AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open to Be Held on Lake Dardanelle This Weekend Over 300 teams have registered to compete at Lake Dardanelle for over $30,000 in prizes and contingencies
SAN ANTONIO, TX (October 7, 2026) – The Association of Collegiate Anglers’ second major event of the fall is set to take place this upcoming weekend. The AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open will be contested on the fertile waters of Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, AR on October 10-11. Over 300 teams have registered to compete for their share of the more than $30,000 in prizes and contingencies up for grabs, as well as double points to count towards the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.
The AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open is a no-entry-fee event that will provide free snack bags, meals, and more to anglers over the course of the weekend. A special thanks to ACA series partners for making this possible, including AFTCO the title sponsor of this event. AFTCO has stepped up in a huge way to support college anglers. This year’s tournament boasts a close to $10,000 increase in overall payout due to AFTCO’s contribution of cash and prizes. AFTCO representatives will be present at the angler meeting on Friday handing out free swag and promoting their discount program.
Anglers will also be able to participate in the AFTCO Bank Bag program throughout the weekend. Click here to read more. The Top 30 in the final event standings will receive a prize payout. Overall Big Bass will earn a new Power-Pole, and numerous exact places will be awarded. View the prize list at this link.
The playing field for this weekend’s event is Lake Dardanelle. This Arkansas River fishery has hosted this tournament numerous times and yields a lot of bites during the fall. Weather patterns are forecasted to remain stable and consistent throughout the remainder of the week. Anticipate anglers to find quality bites during practice and carry that over to the event. The ACA put together a lake preview last week. Read that article here.
This weekend’s tournament is also a double points event to count towards the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia. Schools will be able to earn points for their two highest-placing teams inside of the Top 200. 1st place will be awarded 2,000 points. 24 of the Top 25 ranked teams will compete at Lake Dardanelle, making this another stacked field that will showcase the best schools in the nation.
The AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open will feature extensive coverage to include live stream of on-the-water tournament competition, live stream of weigh-in, live blog, content across social media, and more. The live blog will start on Friday and continue through the conclusion of the event. For both tournament days, live coverage from on the water will be streamed from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM. Weigh-in will also be live streamed each day. Keep up with all of the action across these platforms; website, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Outdoor Action.
The Association of Collegiate Anglers (ACA) is a division of CarecoTV that was created over twenty years ago to facilitate growth, development, and provide structure within competitive collegiate bass fishing, with emphasis on competitive fishing events nationwide. The ACA created the original BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship which has now evolved into the Bass Pro Shops Collegiate Bass Fishing Series, which is now recognized as the longest-running consecutive collegiate bass fishing series in existence. The ACA has also created various other programs such as the Collegiate School of the Year Rankings system, College Bass Fishing Open, Collegiate Big Bass Bash and the College Bass Fishing Springtime Slam.
The ACA lineup of major college fishing events includes a variety of nationwide tournaments that are multi-day tournaments, all of which are televised and streamed on several networks, as well as streamed on a variety of connected platforms allowing fans to follow anyway they choose on any device. These major events have no entry fees and no membership costs associated with them for the college anglers competing. The ACA also provides support to numerous schools operating regional events nationwide which is an effort to provide more opportunities to grow the exposure and awareness of college fishing.
The ACA owns the Bass Pro Shops Collegiate Bass Fishing Series, Bass Pro Shops School of Year presented by Abu Garcia program, and associated assets which is widely regarded as the most comprehensive and prestigious collegiate bass fishing title today.
Thanks in part to the large diversity of media exposure the ACA provides, the series boasts the largest amount of televised and streaming coverage of any collegiate fishing series. This includes a dedicated television series on numerous television networks and streaming platforms, as well as additional coverage of select events inside other programs.
This combination includes coverage from national and regional television networks as well as being streamed online on various apps and connected devices. You can also find coverage via video on demand online at any time of past events thanks to coverage on OutdoorActionTV.com and PursuitUp.com
