B.A.S.S. releases schedule for revamped Opens

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – B.A.S.S. officials have announced the schedule for the revamped 2025 Bassmaster Opens, and the schedule features eight events – including some vintage tournament stops for the organization – across two divisions.

For 2025, Opens anglers placing in the Top 50 in each division’s Angler of the Year race will advance to the Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers series. This stand-alone series will feature three events, spanning from September through November, where anglers will compete to qualify for the Bassmaster Elite Series. The Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers series schedule will be released at a later date.

“We are proud of the diversity of this schedule,” said Executive Director of Tournaments Hank Weldon. “Each division works its way from south to north as the year goes along and mixes in different kinds of fisheries from highland reservoirs to river systems to tidal fisheries as well. At the end of the Opens, we should have a very diverse and tested group ready to move into the EQs.”

The schedule begins Jan. 23-25 at Clarks Hill Reservoir in Evans, Ga. This event marks the first time an Open event has visited the fishery, which is the third-largest artificial lake east of the Mississippi River. Featuring more than 400 miles of shoreline, Clarks Hill is referred to by Georgians as “Georgia’s Freshwater Coast.”

After a break of more than two months, Division 1 will pick up competition again April 16-18 at the Tombigbee River in Columbus, Miss., a stop that hasn’t appeared on a Bassmaster schedule since 2004. Arkansas pro Mark Davis brought 62-4 to the scales to win that event by a massive 15-pound, 1-ounce margin over Kevin VanDam.

Division 1 then heads to Upper Chesapeake Bay in North East, Md., July 23-25. Elite Series pro Aaron Martens picked up a 2015 victory at Chesapeake Bay with a total of 70-2. The Division then heads over to St. Lawrence River in Waddington, N.Y., July 31-Aug. 2, which claimed the No. 1 spot overall on the 2024 Bassmaster Magazine 100 Best Bass Lakes list for its deep, clear waters that are famous for chunk smallmouth.

Division 2 kicks off its season Feb. 13-15 at Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Jasper, Texas. The 114,000-acre Sam Rayburn ended up No. 7 in the 2024 Bassmaster Magazine 100 Best Bass Lakes: Central list for producing giant largemouth consistently. The next stop for Division 2 will be a familiar one, as the Opens return to Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley in Paris, Tenn., March 6-8.

Division 2 then takes a swing to a destination that has not been visited by Opens competitors in nearly a decade — Norfork Lake in Mountain Home, Ark., April 3-5, where anglers will find plentiful bass in more than 22,000 acres of crystal blue water set in the Ozark Mountains.

The final stop of Division 2 will be Aug. 14-16 on Leech Lake in Walker, Minn., where this year 22-year-old Easton Fothergill fished his home waters to win an Open event with a weight of 49-13. The 2024 stop was the first visit for the Opens to Leech Lake.

Also new for the 2025 Opens and EQ Series, the new electronics rule for 2025 that was implemented for the Elite Series will also apply for the Opens. That includes standardization practices that allow for only one live transducer connected to the trolling motor shaft and capping total screen inches at 55. Complete details of the 2025 Opens format can be found at Bassmaster.com.

2025 Bassmaster Opens schedule:

Division 1

Clarks Hill Reservoir -- Jan. 23-25 -- Evans, Ga.
Tombigbee River -- April 16-18 -- Columbus, Miss.
Upper Chesapeake Bay -- July 23-25 -- North East, Md.
St. Lawrence River -- July 31-Aug. 2 -- Waddington, N.Y.


Division 2

Sam Rayburn Reservoir -- Feb. 13-15 -- Jasper, Texas
Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley -- March 6-8 -- Paris, Tenn.
Norfork Lake -- April 3-5 -- Mountain Home, Ark.
Leech Lake -- Aug. 14-16 -- Walker, Minn.

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