“The Alabama Bass Trail is excited to announce this new tournament for amateur anglers,” said Alabama Bass Trail Program Director Kay Donaldson. “Since the launch of the Alabama Bass Trail in 2012, we have received numerous requests for the development of a tournament series. We are challenged with creating more fishing opportunities in the State of Alabama, and we believe this gives anglers in the southeast an opportunity to fish a highly competitive trail on the best lakes in Alabama,”

Donaldson said the Alabama Bass Trail was the brainchild of Gov. Robert Bentley.

“He decided he wanted to go into the tournament business and generate economic impact with fishing. We started out and the sponsors came on board and angler response was incredible. We filled up the Northern Division in 72 days.”

The Northern Division has 200 boats registered, with 400 anglers ready to kick off the tournament trail Saturday, Feb. 1, on Lake Guntersville. Competing in the Northern Division will be anglers from seven states: Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, Ohio, and Missouri.

So far, Donaldson said, some 230 anglers have signed up for the South Division, but the goal is to reach at least 150 to 200 boats. Registration is available online at www.alabamabasstrail.org.

The entry fee per tournament is $250 per team.

The schedule includes: North Division – Feb. 1, Lake Guntersville; March 22, Pickwick Lake; April 5, Neely Henry Lake; May 31, Wheeler Lake; June 21, Logan Martin Lake. South Division – March 1, Mobile-Tensaw River Delta; March 15, Lake Eufaula; April 19, Lake Jordan; May 10, Alabama River (Millers Ferry); June 7, Lay Lake.

Donaldson said the schedule was created to place the tournaments at the optimum time on the various fishing waters.

A few select tournaments, including the February 1 launch tournament, will be filmed and aired at a later broadcast on Anglers Channel, reaching a viewership of over 10 million households.

According to Donaldson, each tournament is expected to pump an estimated $500,000 into the local economy of the host city. “Anglers typically pre-fish, or scout a location, three or four days prior to a tournament, and during this time, they patronize restaurants, gas stations, and tackle shops. During a tournament, approximately $300 is spent each day on accommodations, gasoline, food and other supplies,” she said.

Each tournament has a guaranteed first prize of $10,000, plus $23,000 to the top 20 places and $500 to big fish. There are also numerous bonus packages available to winning and placing anglers.

The Top 50 teams for both the Northern and Southern Divisions will advance to the 2014 ABT Team Championship Oct. 10-11 at Smith Lake in Jasper. Plus, the top 25 student boats overall will be in the final event. To be eligible for the championship, teams must enter all five qualifying events in their respective division.

The grand prize for the no-entry fee championship is a fully-rigged Phoenix 619 Pro Bass Boat with a 150-horsepower Mercury Outboard, valued at $40,000. Adding to that excitement level is an opportunity to advance to the Bassmasters Team Championship and possibly earn a berth in the Bassmaster Classic.

“We are looking at an estimated $420,000 total in prizes for the series,” Donaldson said. “We think the anglers are going to really enjoy it because they will have the opportunity to advance to our championship and from there the opportunity to go to the BASS Team Championship.”

Alabama Bass Trail Tournament sponsors include Bill Penney Toyota; the Alabama Tourism Department; Phoenix Bass Boats, Inc.; McDonalds of Alabama; Pradco-FISHING, representing BOOYAH and YUM; Dobyns Rods; Randy Jones Agency – Nationwide; T & H Marine Supplies, Inc.; Alabama Power Company; Buffalo Rock, Inc.; Jet-Pep, Inc.; Tennessee Valley Authority; Rigid Industries, Inc.; Frogg Toggs, Inc.; Go Pro; and Gander Mountain. Fishlife will be the official tournament directors and Elite Outdoors Media will be the live-streaming company.

 

Alabama Bass Trail North Division

Sat, Feb 1, 2014

Lake Guntersville

Lake Guntersville State Park

www.alabamabasstrail.org

Call Kay Donaldson, Program Director, at 1-855-934-7425