BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Bass fishing fans may not have the opportunity to walk across the stage at the 2015 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro, but they do have the chance to compete for prizes of their own as part of Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing presented by Toyota. Fantasy Fishing launches Feb. 2 at 12:01 p.m. ET at Bassmaster.com/fantasy.
Fantasy Fishing begins each year in advance of the Bassmaster Classic. To play, fans simply choose an angler from each of the five “buckets” that they think will outperform all the other anglers who are in the same bucket. The Fantasy Fishing player who performs best overall during the Classic wins a $2,500 gift card to Bass Pro Shops.
Play continues with the commencement of the Bassmaster Elite Series season, March 19. From then on through the rest of the season, the top player for each event wins a $2,500 gift card to Bass Pro Shops, and the player who accumulates the most points over the course of the season wins the grand prize, valued at $37,293 — a Triton 189TrX boat with a Yamaha VF150LA motor, a single-axle trailer, MotorGuide trolling motor and Lowrance Mark 5x.
Playing Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing is free.
“With Fantasy Fishing, fans can experience the thrill of victory as well as the agony of defeat,” said Jim Sexton, vice president of digital for B.A.S.S. “It’s super easy to play. Fans pick one angler from each bucket to form a ‘team,’ then they can watch to see how their team members do during the tournament.”
New developments for 2015 include a cleaner interface that is mobile-friendly, a custom newsletter emailed to each player after a tournament showing how his or her team performed and a tiebreaker module in which players guess the overall winning weight of the tournament.
Also new for 2015, B.A.S.S. members get an extra opportunity to win. If the winner of a tournament is also a member of B.A.S.S., he or she will earn an additional $500 gift card to Bass Pro Shops. To sign up for a B.A.S.S. membership, visit Bassmaster.com/join.
The number of points a Fantasy Fishing player earns is based on a scoring system similar to the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year points, in which an angler is awarded points based on his final standing in each tournament. In addition, points are awarded to the angler who caught the biggest bass and the biggest bag in each event.
B.A.S.S. also provides several articles prior to each tournament offering pundit picks to help guide Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing players on their choices.
“Fantasy Fishing makes following B.A.S.S. tournaments even more fun,” Sexton said, “especially if you win one of the prizes!”
To play, go to Bassmaster.com/fantasy, register, and then set your team. You can choose to play in a league or on your own.
Be sure to choose your team before 6 a.m. ET, Feb. 20, the first day of the 2015 Bassmaster Classic. Then, update your team before the beginning of each Bassmaster Elite Series event throughout the season.