A lot of my fellow competitors first heard about the news of no entry fees for the 2025 Elite Series through the email from B.A.S.S., but the way I found out was kind of funny.
I was out filming with Sixth Sense Fishing and I had my phone on silent where it wouldn’t disturb our shoot. Even so, I could hear it buzzing. It buzzed like 10 times in a row while I was shooting a commercial, and it was my Elite roommate Caleb Sumrall.
I was like, “Something must be wrong.” So I called him back.
He’s said, “Man, what do you think about it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Check your email.”
I looked at it and I was like, “Heck yeah! That is awesome.”
We’ve been asking for this for a long time, so I think this is definitely a change we want and need as anglers. I think it’s the right step to make bass fishing a true professional sport with no entry fees. We just show up and actually fish for a living — not out of our own pockets.
Some anglers may have questions regarding the new payout system, but at the end of the day, you’re getting a $45,000 raise at the first of the year. We can always put a side pot in as anglers and gamble more if we want to, but that’s not the goal here.
We definitely want to keep it as-is with no entry fees and figure out how we can all make a living where we can showcase the Bassmaster brand and our individual brands to Bassmaster’s fans and sponsors.
I think one of the best parts of a no entry fee scenario is it will allow some guys to fish more comfortably. Especially late in the year if they haven’t cut as many checks as the next guy. There should be less financial stress and still opportunity to grab a good paycheck.
It definitely rattles some nerves when you’re fishing for your own $5,000, as opposed to just fishing for your expenses for that week. Sponsorship support definitely plays a big roll in the big picture, but everyone’s situation is different.
I’m established now with my sponsors, but there are a lot of guys who are still struggling to get sponsors. This is going to help those guys make a name for themselves and fish for the win.
As far as what the fans get to see, I think this new arrangement will give us a better feel for everybody. Everybody’s going to fish free. It’s definitely going to change the environment.
Everybody’s going to be able to fish more instinctual. Not worrying about that entry fee, we can just fish for the win and for that Bassmaster Classic qualification.
Ultimately, I think this will help deliver more entertaining events for the fans.
