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BASS Report
BASS Announces Opens Schedule with Nine Events in Three Divisions
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. B.A.S.S. officials revealed the schedule for the 2021 Basspro.com Bassmaster Opens trail with a later start date than usual and a change in format from the past three seasons.
Instead of two divisions with four tournaments, this year's Opens circuit will include three divisions ó Southern, Central and Northern ó with three events in each.
All nine tournament winners will earn an automatic berth to the 2022 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk if they fish all events in their division. Additionally, the top three finishers from each division's points standings will receive an invitation to fish the 2022 Bassmaster Elite Series, as will the top three from the overall standings accumulated in all three divisions.
The payout per event will be $250,400 (based on a field of 150 anglers), giving the nine-event circuit a total payout of more than $2.25 million. In a change from previous seasons, the full field will fish the first two days, with the winning co-angler being named after Day 2. The final round will feature the Top 10 pros.
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BASS Report
B.A.S.S. Announces Long-Awaited 2021 Bassmaster Elite Series Schedule
After the shortest offseason break in the trail's 16-year history, B.A.S.S. officials announced Thursday that the Bassmaster Elite Series will open its 2021 tournament slate Feb. 11-14 on the St. Johns River in Florida.
The season-opener will begin just over three months after the final event of a 2020 schedule that was reworked due to the COVID-19 pandemic, causing a much later finish than usual.
"We're as excited about this schedule as any that we've ever put together for the Elite Series," said B.A.S.S. CEO Bruce Akin. "It features a good mix of venues that have become fixtures for B.A.S.S. and a few we've been to before but haven't visited in a while."
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By Lee Duracz
The final stop of the Polar Bear Opens by FishStyx custom Rods for 2020 was Sunday at Dukes Bridge and it produced a record number of teams (25) that came out to try their luck on this big fish factory.
The sun shined most of the day with the temperatures reaching around 50 degrees, winds under 10 mph and fish biting.
Oddly enough, Dukes had the coldest water temperatures ranging as low as 40 to 44 degrees. Yet again, teams reported their catches on 3 main baits, the ever trusty blade bait, the Ned rig and even some single swimbaits came into play.
Floyd Wolkins and Bassin’ Bill Mathews - 1st Place
The winning team of Floyd Wolkins and Bassin’ Bill Mathews utilized those same techniques and they were able to consistently catch fish all day and weigh in a 17.80-pound limit which blew the entire field away by nearly 3 pounds.
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John Gipson and Justin Hahaj - 1st Place
John Gipson and Justin Hahaj raked a 22-pound, 9-ounce limit of smallmouth from the no wake zone of the St. Joseph River at Benton Harbor to win the Southwest Michigan Fall Tournament last weekend.
The duo won $260 by fishing 7 to 18 feet of water around bait balls.
“I think the key was to stay near slightly warmer water and some current,” said Gipson. “That’s where we saw bait on our graph. The surface temperature was 43-44 degrees in some areas and as low as 39 in others. We had no bites in slack water or the cooler areas.”
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By Lee Duracz
The weather and the fishing were perfect for the fourth stop of the Polar Bear Opens by FishStyx custom rods, held on the St. Joseph River at Six Span Bridge.
Temperatures reached near 50 degrees and the winds were usually 5 mph or less out of the northeast. That blows with the direction of the current which makes for great fishing. Water temps were around 45 degrees in most areas.
Most of the 23 teams participating reported stopping on fish first thing in the morning and catching them on almost anything they threw. Fish were being caught on A-rigs, blade baits, Ned rigs and swim baits in the morning and then slower presentations prevailed later in the day.