“My son and I and a couple of other guys are doing the series,” said tournament founder Bill Huffman. “We just got tired of some of the same old routines at tournaments. Everybody wants you to be a member, so you have to pay club dues. I thought, why make someone have to be a member if they are already fishing your series anyway and helping to popularize it?”

Huffman said that since a lot of tournament series keep a lot of the money instead of giving it back to the fishermen, the Southern Pro Am plan is to provide a better payback with no membership.

“All you have to do is make the top 40 to qualify for the championship,” he said. “We also let people sign up at the event, which most series don’t do anymore. In this economy some guys are tight on money, going from paycheck to paycheck, so if they get the money they can sign up the morning of the tournament.”

The tournament series in Florida this year starts off on Toho this Sunday, the moves to the Harris Chain of Lakes Feb. 19, followed by Lake Okeechobee March 18, on to Lake Istokpoga April 1, back to the Harris Chain April 29, then Okeechobee May 20, with the final qualifier on the Toho Chain of Lakes June 10.

“Right now our championship is scheduled July 28-29 out of Roland Martin’s Marina on Lake Okeechobee, but if there is low water that time of year our backup plan is to hold it out of the Camp Mack River Resort on the Toho Chain,” Huffman said.

The goal of the series, he said, is to expand into Georgia and Florida next year and the Carolinas the following year.

“Each state will have it’s own division with anglers qualifying for a true Southern Bass Championship in the Southeast,” he said. Entry fee for each tournament will be $150 per boat, with $100 paid back that day. Part of the rest will include $10 for the big bass fund, $7 for that day and $3 for the championship big bass, and $20 for the championship purse.

Huffman said fishing should be very good for the inaugural tournament this weekend on the Toho Chain.

“I’ve been checking some fishing reports and it looks like some big fish will be weighed in. I think it will take an 8-pounder or more to win big fish and I think it will take 20 pounds just to get into the top five.”

He said anglers have been catching bass on “rubber worms,” from 6- to 8-inch worms up to big 10-inch worms, both Texas- and Carolina-rigged.

“I think there will also be some fish caught on topwater baits early in the day and we are also starting to see some spawning fish moving up shallow, so sight fishing might be an element this weekend,” he said. “It looks like the weather will cooperate, too, with temperatures in the mid 70s for highs and mid 50s for lows.”

 

Southern Pro Am Tournaments Open Team Bass Series

Sun, Jan 22, 2012

Toho Chain

Camp Mack’s River Resort

Call Bill Huffman at 941-735-4471

www.spabass.com