B.A.S.S. announces schedule for enhanced 2025 Bassmaster Opens season External Inbox

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — B.A.S.S. officials have announced the schedule for the revamped 2025 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN, and the schedule features eight events — including some vintage tournament stops for the organization — across two divisions.

For 2025, Opens anglers placing in the Top 50 in each division’s Angler of the Year race will advance to the Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers series. This stand-alone series will feature three events, spanning from September through November, where anglers will compete to qualify for the Bassmaster Elite Series. The Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers series schedule will be released at a later date.

“We are proud of the diversity of this schedule,” said Executive Director of Tournaments Hank Weldon. “Each division works its way from south to north as the year goes along and mixes in different kinds of fisheries from highland reservoirs to river systems to tidal fisheries as well. At the end of the Opens, we should have a very diverse and tested group ready to move into the EQs.”

The schedule begins Jan. 23-25 at Clarks Hill Reservoir in Evans, Ga. This event marks the first time an Open event has visited the fishery, which is the third-largest artificial lake east of the Mississippi River. Featuring more than 400 miles of shoreline, Clarks Hill is referred to by Georgians as “Georgia’s Freshwater Coast.”

After a break of more than two months, Division 1 will pick up competition again April 16-18 at Tombigbee River in Columbus, Miss., a stop that hasn’t appeared on a Bassmaster schedule since 2004. Arkansas pro Mark Davis brought 62-4 to the scales to win that event by a massive 15-pound, 1-ounce margin over Kevin VanDam.

“Visit Columbus, partnering with the city of Columbus and Lowndes County, is thrilled to welcome Bassmaster and its anglers,” said Frances Glenn, tourism director for Columbus-Lowndes Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We cannot wait to show off our beautiful town and great fishing on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. A tournament of this size is a huge economic boost not only for our hospitality partners, but our area as well. Columbus is known for its warm Southern hospitality, and we are looking forward to welcoming a national tournament.”

Division 1 then heads to Upper Chesapeake Bay in North East, Md., July 23-25. Elite Series pro Aaron Martens picked up a 2015 victory at Chesapeake Bay with a total of 70 pounds, 2 ounces. The Division then heads over to St. Lawrence River in Waddington, N.Y., July 31-Aug. 2, which claimed the No. 1 spot overall on the 2024 Bassmaster Magazine 100 Best Bass Lakes list for its deep, clear waters that are famous for chunk smallmouth.

Division 2 kicks off its season Feb. 13-15 at Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Jasper, Texas. The 114,000-acre Sam Rayburn ended up No. 7 in the 2024 Bassmaster Magazine 100 Best Bass Lakes: Central list for producing giant largemouth consistently. The next stop for Division 2 will be a familiar one, as the Opens return to Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley in Paris, Tenn., March 6-8.

Division 2 then takes a swing to a destination that has not been visited by Opens competitors in nearly a decade — Norfork Lake in Mountain Home, Ark., April 3-5, where anglers will find plentiful bass in more than 22,000 acres of crystal blue water set in the Ozark Mountains.

The final stop of Division 2 will be Aug. 14-16 on Leech Lake in Walker, Minn., where in 2024 22-year-old Easton Fothergill fished his home waters to win an Open event with a weight of 49-13. The 2024 stop was the first visit for the Opens to Leech Lake.

“I absolutely circled this one on the calendar,” Fothergill said after winning the Leech Lake event. “Being 30 minutes away (from home) and the first time B.A.S.S. has come to Leech Lake and Walker, Minnesota — I’ve spent so much time out here through my childhood; it means the world to me to pull off the win on my home lake.”

Also new for the 2025 Opens and EQ Series, the new electronics rule for 2025 that was implemented for the Elite Series will also apply for the Opens. That includes standardization practices that allow for only one live transducer connected to the trolling motor shaft and capping total screen inches at 55. Complete details of the 2025 Opens format can be found at Bassmaster.com.

2025 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN

Registration will open Nov. 18 at 9 a.m. CT at Bassmaster.com for pro angler B.A.S.S. members, Nov. 19 for Single Division - Life and B.A.S.S. Nation members and Nov. 20 for Single Division - B.A.S.S. members who want to participate in the Opens.

For full details of the 2025 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN please visit Bassmaster.com.