The Bassmaster Classic Wild Card, a 3-day tournament set for later this week at Lake Okeechobee, will feature a 49-angler field, well below the 175-boat field B.A.S.S. has targeted when it announced the event in October 2012. The winner of the tournament will claim the final berth in the 2014 Bassmaster Classic.
The disclosure was made in a story posted at Bassmaster.com over the Thanksgiving holiday. B.A.S.S. typically does not publish field sizes or identities of registered competitors prior to competition. The event was open to all Elite Series anglers who failed to qualify for the Classic as well as anglers who competed in at least three Bassmaster Opens in 2013. The full field will fish the first 2 days and the Top 12 after day 2 will advance to the final day.
Among the 49-man field are 13 Floridians, a list highlighted by 9-time B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year Roland Martin. Shaw Grigsby, another Florida native, and former Classic champion Boyd Duckett are among 19 Elite Series anglers in the field.
To view the entire field list, click here.
