ESPN and BASS have just made a major announcement that changes the entire complexion of the Bassmaster Tour season and the Bassmaster Classic.

Here's a brief glimpse at the changes announced, followed by more details below:

> The 2006 Tour season will take place from spring through fall with 11 events
> The E50s have been dropped. Instead, there will be three "Major" events
> Starting in 2006, the Classic will take place in February
> A Classic win now pays $500,000



Extended Schedule

The latest moves are believed to be the brainchild of bass GM Don Rucks and they represent his first significant moves since he was named the new GM last fall.

He said he looked at the Tour schedule, saw everything jammed into the spring and wanted to extend it out further.

According to Rucks, the expanded and extended schedule is expected to help create more awareness for sponsor products, help BASS recruit new members and help the pros better earn a living. Naturally, the extended season delivers a fresh stream of content for ESPN's new shows – notably BassCenter, Loudmouth Bass and Bass Tech – as well.

"It's all part of our plan to build the sport and bring the best possible value and experience to our fans, members, anglers and sponsors," he said. "We've looked at this from each of those perspectives and are confident that the changes will be good for everyone concerned. We're making the announcement now so our anglers will be aware of the qualifying process for the 2006 Classic."

The spread-out schedule, with 11 regular-season Tour events (plus three majors), could also foment a cross-tour movement among pros. Without back-to-back tournaments, anglers like Clark Wendlandt and Dan Morehead might be better able to handle the rigors of a two-tour season. Likewise, it could free up anglers like Mark Davis and Kevin VanDam to also compete on the FLW Tour.

The new Tour format begins after the 2006 Classic. Here are the dates BASS gave for its 2006 competition year (all dates are 2006, dates and locations to be finalized).

Federation Championship: Jan. 14-21
Bassmaster Classic: Feb. 24-26
Tour #1: March 4
Tour #2: March 18
Tour #3: April 1
Tour #4: April 22
Tour #5: May 6
Bassmaster Memorial (Major): May 19-21
Tour #6: June 3
Tour #7: June 17
Tour #8: July 1
Tour #9: July 15
Bassmaster American (Major): July 28-30
Tour #10: Aug. 12
Bassmaster Legends (Major): Aug. 25-27
Tour #11: Sept. 9
Busch Shootout: Oct. 28
Open Championship: Nov. 18

For BassFans, the new schedule should create a more prolonged and intriguing race for Angler of the Year (AOY). It should also broaden the range of winning techniques. Pros and manufacturers have noted many times that some techniques seemed to disappear from the Tour in recent years. The extended schedule should, in all likelihood, reward the more versatile anglers and bring a renewed focus on other techniques like deep cranking.

The extended schedule might also make it easier for BASS and the pros to visit western and/or northern states throughout the course of the Tour year.

The 11-event season – nearly twice the size of this year's 6-event season – is new, but not entirely new. The 2003 season encompassed 10 events, and there were 6 regular-season events last year, plus four E50s, for a total of 10 again.

And BASS used to run a split season, with some events in fall, then others the following spring. However, when the Majors are lumped into the mix, BASS will offer 14 Tour-level events. Clearly, an unprecedented move.

The Majors

The E50s were an idea everyone seemed to love. The Majors are really a rework of the E50s with a similar qualification process. However, the E50s were blocked together and took place after the Tour season ended. The Majors, on the other hand, are interspersed within the Tour season. And each major victory pays $250,000, which makes them the richest non-championship tournaments currently running.

The tournaments themselves have individual names that seek to capitalize on BASS' tradition. The three events are called: The Bassmaster Memorial, Bassmaster American and Bassmaster Legend.

Here's the qualification process for the majors. Note the field as described below is 51 anglers. That's because the rescheduled Classic (see below) means there will be two Classics in a row. For the 2007 season, the Major field will likely revert to 50 anglers.

> Top 10 anglers on the all-time BASS money list
> Top 37 anglers from the Bassmaster Tour based on a 3-year average in AOY standings
> 2005 Classic champion
> 2006 Classic champion
> 2005 Bassmaster AOY
> 2005 Rookie of the Year

Classic Details

The 2006 Classic will take place in February. It will be the first time in 20 years the Classic is not held in summer. The primary reason, according to BASS, is to showcase the sport during the peak of the bite. The Classic bags have been small in recent years and according to some, small limits are not good for the sport.

"A late February or early March Classic accomplishes our objective to fish the best waters at the very best times," said BASS tournament director Trip Weldon.

Also noteworthy is that the Classic – the premier event in pro fishing – will take place prior to the start of the regular season. A similar model occurs with NASCAR's Daytona 500.

Some have pointed out that the Classic could take place during a heavy spawn, which would accentuate sight-fishing, but that, of course, will be determined by the chosen date, venue and weather patterns.

Also noteworthy is that two Classics will take place within a 6-month period – the 2005 Classic in Pittsburgh and the 2006 Classic, location to be announced. This is unavoidable as the new format is adopted. Anglers will qualify for the 2006 Classic based on 2005 performances.

The other big Classic change is the increased payout. First place now pays $500,000 – roughly a 250% increase over the 2004 payout. That now puts the Classic's first-place payout on par with the FLW Championship. The total Classic purse has been increased to $1 million (from $700,000), but BASS released no details on whether that will affect payout through the field.

The 2006 Classic field will be comprised of 42 anglers, as follows:
> Bassmaster AOY
> Top 10 finishers from the 2005 Classic
> Top 10 anglers from the 2005 E50s
> Top 5 anglers from the 2005 Open Championship
> 6 BASS Federation regional champions (up from 5 qualifiers to reflect addition of one division for the 2005 season).
> Weekend Series champion

Notable

> There is no word yet on whether entry fees for the Tour will increase or what the overall payback structure will look like. Nor is there any word on what 1st place for a 2006 Tour event will pay.