Toyota Series maintains biggest payouts and lowest entry fees of any national circuit – program details now set for 2026

BENTON, Ky. (Oct. 20, 2025) – Major League Fishing (MLF) today announced the 2026 Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats program details and rules, headlined by a measured technology update that limits forward-facing and 360-degree sonar to one continuous 3-hour period each day of competition day, like the highly successful Bass Pro Tour. With the biggest payouts and lowest entry fees of any national circuit, the Toyota Series remains the high-value proving ground for anglers aiming for the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit, Bass Pro Tour and the sport’s premier no-entry-fee championship – REDCREST.

“Anglers compete in the Toyota Series because it delivers meaningful payouts at the ramp and, straightforward advancement to the no-entry-fee Toyota Series Championship offering some of the sport’s biggest awards,” said Boyd Duckett, MLF President and CEO. “For 2026, we preserved the format anglers love and added a reasonable limit on forward-facing sonar to keep the sport multi-dimensional where a variety of techniques contribute to success. It’s the same Toyota Series experience that anglers know and love – competitive, rewarding and built for growth.”

The 2026 Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats features:

5 Geographic Divisions + Wild Card Division:

• Three 3-day qualifiers per geographic division – Forward Facing/360-degree Sonar restricted to 3 hours each day
• Tournament winners and the top 25 pros from each division qualify for the Toyota Series Championship
• Tournament winners and the top 25 co-anglers from each division qualify for the Toyota Series Championship

15    3-Day Qualifying Tournaments:

• $40,000 top pro award based on 160-boat field, scaling up to $65,000 at 260 boats + $35,000 Phoenix MLF Bonus in every tournament
• $33,500 Phoenix 518 Pro with 115 HP outboard top co-angler award based on 160-boat field, scaling up to $38,500 (boat + cash) at 260 boats
• 25 percent of the field earns a check of at least $2,000 for pros and $550 for co-anglers
• Winning pro and co-angler from each Qualifier advance to the Toyota Series Championship
• Thursday, Friday and Saturday tournaments (unless otherwise noted): full field days 1 & 2, top 25 pros and co-anglers day 3
• Winners determined by heaviest three-day catch – 5 bass per day boater limit | 5 bass per day co-angler limit
• Live weigh-in coverage
• Entry fee: $1,700 pro | $550 co-angler

Wild Card Division:

• Pros and co-anglers always have a second chance at qualifying for the Toyota Series Championship by fishing four or more tournaments in any combination of divisions and keeping their three highest finishes.
• 25 pros and 25 co-anglers qualify for the Toyota Series Championship based on Wild Card division points with ties resolved by the highest finish in a tournament.
• Pros who qualify through the Wild Card division are eligible for a $10,000 bonus at the Toyota Series Championship.

Toyota Series Championship:

• $200,000 top pro award + REDCREST 2027 + $35,000 Phoenix MLF Bonus
• $33,500 top co-angler award
• $10,000 bonus for the highest-finishing pro from each of the five U.S. divisions, Wild Card division and the International division. The second-highest finisher from the division represented by the winning pro will receive that division’s bonus. Pros who qualify as tournament winners or through a division’s standings (except for the Wild Card division) retain eligibility to win a $10,000 bonus from all divisions in which they won or finished in the top 25. Wild Card division qualifiers are only eligible for the Wild Card division bonus.
• Thursday, Friday and Saturday tournament: full field (195 pros, 195 co-anglers) days 1 & 2, top 25 pros and co-anglers day 3
  • Top 25 pros and co-anglers from each of five U.S. divisions and the Wild Card division – 150 pros, 150 co-anglers
  • Tournament winners – 15 pros, 15 co-anglers
  • Highest finishing boater and co-angler from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional and the TBF National Championship at the All-American – 8 pros, 8 co-anglers
  • College Fishing National Champions and 2nd place – 4 pros
  • College Fishing National Championship 3rd place – 2 co-anglers
  • High School Fishing National Champions – 2 co-anglers
  • MLF China – 2 pros, 2 co-anglers
  • MLF Canada – 3 pros, 3 co-anglers
  • MLF Mexico – 2 pros, 2 co-anglers
  • MLF Italy – 3 pros, 3 co-anglers
  • MLF Japan – 2 pros, 2 co-anglers
  • MLF South Africa – 2 pros, 2 co-anglers
  • MLF Spain – 2 pros, 2 co-anglers
  • MLF Zimbabwe – 2 pros, 2 co-anglers
• Winners determined by heaviest three-day catch – 5 bass per day boater limit | 5 bass per day co-angler limit
• Live weigh-in coverage all three days
• Live on-the-water coverage on championship day
• Nationally televised on VICE Sports
• No entry fee

Angler of the Year and Co-angler of the Year Awards:

• $5,000 Angler of the Year in each division, excluding the Wild Card division
• $2,000 Co-angler of the Year in each division, excluding the Wild Card division

Your Pathway to the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit and Bass Pro Tour:

• Top five pros from each U.S. division in Angler of the Year standing, excluding the Wild Card division, qualify for the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit. If a top-five pro declines his or her bid or earns qualification through the Pro Circuit or Bass Pro Tour, the next eligible pro qualifies. This process continues through the top 10 pros in each U.S. division.

To encourage a broad mix of tactics and maintain competitive balance, use of forward-facing and 360-degree sonar is restricted to one continuous 3-hour period each day of competition at all qualifying tournaments and the championship. Compliance will be verified by co-anglers just like longstanding tournament rules such as no fishing in an off-limits area and verifying sight fish are hooked inside the mouth. The boater/co-angler format, with its built-in checks and balances, has been the sport’s most secure format, outside of the Bass Pro Tour where tournament officials ride with anglers, since its inception over 30 years ago.

“Enforcing forward-facing and 360-degree sonar use limits in a boater/co-angler format really isn’t that difficult,” Duckett said. “We aren’t asking boaters or co-anglers to do anything more than they always have. Compete in accordance with the rules and verify the legitimacy of each other’s catch. This self-policing model is the backbone of our sport. At Major League Fishing, we are working hard to find solutions that bring anglers back together where everyone is better off.”

Anglers can register for the 2026 Toyota Series at MajorLeagueFishing.com or by calling 270.252.1000, beginning at 8 a.m. CT on the dates listed below:

• Oct. 23 – Entry opens for the top 25 pros and co-anglers and tournament winners from each division of the 2025 Toyota Series and the top 60 boaters and co-anglers from each division of the 2025 Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) – plus the winner of each 2025 BFL tournament (who paid an entry fee for all five tournaments in a division and fished at least two tournaments in the same division) and the top 10 anglers from the 2025 College Fishing National Championship. These anglers enter with a counterpart (pro with co-angler or co-angler with pro) by November 24 to secure their priority entry position.
• Nov. 25 – Entry opens for Phoenix boat owners .
• Nov. 26 – Entry opens for anglers who fished a full division of the 2025 Toyota Series or a full division of the 2025 BFL.
• Dec. 1 – Entry opens for TBF members.
• Dec. 2 – Entry opens to all anglers.

For the complete 2026 Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats schedule, rules and payouts, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Proud sponsors of the MLF Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, Deep Dive App, E3 Sport Apparel, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Humminbird, Lew’s, Mercury, Minn Kota, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Phoenix Boats, PirahnO2, Polaris, Power-Pole, Precision Sonar, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.

For regular Toyota Series updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network, RFD-TV and Game & Fish TV, and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 20 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.