Leave it to a Texan to do it bigger than it’s ever been done before.
Eastland businessman Brian Bird grew up bass fishing around his north-central Texas home, catching plenty of fish on the classic Mann’s grape-colored plastic worm. Getting drug around while tube-fishing in area tanks ignited a lifelong passion in Bird.
That passion would be rekindled in a big way after Bird sold his electrical construction business several years ago. While on a fishing trip to Minnesota, he and several good friends, a few of who fished in Elite open tournaments, began to realize their wasn’t a true world championship for bass anglers.
The five-day event, with three days of competition, will be held on Old Hickory Lake at Sanders Ferry Park in Hendersonville, Tenn., from Oct. 28 – Nov. 1 and will include a record-setting purse of more than $3 million, including a $1.25 million payout to the winning angler – the biggest monetary prize ever awarded to a winner of a bass fishing tournament. Additionally, the second and third place finishers will receive $500,000 and $300,000 payouts, respectively.
“There are two leagues for professional bass anglers,” Bird said. “I started asking questions about why there wasn’t a true champion from both tournament trails. Why not? I couldn’t get a great answer. When I got home, I went fishing with (professional guide) Dalton Smith on O.H. Ivie and started asking more questions. I began to think maybe something was possible.”
Using contacts he made when he was selling his company, Bird was introduced to attorneys and then to a sports management company — Excel Management — that historically has hosted and produced golf tournaments.
Bird said he initially ran up against pessimism, which he believes stems from past tournament organizers failing to live up to promises.
“There have been guys try and do this in the past and they kind of scammed some people,” Bird said. “It was frustrating to come up against that, but we are doing this the right way and anglers are excited.”
The format is simple: take the top 25 anglers from both pro tours, the Bassmaster Elite Series and Major League Fishing’s Bass Pro Tour, put them on Hickory Lake in Tennessee, offer the highest amount of money for any bass tournament in history in a 3-day format and let them fight it out for top honors.
Thursday and Friday will be qualifying days, with the championship day on Saturday. Anglers will have a choice to use forward-facing sonar one of the first two days, and those that make it the championship round on Saturday, will have a 3-hour window of their choosing to use the sonar.
There will be a 5-fish daily stringer with a weigh-in at Sanders Ferry Park, along with a 150-booth expo and live music and vendors.
“As a longtime bass fishing enthusiast, I have always marveled at the incredible skill of the world’s top anglers and believed they deserved a marquee platform to showcase their talents to the world,” said Bird. “And there is no better way to crown a true world champion than by bringing the two biggest tours together to fish on the same lake. We’re thrilled to introduce this world class event that will unify the sport, establish an annual tradition, and increase exposure to pro fishing by welcoming in new audiences.”
So far, the event has had buy-in from 146 of the possible 151 eligible anglers. And they are excited for this new format tournament to crown a true world champion.
““There has always been friendly competition and banter between the anglers on each tour, but no way to actually settle the score on the water,” said four-time Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour Angler of the Year Jacob Wheeler. “The opportunity to crown a true world champion across the entire sport is something our anglers have wanted for a very long time, and we’re thrilled to finally have that chance this October in Nashville. The fact that there is more than $3 million in total prize money is remarkable and a true testament to the elite nature of this competition.”
“The entire bass fishing community is energized to see who is the best of the best, and have the opportunity to chase a $1.25 million grand prize,” said two-time Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series Angler of the Year Brandon Palaniuk. “And while we will be competing individually for the purse, I know the rest of the anglers on The Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series will be fired up to try to bring home the first-ever Champions Cup to our tour.”
The event will be streamed live. Stay tuned for updates to programming as the event gets closer.
