The 2016 Bassmaster Elite Series schedule has been expanded to nine regular-season events – up from eight in recent years. It'll also visit a new venue (Winyah Bay in South Carolina) and includes an event at which competition days will alternate between two lakes (Bull Shoals and Norfork in Arkansas).
The schedule has three direct conflicts with the FLW Tour slate released earlier this summer, making it impossible for an angler to fish both circuits, as Ish Monroe did this year and 14 competitors did in 2013, when the schedules were more amenable to such an undertaking.
“We believe the 2016 Elite Series lineup of lakes is the best we’ve ever put together,” said B.A.S.S. CEO Bruce Akin in a press release. “Our Elite anglers will find a lot to love about it, and we are expecting to attract new fans in new places this year. That’s the key to growing the sport.”
Here's how the schedule stacks up:
> March 17-20 -- St. Johns River -- Palatka, Fla.
> April 7-10 -- Winyah Bay -- Georgetown, S.C.
> April 21-24 -- Bull Shoals/Norfork Lakes -- Mountain Home, Ark.
> April 28-May 1 -- Wheeler Lake -- Decatur, Ala.
> May 12-15 -- Toledo Bend Reservoir -- Many, La.
> June 8-12 -- BASSFest -- TBA
> June 23-26 -- Cayuga Lake -- Union Springs, N.Y.
> Aug. 11-14 -- Potomac River -- Charles County, Md.
> Sept. 8-11 -- Mississippi River -- La Crosse, Wis.
> Sept. 15-18 -- AOY Championship -- TBA
Winyah Bay, where the Pee Dee, Black and Sampit rivers of South Carolina converge, appears on the Elite list for the first time, although B.A.S.S. club anglers fished it during the B.A.S.S. Nation Southern Divisional last April.
The third Elite stop, to be held in April out of Mountain Home, Ark., will have anglers alternating days on Bull Shoals and Norfork. The full field of approximately 110 competitors will compete one day on Bull Shoals and the next on Norfork. The field will be cut to 50 for the semifinals on Bull Shoals, and then to the Top 12 for the final round on Norfork.
“This event will challenge the pros’ strategic decision-making during practice,” said Angie Thompson, vice president of events and sponsorship activation for B.A.S.S. “Bull Shoals and Norfork will fish very similarly, but the anglers will have to be strategic in how and where they practice for the two lakes.”
Weigh-ins will be on the campus of Arkansas State University-Mountain Home, one of the most picturesque settings in the Ozarks.
Akin said special announcements are planned later for other events in 2016, including the 3rd annual BASSfest and the AOY Championship.
