)
- Michael Neal (Dayton, Tenn.) (10-10) (5 fish)
- Ron Nelson (Berrien Springs, Mich.) (9-13) (2 fish)
- Fisher Anaya (Eva, Ala.) (9-13) (5 fish)
- Cody Meyer (Eagle, Idaho) (9-12) (5 fish)
- Bob Downey (Detroit Lakes, Minn.) (9-00) (5 fish)
- Kyle Welcher (Valley, Ala.) (8-08) (4 fish)
- Takahiro Omori (Tokyo) (6-02) (3 fish)
- Cole Sands (Calhoun, Tenn.) (5-01) (3 fish)
- Chris Johnston (Peterborough, Ont.) (3-09) (2 fish)
- Jason Christie (Park Hill, Okla.) (3-07) (2 fish)
- Bryan Thrift (Shelby, N.C.) (3-03) (2 fish)
*total weight and fish total from Championship Saturday only
Championship Cut
- Mark Rose (Wynne, Ark.) (21-01**)
- Jay Przekurat (Stevens Point, Wis.) (21-00)
- Alton Jones Jr. (Lorena, Texas) (21-00)
- Jordan Lee (Cullman, Ala.) (20-15)
- Banks Shaw (Harrison, Tenn.) (20-11)
- Brent Ehrler (Redlands, Calif.) (20-09)
- Jacob Foutz (Philadelphia, Tenn.) (20-03)
- Patrick Walters (Summerville, S.C.) (20-03)
- Jacob Walker (Springville, Ala.) (20-03)
- Bryant Smith (Roseville, Calif.) (20-01)
- Cole Floyd (Leesburg, Ohio) (19-13)
- Mark Daniels Jr. (Shorter, Ala.) (19-11)
- Chris Lane (Guntersville, Ala.) (19-11)
- Drew Gill (Olney, Ill.) (19-10)
- Justin Lucas (Guntersville, Ala.) (19-09)
- Nick LeBrun (Benton, La.) (19-06)
- Tyler Williams (Belgrade, Maine) (19-02)
- Cory Johnston (Peterborough, Ont.) (18-12)
- Stetson Blaylock (Benton, Ark.) (18-12)
- Dustin Connell (Clanton, Ala.) (18-10)
- Zack Birge (Blanchard, Okla.) (18-09)
- Drew Cook (Cairo, Ga.) (18-07)
- Paul Marks (Cumming, Ga.) (18-05)
- Spencer Shuffield (Hot Springs, Ark.) (17-09)
- Caleb Hudson (Lincolnton, Ga.) (17-04)
- Bryan Schmitt (Deale, Md.) (17-03)
- Brent Chapman (Lenexa, Kan.) (17-02)
- Jacob Wheeler (Birchwood, Tenn.) (16-11)
- Jesse Wiggins (Logan, Ala.) (16-00)
- Andrew Loberg (Guntersville, Ala.) (15-02)
- Brandon Cobb (Greenwood, S.C.) (14-11)
- JT Thompkins (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) (14-09)
- Nick Hatfield (Afton, Tenn.) (13-12)
- Jeff Sprague (Point, Texas) (13-04)
- Evan Kung (Pickering, Ont.) (12-15)
- Matt Becker (Ten Mile, Tenn.) (12-14)
- Hank Cherry Jr. (Lincolnton, N.C.) (12-01)
- Keith Carson (Debary, Fla.) (12-00)
- Kyle Carr (Gatesville, Texas) (11-15)
- Adrian Avena (Marmora, N.J.) (11-04)
- Jacob Wall (New Hope, Ala.) (10-03)
- Eric Giessing (Farmington, Mo.) (9-10)
- Seth Feider (Bloomington, Minn.) (9-06)
- John Garrett (Union City, Tenn.) (8-08)
- Mitchell Robinson (Landrum, S.C.) (8-02)
- Ott DeFoe (Blaine, Tenn.) (5-15)
- Jeff Gustafson (Keewatin, Ont.) (4-06)
**total weight from the first two days of competition
What Is The Champions Tournament?
World Bass Enterprises (WBE) launched the ultimate bass fishing tournament dubbed “The Champions,” tournament, which brought the 60 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. The entire purse was a whopping $3.25 million.
Just for perspective, when Evan Kung won the final Bassmaster Elite Series event this year on the St. Lawrence River, he cashed a check for $101,000. The second place angler, Trey McKinney got $20,000. In this tournament, Trey finished fourth and took home $200,000!
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 took the 30 best anglers from the Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour, and the 30 best anglers from the Bassmaster Elite Series, all competing together for the largest purse in bass fishing history.
The five-day event, with three days of competition, kicked 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.
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.
World Bass Enterprises Founder and CEO, Brian Bird, called 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.”
The field was separated into “Team Stripes,” the MLF guys, and “Team Stars,” the Bassmaster anglers, with Team Stars winning “The Champions Cup” and bragging rights on Friday night. Ultimately, Team Stars had ten anglers qualifying for Championship Saturday, versus five qualifying anglers for Team Stripes.
