By Louie Stout

Bo Thomas

Bo Thomas says he’s following his dad’s footsteps into the Bassmaster Open Tournament Trail.

But this isn’t quite the same as what pops Mickey faced when he fished the Bassmaster Opens years ago.

Son Bo…at age 24…has visions of making the Bassmaster Classic and qualifying for the Bassmaster Elites. He will have to do it against a very, very strong field and a tougher format in B.A.S.S.’s newly designed Open Elite Qualifiers (EQ) Division.

“I’m 100 percent in,” Thomas said this week. “I have the sponsors and support from family and friends. This is everything I’ve been working for ever since my dad fished these events.”

Under the old format, you could fish three Opens, do well and make it to the Classic and potentially qualify for the Elites.

Under the EQ format, win an Open and you get a Classic invite, but you must fish all nine EQs and do well enough to qualify for one of the nine invitations B.A.S.S. grants into the Elite Series the next following season.

Entry fee is $1,800 per event and 175 anglers have signed up. Thomas, who graduated from Western Michigan University and was president of the school’s college bass team, will be banging heads with some of the country’s best anglers.

For example, former Classic qualifiers Ish Monroe and Bobby Lane, who left B.A.S.S. three years ago to fish the fledgling Pro Bass Tour (MLF), are entered in the Open EQs with hopes of getting back to the Classic and Elites.

Bo Thomas

Other veterans Bo will be fishing against include Tennessee pro Brad Knight, the 2015 Forrest Wood Cup champion along with a string of former Elites, including Destin DeMarion, Charlie Hartley, Dale Hightower, Harvey Horne, Shane Lineberger, Yusuke Miyazaki, Kyle Monti, James Niggemeyer, Garrett Paquette and Casey Scanlon.

Does he find that intimidating?

“Not really,” said Thomas. “I’m just excited to see the level of competition. I got to fish against a lot of good anglers at the collegiate level and I’ve done pretty well fishing out of state. I know a lot of the veteran pros and it’s going to be cool to fish against guys that my dad once fished against.”

Thomas believes the schedule sets up well for his talents.

“I do well in deep-water situations and we will have some of those kinds of fisheries,” he noted. “I get to use my electronics and find fish deep on structure which is one of my strong points.”

Bo Thomas' Boat

Thomas says RecPro, a Michiana RV restoration company, is his title sponsor. Other primary sponsors include Christianson Industries, Bassboatseats.com, Buck N’ Bass clothing and D&R Sports Center. All except Buck N’ Bass are Michiana companies.

“They’ve all been supportive of my decision and think this is a great opportunity for me as well as a means to help them promote their brands through fishing.”

Other Michigan anglers invested in the Open EQs are Buck Mallory (Lawton), Garrett Paquette, (Canton) and Paul Tabisz (Whitmore Lake). Paquette is trying to recertify after being bumped from the Elites two years ago.

Billy McDonald (Greenwood) is the only Hoosier venturing into the Opens.

Click here for a state-by-state list of the 2023 EQ Qualifiers.