Bass Fishing Terms

If you don't know what we're talking about, you can find out here!

Amateur: the amateur fisherman that is paired with a pro on the BASS Tour.

Angler of the Year: the angler who has done the best in Tour-level tournament competition for the past season, based upon accumulated points. (See Points Standings)

AOY: Angler of the Year. (See Angler of the Year)

BAAC: BASS Athlete Advisory Council.

BASS: Bass Anglers Sportsman Society. BASS is the original bass tournament trail, started by Ray Scott in the 1960s, and now owned by ESPN.

BASS Opens: these tournaments are open to any BASS member, and are a level under the Tour tournaments.

BASS Tour: a higher level of BASS tournament competition. Only the Elite Series is higher. (See Elite Series)

Bassin': a word for bass fishing.

Bassmaster Classic: the highest-ranked BASS pros advance to the Classic each year, and the winner earns as much as 1 million over the following years from sponsorships, etc. The Classic is one of, if not the, biggest tournament of the year. It is held in the summer.

Co-Angler: the amateur fisherman that is paired with a pro on the FLW Tour.

Cut: in a pro tournament, a cut is when only the top few anglers are allowed to fish after a day's fishing, as determined by the weight of the bass that they caught. Those who were removed go home. The amount of anglers cut from the field is determined by the tournament-hosting organization.

Elite 50 Series: the Elite 50 events are created by BASS for the top 50 pros in the Tour. They qualify for the Series by finishing in the top 20 all-time money list, winning awards such as Angler of the Year, or finishing high in AOY standings over a three year period. The pros are paid at the end of the year, based on their total points over the four-event Series. Also known as the E50 Series, or simply as E50. The E50 Series will be replaced by the Majors in 2006.

Elite Series: the new higher level of the BASS tournament circuit. The Elite Series is slated to kick off in 2006. It is composed of a 100-man field, and is very difficult to qualify for. Click here to view the 'introduction' article on the Elite Series, or here for more in-depth info.

FLW: FLW stands for Forrest L. Wood, founder of Ranger Boats. The complete name is FLW Outdoors. FLW Outdoors was started in the mid '90s.

FLW Championship: See FLW Jacobs Cup.

FLW Jacobs Cup: the highest-ranked FLW pros advance to the Jacobs Cup each year. The Jacobs Cup has the largest 1st place prize of any bass fishing tournament. The Jacobs Cup is one of, if not the, biggest tournament of the year. It is held in the summer, and is also known as the FLW Championship. 

FLW Opens: very different from the BASS opens, FLW opens have the highest payout (and entry fee) of any FLW tournaments except the Jacobs Cup. Only FLW Tour pros can enter in the pro division.

FLW Tour: a high level of FLW tournament competition.

FLW Series: the highest level of FLW tournament competition.

Limit: during tournaments, pros are only allowed to keep 5 bass a day, and so they always choose their 5 biggest so that they may have more weight. Pros may catch as many bass as they want, but they must release all except 5, which is their daily limit. These five are added up to equal the angler's total weight.

Majors: new BASS Tour-level tournaments starting with the 2006 season. The Majors replace the Elite 50 Series. They were created to "showcase the best of the best anglers in bass fishing," according to Dean Kessel, BASS VP of Operations.

Outdoor Show: a show that was invented by BASS and is run by it and FLW during their championship tournaments. The shows have dozens of booths set up by different lure, boat, outboard, line and more companies to display their products.

Open: see BASS Opens or FLW Opens.

PAA: Professional Anglers' Association.

Pros: the elite level of bass fishermen who travel the country fishing tournaments for a living.

Points Standings: Angler of the Year points. These points are determined by a angler's standings in tournaments. For example, Aaron Martens won the FLW Open on Wheeler Lake in June 2003. He gained 200 Angler of the Year points by this win. In at second place was Tim Horton, who got 199 points. Third was Keith Williams, who received 198 points and so on. These points are compiled to show an angler's total amount of points. Thus, the name points standings.

Sponsors: companies, mostly from inside the fishing industry but sometimes from without, that pay fishermen either in money or products to wear their patch and use their products. Very few pros could live off of their tournament earnings alone, so the sponsors are a large source of income for many pros, and they enable the fishermen to continue fishing.

Tour: see BASS Tour or FLW Tour.

Women's Bassmaster Tour: The new Bassmaster Tour for women only. Also known as the WBT. Click here for an introduction to the WBT, or here for more in-depth information.