BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — B.A.S.S. officials announced the regular-season schedule Friday for the 2021 Bassmaster B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series. The trail, which averaged 144 anglers per event during its inaugural season in 2020, will visit five lakes in five different states before culminating with the B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series Championship, which will be held in conjunction with the 2022 Bassmaster Classic at a site to be determined.
The field of anglers who qualified for the National Championship during the 2020 season will compete in a rescheduled two-day event June 9-10 held in conjunction with the Bassmaster Classic in Fort Worth, Texas. Additional information on that tournament will be released at a later date.
“Despite facing a lot of challenges, we had a great first season for the B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series in 2020,” said B.A.S.S. Nation Director Jon Stewart. “We knew the popularity of kayak fishing had exploded; that was the reason behind starting the trail. But I’m not sure we realized just how incredibly popular the sport was until we held a few events and saw how many hardcore kayak enthusiasts showed up."
The season’s first event will be held on Lake Fork in Alba, Texas, on March 13. When the Kayak Series stopped on this fishery last March, Arkansas angler Cody Milton bested the field with a five-bass limit measuring 100 1/2 inches.
Event No. 2 is scheduled for May 1 on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Ala. From Alabama, the trail will shift to Pickwick Lake in Counce, Tenn., for a July 24 event that will see anglers fishing for a mixed bag of largemouth and smallmouth. The Kayak Series will then visit the Upper Chesapeake in Cecil County, Md., on Aug. 7. The scorching summer conditions and tidal fluctuations will present a tough challenge, but it will also showcase the value of kayak fishing as anglers are able to access creeks and drainages that are unavailable to larger crafts.
The Kayak Series will finish its regular season Sept. 25 on the Upper Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wis. The fishery has been a regular stop for B.A.S.S. and its major tournaments in recent years, hosting a Central Open in 2019 and Elite Series events in 2016 and 2018. The Kayak Series also stopped on the Mississippi during their first season.
Instead of a standard weigh-in that requires scales measuring pounds and ounces, anglers will practice “catch, photograph and release” to determine the kayak tournament standings. When an angler catches a bass, he or she will photograph it lying on an approved measuring board and submit the photo through a special mobile app. The boards will measure each bass in inches down to a quarter of an inch, and the angler with the longest five-bass limit will win.
Entry fees for all five regular-season events will be $250, and each will pay 30 places. Based on a full field of 150 kayaks, the total purse for each event will be $30,000. Registration will begin online Jan.11 at Bassmaster.com.
2021 Bassmaster B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series regular-season schedule
March 13, Lake Fork, Alba, Texas
May 1, Lake Eufaula, Eufaula, Ala.
July 24, Pickwick Lake, Counce, Tenn.
Aug. 7, Upper Chesapeake, Cecil County, Md.
Sept. 25, Upper Mississippi River, La Crosse, Wis.