Bass Pro Shops and founder Johnny Morris announced plans Monday for a national amateur bass fishing tournament to kick off the company’s 50th Anniversary celebration.
The Johnny Morris Bass Pro Shops U.S. Open National Bass Fishing Amateur Team Championships will provide a total of $4.3 million in cash and prizes, the largest cash prize of any freshwater fishing tournament to date. The event is open only to amateur anglers. The amateurs must be owners of Bass Pro brands, including Tracker, Ranger, Nitro, Triton, Sun Tracker, Tahoe, and Mako brand boats to compete in two-person teams.
Proceeds from entry fees will also go toward conservation, with a third directed to the National Fish Habitat Initiative. Bass Pro Shops and Toyota will match the donations to equal 100 percent of entry fees. More than $1 million is expected to benefit conservation.
“Fishing in the first national Bass tournament on Table Rock Lake in 1970 rewarded me with friends for life and served as my inspiration to start Bass Pro Shops. Fishing on the Bass Tournament Circuit also helped keep us abreast of the latest emerging trends in fishing and enabled me to stay closely connected to our customers. And without our loyal customers and industry-leading independent boat dealers, we simply wouldn’t be here today. This tournament is our way of giving thanks and rewarding our customers with the chance to land the catch of a lifetime. Beyond offering the ultimate prize in fishing, we’re excited to celebrate our heritage, raise funds for conservation, and have some big fun with people who love fishing as much as we do,” said Johnny Morris.
Morris underscored, “We are also very grateful to our network of independent boat dealers. Their passion and support for helping get so many anglers and families out on the water has made this dream possible.”
The U.S. Open National Bass Fishing Amateur Team Championships will be a three-day event that will pay $1 million to the winning team. The event will air on November 21 on NBC Sports Network from Table Rock Lake in Missouri’s Ozarks.
Qualifying events (including one event in Tennessee) will be held on:
- Lake Okeechobee, FL; March 13, 2021
- Lake Ray Roberts, Dallas, TX; April 17, 2021
- Lake Mead, NV; April 24, 2021
- Chesapeake Bay, MD; July 17, 2021
- Lake St. Clair, Detroit, MI; August 21, 2021
- Old Hickory Lake, Nashville), TN; September 11, 2021
- Grand Lake ‘O the Cherokees, Tulsa, OK; October 16, 2021
- Last Chance Qualifier, Bull Shoals Lake, AK; November 17, 2021
- Grand Championship, Table Rock Lake, MO; November 19, 2021
For more event information, go here.
