Bass Pro Shops announces $1 million prize for national amateur open
First-of-it's-kind 50th Anniversary series includes stop at Grand Lake, Oct. 16
Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris announced his company will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2021 offering a $1 million check for a national amateur team motoring any boat sold through Bass Pro—no pro anglers allowed. The event also will raise about $1 million for conservation.
Qualifying tournaments hosting up to 250 boat each are set across the country from Florida’s huge Lake Okeechobee to the Chesapeake Bay to Nevada’s Lake Meade. The list includes a qualifier set for Oct. 16 on Oklahoma’s Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees.
Collegiate team anglers also will have a shot at qualifying for a special division prize, as will winners of amateur contests sponsored by Tracker, Ranger, Nitro, Triton, Sun Tracker, Tahoe and MAKO brand boats, according to Bass Pro.
Online registration for the first three regional qualifiers will be open for 24 hours beginning at 10 a.m. on February 10.
Total purse will be $4.3 million, with the final three-day event, televised live on NBC, at Table Rock Lake beginning November 19.
Morris, who announced the tournament in a live feed at 9 a.m. Monday from the replica storefront of his first shop inside his company’s Springfield headquarters complex said the event celebrates the company’s 50th year with recognition for amateur anglers and with a conservation effort to help with habitat management of the nation’s reservoirs.
“It all ties back to what really motivated me to start Bass Pro Shops almost 50 years ago, in 1970 I fished in the first national tournament, Ray Scott’s All-American tournament on Table Rock Lake,” he said.
The tournament recognizes the company’s life-blood—families and amateur anglers the folks who used to walk into that small hometown bait shop five decades ago and visit Bass Pro nationwide today, he said. Families are encouraged to enter with entry fees at $450 per angler or $250 for youth 12-17. Youth under age 12 enter for free, according to a Bass Pro Shops announcement.
One third of entry fees will be donated to The National Fish Habitat Initiative. Toyota and Bass Pro Shops each will match a third, for an amount equal to 100 percent of the entry fees—expected to top $1 million—going to the Initiative.
The National Fish Habitat Initiative began at Table Rock after Johnny Morris convened the Army Corps of Engineers, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Missouri Department of Conservation, and Arkansas Fish and Game Commission in 2007 to establish a research-based approach to improving habitat in Army Corps of Engineers-managed reservoirs.
Piloted on Table Rock Lake, the initiative has supported over 1,000 projects in all 50 states, restoring tens-of-thousands of acres of habitat including freshwater impoundments and over 2,000 miles of rivers.
“This is to celebrate our history, thank our customers and do some great work for conservation, ”Morris said.
How to register / How to qualify
Online registration for the first three regional qualifiers will be open for
24 hours beginning at 10 a.m. (Central Time) on February 10 at basspro.com/shop/usopen
Entry fees are $450 per person, $250 for youth ages 12 – 17, and free for kids under 12. Entry includes a US Open Gift Bag for each team member with exclusive goods valued at $150.
Due to anticipated high demand, boat owners can only register for one qualifying event, with all entrants placed in an independently verified drawing to determine the 250 teams eligible for each event. Individuals who do not receive a slot in the regional qualifiers can register for the “last chance” qualifier on Bull Shoals Lake in Arkansas, with registration opening later this year.
2. Win one of several existing fishing competitions across the United States and around the world organized by authorized independent dealers of Tracker, Ranger, Nitro, Triton, Sun Tracker, Tahoe and MAKO brand boats, with details available at basspro.com/usopen.
3. Collegiate fishing champions of the three top college trail events also will get an invitation to the championship with special prizes and recognition for that division.
Qualifying events will be open to 250 two-person teams at the following times and locations:
Lake Okeechobee, Fla. – March 13
Lake Ray Roberts (Dallas), Texas – April 17
Lake Mead, Nev. – April 24
Chesapeake Bay, Md. – July 17
Lake St. Clair (Detroit), Mich. – Aug. 21
Old Hickory Lake (Nashville), Tenn. - Sept. 11
Grand Lake ‘O the Cherokees (Tulsa), Okla – Oct. 16
Last Chance Qualifier: Bull Shoals Lake, Ark. –Nov. 17
Culminating in the Grand Championship finale for those who qualify: Table Rock Lake, Mo. –Nov. 19
For more information and detail go to basspro.com/usopen