Bassmaster Kayak Series News

[Koz]

For the 2025 season, Native Watercraft / Newport takes over the title sponsorship. I guess I’ll need some new decals for my kayak.

 

Also, the schedule is supposed to drop today. The TD gave us a hint the other day stating there would be an event “out west” that was not California.

 

My guess is Arizona. There’s no way I’m making that trek. I’m hoping for events in SC, GA, FL, and AL that will be manageable trips for me.

 

They also added an event this season. As always, your best three events count towards AOY.

 

Stay tuned for the schedule drop.

[Koz]

The schedule dropped tonight:

 

January: Lake Havasu, AZ

February: Kissimee Chain of Lakes, FL

April: Dale Hollow, TN

May: Lake Tenkiller, OK

July: Lake Champlain, NY

September: Toledo Bend, TX

 

All great fisheries but the general consensus is that it's too spread out. Your top 3 finishes count towards AOY, but it will be tough for most to make even three tournaments with all of that travel.

 

If I'm still living in GA (which is doubtful), both Dale Hollow and Kissimmee are 6 hours away. Tenkiller is 13 hours away, Champlain is 18 hours away, Toled0 Bend is 12 hours away, and Havasu might as well be on another planet (29 hours away). If I'm SC, Kissimmee is about the same but add two hours or more for the others.

 

I'd like to fish Kissimmee, but I doubt that happens if I take a new job in January. It looks like I'll just be fishing Bass Nation events in SC and maybe GA next year. That's too bad, because I really was hoping to fish 3-4 Bassmaster events in 2025.

 

The Bassmaster TD did say that in 2026 he expects much tighter groupings of events. I think they want to see if they can still get 220+ anglers at some of these western events and my guess is that of they do, they end up with an East Series and West Series within the next three years.

 

[Susky River Rat]

Took the susky away for this year. Guess they wanted to get away from roots kayak fishing.it always seemed to be a place everyone enjoyed.  

[Glenn]

Havasu will be filled well in advance.  West coast anglers are ignored by the big leagues, so they're hungry for any event, and will travel a full day or two to get there.

[Koz]

24 minutes ago, Susky River Rat said:

Took the susky away for this year. Guess they wanted to get away from roots kayak fishing.it always seemed to be a place everyone enjoyed.  

Steve Owen’s (Bassmaster TD) said there were already a number of tournaments there next year and the Chamber of Commerce / Visitor’s Bureau didn’t have the funding for more tournaments.

[Susky River Rat]

As far as I know you pay them a fee to get a permit to hold the event. I’ve never done it but I know they hold Tuesday night Wes plus weekend tournaments throughout the common wealth. I am sure there is more to it though it’s PA. If they can slap a fee or regulation on it they will.

[Koz]

2 hours ago, Susky River Rat said:

As far as I know you pay them a fee to get a permit to hold the event. I’ve never done it but I know they hold Tuesday night Wes plus weekend tournaments throughout the common wealth. I am sure there is more to it though it’s PA. If they can slap a fee or regulation on it they will.

Chambers of Commerce actually allocate money to help finance these events. They get their money from local hospitality taxes and by charter are required to invest a percentage of those tax revenues back into tourism. I have served as a Chamber board member in multiple regions.

 

Tournament registration fees simply cannot cover the costs of marketing the events, administrative fees and travel, etc.

[TnRiver46]

8 hours ago, Susky River Rat said:

Took the susky away for this year. Guess they wanted to get away from roots kayak fishing.it always seemed to be a place everyone enjoyed.  

It’ll be back in the next year or three 

[gim]

11 hours ago, Koz said:

All great fisheries but the general consensus is that it's too spread out. Your top 3 finishes count towards AOY, but it will be tough for most to make even three tournaments with all of that travel.

 

If I'm still living in GA (which is doubtful), both Dale Hollow and Kissimmee are 6 hours away. Tenkiller is 13 hours away, Champlain is 18 hours away, Toled0 Bend is 12 hours away, and Havasu might as well be on another planet (29 hours away).

 

Very spread out indeed.  You'd have to be extremely dedicated to make to even fish half of the events IMO.  Plus getting there days in advance to pre-fish, securing lodging, etc.  That's a major investment of time, energy, and money.

 

That being said, they seem very popular and if there's 220 participants in each event, the data proves it.

[Glenn]

Some of you are beginning to see what it's like to live on the West Coast.  It's virtually impossible to be a part of any major circuit.  Can you imagine moving your family, finding a new job, house, etc just so you can fish tournaments?  But that's what it takes.

[TOXIC]

Why hasn’t the kayak series divided up in to divisions or regions?  A nationwide schedule just doesn’t make sense. 

[Bluebasser86]

TN, OK, and TX from Kansas wouldn't be bad 🤔

[Choporoz]

35 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

Why hasn’t the kayak series divided up in to divisions or regions?  A nationwide schedule just doesn’t make sense. 

I suppose using best 3 for AOY is the reasoning. 

  KBF was arguably the OG major tour, and they had Regionals.  (Even though FLW looked to partner with KBF, they couldn't handle the competition from BASS and Hobie trails; ....or are mismanaging themselves on the way to being out of the mix).

  There is still some evolution ongoing and future regionals wouldn't be a surprise 

[Koz]

27 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

Why hasn’t the kayak series divided up in to divisions or regions?  A nationwide schedule just doesn’t make sense. 

Many states have their own Bass Nation Kayak series and the top finishers in those series qualify for the Bassmaster Kayak Series Championship. That’s the kayak version of the Bassmaster Classic.

 

This year, Bassmaster averaged over 200 anglers at each kayak event. That’s incredible. They might do that in 2025 as well, but I think a lot of those will be new anglers as the events are so far apart. 

 

But I still think that BASS is using this to gauge popularity. I think by 2026 it’s up to 10 events and the championship will be televised. There are also rumblings of an Elite kayak series.

 

It really stinks - for me - that I don’t have multiple tournaments near me. If I accept this new job offer I would be with a branded hotel group and that means I can stay in their hotel brands from $0 - $29 a night instead of $100 - $200 a night. That’s a huge annual savings.

 

Anyway, all indications are that this series is really going to grow in the next 3 - 5 years.

 

If anyone is interested in kayak tournament fishing without all of this ridiculous travel, check to see if your state has a Bass Nation Kayak Series. Entry fees are reasonable and you can fish them all or pick and choose events.

[padon]

10 hours ago, Susky River Rat said:

As far as I know you pay them a fee to get a permit to hold the event. I’ve never done it but I know they hold Tuesday night Wes plus weekend tournaments throughout the common wealth. I am sure there is more to it though it’s PA. If they can slap a fee or regulation on it they will.

i wish they would all leave the susky off for a couple years. im tired of them beating up my fish.lol

anybody know what other kayak trails are coming to the susky in2025? i wanna make sure i dont run into 200 boats when i go fishing one weekend.

[Koz]

30 minutes ago, padon said:

i wish they would all leave the susky off for a couple years. im tired of them beating up my fish.lol

anybody know what other kayak trails are coming to the susky in2025? i wanna make sure i dont run into 200 boats when i go fishing one weekend.

Rumor has it there will be a Native No Limits tournament there, but it’s just a rumor. That schedule is supposed to be released by Christmas.

 

Steve Owen’s indicated it was a lot of boat tournaments there next year.

[padon]

53 minutes ago, Koz said:

Rumor has it there will be a Native No Limits tournament there, but it’s just a rumor. That schedule is supposed to be released by Christmas.

 

Steve Owen’s indicated it was a lot of boat tournaments there next year.

boat tournaments dont bother me too much i can usually get in shallow enough water to get away from them.

[WRB]

B.A.S.S. Rarely schedules tournaments west of the Rocky Mountains!

Why on earth would B.A.S.S. schedule any event on Colorado River Lake Havasu?

My guess is Havasu City offered a sweet heart deal. Lake Havasu isn’t set up for kayaks, poor choice!
Tom

[gim]

49 minutes ago, padon said:

boat tournaments dont bother me too much i can usually get in shallow enough water to get away from them.

@Susky River Rat would disagree with you on that one!

[Choporoz]

@WRB, Tom, why do you say Havasu is a poor choice?....just curious -- I have never been.   It appears that big kayak trails have had good events there - 85"+ to cash a check in one I looked at.  Looks wide, but enough ramps and launches to spread out competitors somewhat-- unless everybody is going upriver

[TnRiver46]

22 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

@WRB, Tom, why do you say Havasu is a poor choice?....just curious -- I have never been.   It appears that big kayak trails have had good events there - 85"+ to cash a check in one I looked at.  Looks wide, but enough ramps and launches to spread out competitors somewhat-- unless everybody is going upriver

Wind would be my guess 

[WRB]

Havasu is mostly steep rock walled Canyon lake. The upper end where the river flows has large reed areas where most of LMB are located and good area for kayaks.

The Bill Williams River arm located at the opposite end of the lake can also be decent kayak area but not particularly good bass fishing.

The big Smallmouth bass are located primarily in the main lake on man made fish attracter structures that provide areas for baitfish and bass. 
The wild card at Havasu is high wind eliminating the main lake areas,  very few coves to get out of the wind.

If it’s windy the majority of the field will up north in the river area flipping reeds.

Tom

[Susky River Rat]

@Koz why would the chamber of commerce have to do with this? Not being a jerk I just honestly do not know. It’s not like it’s tying up one area like say raystown. The susky event has a huge footprint as far. I would almost think with the kayak series more than half this field would be locals? Again could be wrong can you clarify this for me?  I am seriously just curious. I could see if it was an elites or something of the such tying up a bunch of stuff with weigh in ramps etc. 
 

the boat tournaments are a usually small clubs. Not 50 plus boat fields more like 10-15 boats. Plus everything below sun bury would have to be catch photo release or catch weigh release. I know many boat anglers do not like that.
 

@gimruis if someone uses a public ramp and can paddle their kayak there or use a kayak with a TM and not get out good chance I can get there too. If I can get there good chance there’s a nut or three who will send it even further.  

[Koz]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

B.A.S.S. Rarely schedules tournaments west of the Rocky Mountains!

Why on earth would B.A.S.S. schedule any event on Colorado River Lake Havasu?

My guess is Havasu City offered a sweet heart deal. Lake Havasu isn’t set up for kayaks, poor choice!
Tom

They tried to schedule Clear Lake or another California fishery but they ran into headache after headache including environmental issues.

 

It was mentioned that California was not friendly to these types of events.

[Koz]

32 minutes ago, Susky River Rat said:

@Koz why would the chamber of commerce have to do with this? Not being a jerk I just honestly do not know. It’s not like it’s tying up one area like say raystown. The susky event has a huge footprint as far. I would almost think with the kayak series more than half this field would be locals? Again could be wrong can you clarify this for me?  I am seriously just curious. I could see if it was an elites or something of the such tying up a bunch of stuff with weigh in ramps etc. 
 

the boat tournaments are a usually small clubs. Not 50 plus boat fields more like 10-15 boats. Plus everything below sun bury would have to be catch photo release or catch weigh release. I know many boat anglers do not like that.
 

@gimruis

 

See one of my earlier posts. Entry fees are not enough to finance these events. Local Chambers / Visitor Bureaus get financing from local accommodations taxes and by charter they have to invest much of that in bringing more tourism to the market.

 

There’s more including acquiring a venue for on site registration, awards, travel for BASS personnel, promotions and advertising, etc.

 

And of course, I’m sure B.A.S.S. is trying to turn a bit of a profit.