The Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) is a

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

membership organization with more than a half a million members. It is geared toward

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

fishermen A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishermen may be professional or recr ...

, mainly in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

but with members located worldwide. The society publishes ''Bassmaster'' magazine and other related publications, and also produces ''The Bassmasters'' weekly television program. B.A.S.S. is best known for the sport fishing tournament trails it conducts, and for its world championship event, the

Bassmaster Classic The Bassmaster Classic (known as the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic for sponsorship reasons) is a tournament in the sport of professional bass fishing, organized by the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society. It was first held in 1971 on Lake Mead, N ...

. The society's logo is a blue shield with a leaping

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus nigricans'') is a carnivorous, freshwater fish, freshwater, ray-finned fish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, native to the eastern United States, eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada an ...

and the society's acronym.

History

In 1967, Ray Scott of

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

launched the concept of competitive bass fishing by forming the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society. In late 2010, Alabama businessmen Don Logan and Jim Copeland plus veteran broadcaster Jerry McKinnis formed an ownership group to purchase the organization from

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. In 2011, the new owners relocated B.A.S.S. headquarters from

Celebration, Florida Celebration is a master-planned community (MPC) and census-designated place (CDP) in Osceola County, Florida, United States. A suburb of Orlando, Celebration is located near Walt Disney World Resort and was originally developed by The Walt Dis ...

, to

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

. In 2017 Anderson Media Corp., a 100-year-old family business founded in Ala., acquired a majority interest in B.A.S.S. The B.A.S.S. organization advances the sport through advocacy, outreach and an expansive tournament structure while connecting directly with the passionate community of bass anglers through its media vehicles. B.A.S.S. is a tournament and membership organization serving more than 515,000 members and their families.

All-time record book

Most B.A.S.S. tournaments won: * 25,

Kevin VanDam Kevin VanDam (born October 14, 1967), often called simply "KVD," is a professional bass fisherman from Otsego, Michigan. He is the all-time money winner in professional bass fishing, having earned $7,089,388 through August 2022 according to Majo ...

* 19, Roland Martin * 17, Denny Brauer * 16,

Rick Clunn Rick Clunn (born July 24, 1946) is a professional bass fisherman. Biography Clunn was born July 24, 1946 in Missouri. He began fishing professionally in his 20's. Clunn has won the Bassmaster Classic tournament four times, in 1976, 1977, 198 ...

* 14, Larry Nixon At the 2020 Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefiting Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, winner and Bassmaster Elite Series angler Patrick Walters set a Bassmaster record for margin of victory by finishing 29 pounds, 10 ounces ahead of the second-place finisher.

Angler of the Year Award

The Angler of the Year (AOY) award is given to the angler who, at the end of the season, has accumulated the most points throughout the year's "Elite Series" tournaments. Winners of the award: * 1970 — Bill Dance * 1971 — Roland Martin * 1972 — Roland Martin * 1973 — Roland Martin * 1974 — Bill Dance * 1975 — Roland Martin * 1976 — Jimmy Houston * 1977 — Bill Dance * 1978 — Roland Martin * 1979 — Roland Martin * 1980 — Larry Nixon * 1981 — Roland Martin * 1982 — Larry Nixon * 1983 —

Hank Parker Hank Parker Sr. (born March 26, 1953) is an American professional bass fisherman. Parker is a native of Maiden, North Carolina. Fishing career In 1979 and 1989, Parker won two Bassmaster Classic tournaments, the biggest event in bass fishing. He ...

* 1984 — Roland Martin * 1985 — Roland Martin * 1986 — Jimmy Houston * 1987 — Denny Brauer * 1988 —

* 1989 — Gary Klein * 1990 — Guido Hibdon * 1991 — Guido Hibdon * 1992 —

* 1993 — Gary Klein * 1994 — David Fritts * 1995 — Mark Davis * 1996 — Kevin VanDam * 1997 — Davy Hite * 1998 — Mark Davis * 1999 — Kevin VanDam * 2000 — Tim Horton * 2001 — Mark Davis * 2002 — Davy Hite * 2003 — Jay Yelas * 2004 — Gerald Swindle * 2005 — Aaron Martens * 2006 —

Michael Iaconelli Michael Iaconelli, also known as Mike and by his nickname "Ike", (born June 17, 1972 in Runnemede, New Jersey) is a professional bass fisherman, television personality, and podcast show host from Pittsgrove Township, New Jersey. Iaconelli compe ...

* 2007 —

Skeet Reese Skeet Reese is an American professional sport fisherman of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) and Major League Fishing. He was born in Walnut Creek, California on June 30, 1969. He has a wife, Kim, and a two daughters, Leamarie and C ...

* 2008 —

* 2009 — Kevin VanDam * 2010 — Kevin VanDam * 2011 — Kevin VanDam * 2012 — Brent Chapman * 2013 — Aaron Martens * 2014 — Greg Hackney * 2015 — Aaron Martens * 2016 — Gerald Swindle * 2017 — Brandon Palaniuk * 2018 — Justin Lucas * 2019 — Scott Canterbury * 2020 — Clark Wendlandt * 2021 — Seth Feider * 2022 — Brandon Palaniuk * 2023 — Kyle Welcher

Tournaments

The first ever B.A.S.S. Federation tournament was held in June 1967 on Beaver Lake,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. A total of 106 anglers from thirteen different states competed. In that All-American Bass Tournament, Scott charged a $100 entry fee with a chance to win $2,000 and a trip to

Acapulco, Mexico Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicircular bay, Acapulco has been a port since the ear ...

. The winner of this first tournament was Stan Sloan. Scott staged the first

in 1971 at

Lake Mead Lake Mead is a reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in the Southwestern United States. It is located in the states of Nevada and Arizona, east of Las Vegas. It is the largest reservoir in the US in terms of water capacity. L ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

— though competitors didn't know the location until they were in an aircraft bound for Las Vegas. The "mystery lake" practice continued through 1976; the following year Scott announced the venue in advance so that fans could make plans to attend the event. Since then, the final weigh-in events, and fishing expositions held together with those events, have become huge spectator events filling large arenas and being broadcast live on FOX and FS1. In 2021, all nine Bassmaster Elite events and the Bassmaster Classic were covered live on

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

platforms and

Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (branded on-air as FS1) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Fox Sports (United States), Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 airs an array of live sporting events, including Majo ...

. B.A.S.S conducts multiple tournaments and series:

Bassmaster Classic

The Bassmaster Classic is considered the "Super Bowl of Fishing". This world championship event is held once every year and has become a fan favorite. This tournament has a first place prize of $300,000

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

Bassmaster Elite Series

As the name implies, this is the world's most elite group of bass anglers, competing for over $11 million in prizes throughout each season. This makes up bass fishing's most lucrative competitive league. This series schedule runs from coast to coast through all phases of the seasons of bass fishing. Opens StCroix 4C-copy

Bassmaster Opens

This series sets a platform for amateur anglers to emerge as aspiring pros. Both boaters and non-boaters compete in the Bassmaster Opens, which provides advancement to the Bassmaster Elite Series. Also, an automatic entry to the next years

is awarded to the winner of each Bassmaster Open event however in addition they must fish all three Open events in their division to qualify.

Bassmaster College Series

The Bassmaster College Series gives college anglers a platform where they can compete with their peers and get a taste of what it feels like to compete on a national level. The series pits teams of college anglers against one another for cash, prizes, bragging rights and a chance to compete in the Bassmaster Classic.

Women's Bassmaster Tour

This tour opened October 20, 2005 at Lake Lewisville in Dallas Texas and was presented by Triton and Legend Boats. The winner of each WBT took home a boat valued at $50,000. Australian born Kim Bain-Moore was the WBT's 2008 Angler of the Year as well as the end of season Championship winner. The tour was closed after the 2009 season won by Pam Martin Wells.

B.A.S.S. Nation

Formerly the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation, the name was changed to B.A.S.S. Nation at the beginning of the 2013 season. B.A.S.S. Nation is composed of bass tournament clubs throughout the country. They provide the opportunity for anglers to compete in bass tournaments at a local level as well as different state and national tournaments culminating in the opportunity to fish the Bassmaster Classic.

References

External links

Official website
{{fishing tournaments Recreational fishing organizations Organizations based in Birmingham, Alabama