Athens, AL – January 31, 2018 – American Bass Anglers announced today that the Eufaula/Barbour County Chamber of Commerce will host the 2019 Ray Scott Championship at the Walter F. George Lake (Lake Eufaula) on April 1st-7th, 2019.  Launch and weigh in for the 2019 Ray Scott Championship will take place at Lake Point Resort State Park.

This event is the culmination of anglers qualifying through the American Bass Anglers Open Series for one of the largest events for the weekend angler in the country.  The winning boater will receive $50,000 cash plus a new 21TRX Triton boat equipped with a 250hp Mercury Pro XS motor.  The winning co-angler will receive $25,000 in cash plus a new 19TRX Triton boat equipped with a 225hp Mercury Pro XS motor.  If requirements are met, additional bonus incentives of $50,000 from Triton Boats, $1000 from Mercury Motors, $1000 from Garmin and $1250 from TH Marine are available.

“We are very excited to be hosting the 2019 Ray Scott Championship. The fishing on Lake Eufaula during April will be phenomenal, and the anglers will enjoy their time on the lake. The Eufaula Alabama community has a lot to offer anglers during their visit such as local shopping, great eateries, and multiple lodging options all with a great small-town feel.” said Jack Tibbs Mayor of Eufaula.

Lake Eufaula is a 45,000-acre lake located on the Chattahoochee River that extends across Alabama and Georgia. This beautiful lake is nationally known for being a great bass fishery and its beautiful scenery. Eufaula/Barbour County Chamber of Commerce has hosted numerous events for American Bass Anglers in which the anglers receive a warm welcome from the local community with its small home town charm.

“Lake Eufaula is the perfect location for this event, I know anglers look forward to coming to one of Alabama’s most talked about lakes and experiencing the hospitality of Eufaula.” said Morris Sheehan, President of American Bass Anglers. “Mayor Tibbs and all of Eufaula/Barbour County always rolls out the red carpet for our anglers, weigh-in will be at 3pm daily and the public is invited”

What is the ABA Open Series and how do you qualify for the Ray Scott Championship?

It is a Boater/Co-Angler series. This format pairs boaters and co-anglers together to fish from the same boat however, boaters are not competing with their co-angler partners. Boaters compete against boaters and co-anglers compete against the other co-anglers in the tournament. Boaters and Co-Anglers pay different entry fees and the boaters are competing for the prize money created for the boaters and co-anglers for the prize money created for the co-anglers.

Entry Fees remain the lowest in the industry for the weekend angler:

• Qualifying Events: Boater $200, Co-Angler $100
• Area Championships: Boater $300, Co-Angler $150
• Ray Scott Championship – No Entry Fee

The Open Series offers the best payout ever in a series of this format. Payouts are the largest in weekend angler tournament history!

• $5,000 1st place Boater guaranteed regardless of the number of entries

Divisions: Open Series will have 18 divisions of the Open Series. Each of these divisions will hold 4 one-day qualifying events. Each with a $5,000 first place guaranteed payout for boaters. At the end of each divisional season the anglers from each division will be invited to compete in a local Area Championship.

Area Championships: Each of the 9 Area Championships will have a first-place guaranteed purse of $10,000 for boaters and $5000 for co-anglers.  Two divisions will make up an Area. An example of an Area would be Kentucky Division and Central Tennessee Division. (See Schedule).  All anglers from each division who fish 3 events within their home division or 4 events in combination of divisions within their area will be invited to the Area Championship.

Each division will advance anglers to the Ray Scott Championship.

• The top ten (10) Boaters and top ten (10) Co-Anglers from each division by points after the Area Championship will advance.
• The top five (5) Boaters and top five (5) Co-Anglers at the Area Championship by place of finish, who do not advance by divisional points, will also advance.

Area	Division 1	Division 2	Area Championship
1	Alabama North	Mississippi	Pickwick
2	Kentucky	Tennessee Central	Kentucky Lake
3	Georgia	South Alabama	Lake Eufaula
4	North Carolina	South Carolina	Lake Norman
5	Florida Central	Florida South	Kissimmee Chain
6	Texas Southeast	Texas South	Toledo Bend
7	Texas Central	Oklahoma	Texoma
8	Maryland	Virginia	Kerr Lake
9	New York	Ohio	Chautauqua

The American Bass Anglers is sponsored by Triton Boats, Mercury Marine, TH Marine, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Garmin, SiriusXM Marine Radio, Power Pole, Maui Jim, Geico Insurance and Livingston Lures. For more information about ABA call 256-232-0406.  On line, visit www.americanbassanglers.com.