We learned a lot in 2010 with this trail and we are hoping to apply it in 2011. So, allow me to explain the biggest difference in the 2010 trail and this year’s festivities.
1.) The demand for more stops was evident during the trail last year and we feel we have addressed it by expanding from 5 stops, to 16 and counting! How’s that for service? This now makes the trail the largest paddle powered tournament trail in the world! We still have our core series that we call the Bedrock series, which covers mostly the southeast, midwest and mid-Atlantic region, but we also added a Texas Hill Country series and a Florida Everglades series.
2.) We also learned that it wasn’t about the $15,000 grand prize last year as much as it was just getting out and having a good time with some friendly competition, thus another reason why we expanded. So, when you have more stops it can cut into the prizes some. Thus, we will not have as huge a grand prize this year (in that $15,000 range) because we have chosen to spread the prizes out and host more stops, in order to meet the demand for more tournaments. However, we will still be giving away at several kayaks per stop (Jackson Kayak Coosa, Diablo Paddlesports or NuCanoe and Ascend kayaks) and lots of other great prizes! We also will be giving away 7 or 8 at the grand finale in Roanoke, VA! To read more about the prizes click on the prizes or sponsors page.
3.) So, with all these good prizes and the rise in popularity you would expect the price of entry to go up, right? Nope, we’re dropping the price to $60 per entry from $75!
4.) We have added a team division! We dropped the Casual Division for a team format that promotes camaraderie and safe fishing! These two-man teams will take two fish from each angler to combine for their total score and compete for the River Bassin Team of the Year Award!
5.) About this grand finale in Roanoke. We have chosen Roanoke for its fairly central location, ridiculous beauty, and its insane amount of great river bassin water nearby! There couldn’t be a more perfect setting for a kayak or paddle powered angler to visit than the Roanoke area, with all the rivers nearby and the scenic Smith Mountain Lake. For the finale there will be the regular River Bassin Tournament and a tournament within the tournament for the top 10 anglers who will compete to be River Basser of the Year.
- Additionally, will host a Lake Basser tournament the same day at the finale to bring together all the paddle powered lake and river anglers making this one big shindig! Think of this as the freshwater version of the Jacksonville Kayak Fishing Classic, which is the “super bowl” of kayak fishing for the salt water anglers.
6.) There are some new twists on how you can become the River Basser of the Year 0r River Basser Team of the Year! You can read about them here.
7.) Bass Pro Shops is not hosting every event, instead we are heading to specialty kayak shops where anglers can get familiar with the places they can make their next purchase and get some great customer service on kayak fishing. Many of the stops will have numerous kayak brands on display and even be in locations where anglers can test them out on the water.
8.) The main rule change has to do with rule # 12. ACCESSING THE RIVERS: All anglers now must access the rivers they fish legally and not until one hour before sunrise the day of the tournament. This time will be announced on the tournament page and at the rules meeting. In other words, no river camping downstream or upstream. You can camp at your initial launching spot provided it is legal. The state laws where the angler is fishing are what the angler will be required to comply with.
