MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Officials for BASS, the worldwide authority on bass fishing, announced plans for a new 300-point scoring system for all of its tournament series, including the Bassmaster Tour, the Bassmaster Open Trail and the all- new Bassmaster Elite 50 Series. The new, 300-point system is designed to reward consistency within the series.
Under the new system, the winner of a tournament will receive 300 points. The scoring will decrease in five-point increments to fifth place, four-point increments through 10th place, three-point increments through 15th place, two-point increments to 99th place and one-point increments for the remainder of the field.
"The new points system will more consistently reward anglers for high performance," said Tournament Director Trip Weldon. "Our goal was to encourage even more fierce competition than already exists on the Tour."
Five bonus points will be awarded to the angler who leads each day. This is designed to tighten up scoring and also to provide more opportunities for anglers to catch up in the points standings after a low finish in an event. Under the new scoring, the bonus makes it is easier for them gain points on the leader.
"In order to encourage fierce competition, we adjusted the ratio of points awarded for different finishes and implemented a bonus point system for leaders," Weldon added. "This way, if an angler leads for two days and doesn't win, he is still recognized for competing to the fullest extent of his ability."