B.A.S.S. officials today announced the schedule for a new kayak series with stops around the country and a championship event to be held in conjunction with the 2021 Bassmaster Classic.
You don’t have to look very hard these days to find a kayak in the bed of a truck or strapped to the roof of an SUV,” said Bruce Akin, CEO of B.A.S.S. “People are bass fishing from kayaks all over the world – and they’re doing it everywhere from big lakes and rivers to small creeks and ponds.
“With this new trail, we wanted to give those anglers an opportunity to show what they can do from a small craft.”
The inaugural tournament will be held in conjunction with the 50th edition of the Bassmaster Classic on Logan Martin Lake in Pell City, Ala., on March 5. Classic competition kicks-off on nearby Lake Guntersville the next morning. Other events will be held on Lake Fork in Lake Fork Marina, Texas (March 14), Chickamauga Lake in Dayton, Tenn. (May 23), the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wis. (Aug. 15) and Clear Lake in Lakeport, Calif. (Aug. 29).
Entry fees for all of the events will be $250, and each will pay 30 places. Based on a full field of 150 kayaks, the total purse for each event will be $30,000.
In addition to title sponsor Huk and presenting sponsor Abu Garcia, the kayak series is partnering with Old Town for the inaugural season.
Instead of a standard weigh-in that uses scales to measure pounds and ounces, anglers will practice “catch, photograph and release” to determine the standings.
When an angler catches a bass, he or she will photograph the fish lying on a standard-issue measuring board and submit the photo through a special mobile app provided by TourneyX. The boards will measure each fish in inches down to a quarter of an inch, and the angler with the longest five-bass limit will win.
“There will be certain criteria for the photograph to be deemed a valid photograph,” B.A.S.S. Nation director Jon Stewart said. “It will have to show the fish’s nose touching a certain part of the board and the fish’s tail touching a line. It will also have to show the identifying mark on the board that is specific to that tournament.”
Once the photograph is submitted via the TourneyX app, a tournament director and judges will deem them legal or not and enter an official length. A real-time leaderboard will be available online during the tournament until an hour before weigh-in.
“This is pretty standard procedure for kayak tournament fishing,” Stewart said. “In fact, most tournament trails use this very same app when hosting kayak events.”
Registration is now open online at https://ssl.palmcoastd.com/app/bass/registration/kayak/2020. Anglers must be a B.A.S.S. member to sign up.
