NPFL Extends Application Deadline and Heads to Toledo Bend in 2027

WILKESVILLE, Ohio—The National Professional Fishing League will take its tournament trail to Toledo Bend Reservoir in Louisiana, June 9-11, to fill the final opening of the 2027 schedule. In addition, the deadline for applications to join the 2027 field is extended to midnight on Friday, December 11.

“One of the toughest jobs we have is creating a tournament schedule that challenges our anglers and allows us to partner with outstanding communities when and where the fishing is strong,” said NPFL President Brad Fuller. “By adding Toledo Bend Reservoir to our mix for 2027, we do all of that and bring the League to a legendary fishery.”

Georgia Craven, Executive Director of the Sabine Parish Tourist & Recreation Commission in Louisiana, added “We’re excited to bring the NPFL to Toledo Bend Lake Country and to the host city of Many, Louisiana. We believe our community and our bass fishing are unmatched. June is a great time to visit this area and a great time to fish on Toledo Bend.”

The NPFL 2027 season includes six regular season events and the fourth annual NPFL Championship. With events in Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina, Louisiana, and New York, it promises to be a true test of the best.

In addition to finalization of the 2027 tournament schedule, the League is extending the angler application deadline to Friday, December 11, at midnight. To be eligible to compete, anglers must fill out the League’s online application by that date and time.

“We’re extending the deadline by almost a full month so prospective competitors will have more time to consider the full schedule,” explained Fuller. “And we’re confident that Toledo Bend will make it even more attractive.”

Here is the full 2027 NPFL tournament schedule:

Championship: Lake Mitchell, Alabama
Competition Dates: March 4-6
Host: City of Clanton
Forty-two anglers qualified for this event based on their performances in 2026, including the top 40 anglers in the Work Sharp Angler of the Year standings and the winners of each of the regular season stops. They will compete on 5,850-acre Lake Mitchell, generally regarded as one of the best bass lakes in Alabama though never before visited by any of the top tournament trails. Largemouth and spotted bass will be the targets in this fourth annual test of the best.

Stop 1: Lewis Smith Lake, Alabama
Competition Dates: March 24-26
Host: Visit Cullman
Smith Lake was the site of the 2026 NPFL Championship won by Patrick Walters. The 2027 event comes a month later, a month warmer, and perhaps a month better. The Championship was a cliffhanger. Every day produced new challenges and momentum shifts. Stop 1 in 2027 could be the same, but the fish will likely be more plentiful and bigger as waters warm and the spawn approaches on the 21,000-acre impoundment.

Stop 2: Norfork Lake, Arkansas
Competition Dates: April 15-17
Host: Mountain Home Advertising and Promotion
The three most targeted black bass species are the largemouth, the smallmouth, and the spotted bass. Arkansas’s Norfork Lake has them all, and they’ll all be “players” at Stop 2. What better way to challenge the field? This will be the League’s first visit to the 22,000-acre reservoir.

Stop 3: Lake Murray, South Carolina
Competition Dates: May 12-14
Host: Lake Murray Country
Stop 3 of the 2027 season marks the League’s return to “the Jewel of South Carolina.” Lake Murray covers 48,000 acres and it was the location of the 2024 season finale. That was in December. Next year’s competition will be in May, when the blueback herring are active and big largemouth bass show themselves with splashy, explosive topwater strikes. It should take better than 20 pounds per day to win.

Stop 4: Toledo Bend Reservoir
Competition Dates: June 9-11
Host: Toledo Bend Lake Country
At 185,000 surface acres, Toledo Bend is the largest manmade reservoir ever to appear on an NPFL schedule. It’s also one of the most legendary bass fisheries in the country. In June, anglers should be able to catch quality fish in a wide variety of ways, from an early topwater bite to heavy cover in the shallows, to offshore structure fishing. Toledo Bend has it all, and the only sure thing is that it’ll take heavy limits each day to win.

Stop 5: St. Lawrence River
Competition Dates: September 16-18
Host: City of Massena
In 2025, the NPFL’s stop at the St. Lawrence River out of Massena, New York rewrote the League record book, establishing new top marks for total weight, heaviest average bass, and heaviest average daily catch. In 2026, the NPFL anglers did it again! Those two tournaments were in July. Next year’s event on the world’s greatest smallmouth fishery will be in September. Conditions and fishing patterns will be different, but the bass will still be big and plentiful. For the third year in a row, the St. Lawrence seems a likely candidate to produce the heaviest catches of the year.

Stop 6: Neely Henry Lake, Alabama
Competition Dates: October 21-23
Host: City of Gadsden
The season will end, the Angler of the Year title will be awarded, and the field for the 2028 NPFL Championship will be determined at 11,200-acre Neely Henry Lake in Alabama, where spots and largemouths abound. Fall fishing in the Deep South can be tough, but nothing worth winning should be easy. All the season’s questions will be answered here.

About the National Professional Fishing League
The National Professional Fishing League (NPFL) was founded to bring competitive fishing to a broader audience and offer anglers a platform to compete at the highest level. The NPFL is committed to fostering integrity, competition, and innovation in the sport, providing anglers and fans alike with an exciting and unique experience.

Media Contact: Ken Duke — (407) 574-1898 or [email protected].