October 2, 2017

Athens, AL. American Bass Anglers announced today the 2018 Ram Truck Open Series schedules with 81 tournaments in 18 divisions, in a Pro/Am style format. The series offers a guaranteed $5,000 minimum to the first place to Boaters at all one-day events and at the two-day Area Championships a guaranteed $10,000 minimum for first place Boater and $5,000 for first place Co-Anglers. At the end of the season, qualified anglers will advance to the 2019 Ray Scott Championship, named after the legend Ray Scott who started modern day bass tournaments.

One new division will be introduced in 2018, South Texas. Texas anglers can now compete on Lake Conroe in the same region as South-East Texas. These two divisions will compete on Toledo Bend in late September at the Area 6 Championship.

Each division will hold four one-day qualifying events and anglers who compete in three or more events in their home division will division will qualify to enter the two-day Area Championship.

Area Championships are held on a lake that both divisions compete on, a local but neutral lake, or in some cases the location will be flipped between the two divisions within their area annually. The locations are selected to level the playing field as much as possible for the anglers while reducing travel. At Area Championships the full field competes both days which gives all anglers a much better opportunity at qualifying for the Ray Scott Championship.

Entry fees for Divisional one-day events are $200 for Boaters and $100 for Co-Anglers. The two-day Area Championships entry fee is $300 for Boaters and $150 for Co-Anglers. The Ray Scott Championship has no entry fee.

To advance to the Area Championship anglers must have fished as either a Boater in three one-day events or a Co-Angler in three one-day events or a combination of four one-day events within their region.

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. Divisional points are awarded to each angler who competes in events within a division including the Area Championship.

The top angler (Boater and Co-Angler) by points from each division, after the Area Championship, will be awarded Divisional Angler of the Year. Divisional Anglers of the Year will have their 2019 entry fee (Boaters – $1,100, Co-Anglers $550) waived for the division of their choice. Total points accumulated from four one-day events within a division plus Area championship determines the Divisional Angler of the Year.

Boaters are always guaranteed use of their boats at all events. Co-Anglers registering as a package entry will receive priority entry into each event in that division. Co-Anglers can guarantee their spot in an event by “linking” with a registered Boater.

More information can be viewed on the RamOpenSeries.com website including payouts, schedules, and additional information.

Registration will open at 8 AM CST October 20, 2017, on the RamOpenSeries.com website or by calling 256-232-0406.

Boater and Co-Angler Package Registrations from October 20 through December 1, 2017, will each receive special incentives.

2018 Schedules

Division	Dates	Lake	Launch Ramp
Area 1
North Alabama	02/03	Guntersville	Goose Pond
	03/17	Wheeler	Joe Wheeler State Park
	04/28	Neely Henry	Coosa Landing
	06/09	Weiss	Leesburg Landing
Mississippi	03/03	Columbus Pool	Columbus Marina
	04/14	Ross Barnett	Tommys Trading Post
	05/05	Ross Barnett	Tommys Trading Post
	08/18	Pickwick	JP Coleman State Park
Championship	09/08-09	Pickwick	McFarland Park
Area 2
Kentucky/TN	03/10	Kentucky	Moors Resort
	04/14	Kentucky	Paris Landing State Park
	06/23	Kentucky	Kentucky Dam Marina
	08/25	Kentucky	Paris Landing State Park
Central Tennessee	02/24	Center Hill	Ragland Bottom
	03/24	Percy Priest	Fate Sanders
	05/05	Old Hickory	Sanders Ferry
	06/16	Old Hickory	Sanders Ferry
Championship	10/13-14	Kentucky	Paris Landing State Park
Area 3
South Alabama	02/03	Eufaula	Lakepoint Resort State Park
	04/21	Martin	Wind Creek State Park
	05/19	Jordan	Bonners Landing
	06/16	Logan Martin	Lakeside Park
Geogia	02/10	Eufaula	Lakepoint Resort State Park
	03/10	Seminole	Reynolds Landing (Big Jims)
	04/28	Sinclair	Little River Park
	06/09	Oconee	Sugar Creek Marina
Championship	10/13-14	Eufaula	Lakepoint Resort State Park
Area 4
North Carolina	02/10	Norman	Pinnacle
	03/24	Hickory	Wittenburg
	04/28	Kerr	Nutbush
	05/19	High Rock	Tamarac Marina
South Carolina	01/27	Keowee	South Cove County Park
	02/17	Murray	Dreher Island State Park
	04/21	Hartwell	Green Pond
	06/09	Clark’s Hill	Dorn Facility
Championship	10/13-14	Norman	Blythe Landing
Area 5
Florida Central	01/20	Toho	Lakefront Park
	02/24	Kissimmee Chain	Camp Mack
	03/17	Harris Chain	Hickory Point Recreation Facility
	05/05	Toho	Lakefront Park
Florida South	01/13	Okeechobee	Roland Martin Marina & Resort
	02/17	Okeechobee	Scott Driver
	03/24	Okeechobee	Scott Driver
	05/12	Okeechobee	Roland Martin Marina & Resort
Championship	09/29-30	Kissimmee Chain	Camp Mack
Area 6
Southeast Texas	02/24	Sam Rayburn	Umphrey Pavillion
	04/28	Sam Rayburn	Umphrey Pavillion
	06/09	Sam Rayburn	Umphrey Pavillion
	09/15	Sam Rayburn	Umphrey Pavillion
South Texas	03/17	Lake Conroe	Lakeview Marina
	05/19	Lake Conroe	Lakeview Marina
	06/23	Lake Conroe	Lakeview Marina
	08/25	Lake Conroe	Lakeview Marina
Championship	10/20-21	Toledo Bend	Cypress Bend Park
Area 7
Texas Central	02/03	Cedar Creek	Log Cabin
	03/24	Lake Palestine	Villages Marina
	06/30	Lake of the Pines	Johnson Creek
	09/08	Toledo Bend	Cypress Bend
Oklahoma	03/10	Arkansas River	Three Forks Harbor
	04/21	Eufaula	South Cove
	05/12	Grand Lake	Wolf Creek
	06/16	Ft Gibson	Taylor’s Ferry North
Championship	10/06-07	Lake Texoma	Highport Marina
Area 8
Virginia	02/24	Kerr	Nutbush
	04/14	Gaston	Holly Grove Marina
	06/23	Kerr	Nutbush
	08/11	Gaston	Holly Grove Marina
Maryland	03/31	Potomac	Smallwood
	04/21	Chesapeake Bay	Anchor Boats Marina
	05/12	Potomac	Smallwood
	06/02	Chesapeake Bay	Anchor Boats Marina
Championship	09/22-23	Kerr	Nutbush
Area 9
Ohio	05/12	Indian	Moundwood State Park
	06/02	St. Mary’s	West Bank
	07/14	Ohio River/ Tanner’s Creek	Lawrenceburg City Ramp
	08/04	Ohio River/Maysville	Maysville River Park
New York	06/16	Lake Champlain	Ticonderoga
	07/07	Cayuga	Union Springs
	07/21	1000 Islands	French Creek Marina
	08/18	Lake Champlain	Plattsburgh
Championship	09/15-16	Chautauqua	Mayville Park

To learn more about the Ram Trucks Open Series, visit www.RamOpenSeries.com

About American Bass Anglers: American Bass Anglers is committed to providing low cost, close to home tournaments for the weekend angler and at the same time offer each competitor an upward path for individual angler progression. For more information about American Bass Anglers, the Ram Truck Open Series, the American Fishing Tour or the American Couples Series, visit www.americanbassanglers.com