The New Bassmaster Tours

Somewhat lost in the recent excitement of the new CITGO Bassmaster Elite Series has been the complete revamping of the former CITGO Bassmaster Opens in 2006 into a 10-tournament circuit that will serve as a lucrative feeder system into the big leagues of bass fishing.

The pros on their way up will find the new CITGO Bassmaster Northern and Southern Tours to be a far better venue for earning money and building a career in this sport. With five tournaments in each division, a pro can enjoy 10 chances at the $75,000 top prize (up from $50,000 in the Opens) and a piece of an overall payout totaling more than $3 million.

“This is not just another name for the Opens,” BASS tournament director Trip Weldon said. “We think we’ve really improved things.

“For one thing, the payouts are improved. And for the non-boaters, we dropped the entry fee to $350. One good thing about it is the Tour anglers can fish both Tours if they want to. It starts in the south, runs four events, have one northern, another southern and then four in the north.

Weldon added that the Tours will be covered in BASS publications, on Bassmaster.com and highlights may appear on BassCenter on ESPN2.

The Tours, which have a $1,500 pro entry fee, will send six anglers to the 2007 CITGO Bassmaster Classic (three from each division). In addition, 10 pros from each division qualify for the Elite Series.

“It will be the feeder system for the Elites,” Weldon said. “Right now, we’re in a transition year for Elite qualifications. By the way, we’re extremely pleased with the entries in the Elite Series so far. Having said that, when you look at 2007, there are only two ways to get into the Elite Series. That’s through the Tours or those Elite anglers re-qualifying.”

 

From BASS