Competitive anglers don’t typically treat change kindly. New technology, new rules, new formats … all are usually looked at with a furrowed brow and downward slant toward the corner of the mouth. Better the devil you know, right? Well, as our Greek philosopher friend Heraclitus was fond of saying, the only constant is change. And for 2025, some sweeping changes to the competitive landscape of Bassmaster tournaments were implemented.
In the past, the organization would likely have rolled out these changes over several years, slowly tugging at the Band-Aid until the desired outcome was eventually revealed. Today’s B.A.S.S. moves faster and has a vision of what the ladder of success should look like for anglers who desire to climb.
The overhaul starts with the Bassmaster Opens. Last year, there were basically two different points races within the same tournament, with anglers fishing all nine events competing for Elite Qualifiers (EQ) points, while the rest of the field was vying for individual event dollars. It was a little confusing to follow. For 2025, the format has been modified. Now, there are two Opens divisions that will have four events each. After these four events take place, the Top 50 anglers in each division will qualify for a new stand-alone three-event EQ series … the once-missing rung on the ladder. These 100 anglers, plus the Elite Series anglers who failed to requalify in 2025, will fish for elevated prize money and one of 10 qualifications into the Elites. Now the path to the big show is complete: Opens to EQs, EQs to Elites.
A big change to the Elites comes next. B.A.S.S. announced that the pinnacle of competitive fishing, the Bassmaster Elite Series, would launch as a no-entry-fee league in 2025. This is a radical departure for professional fishermen. Until now, they had been paying $45,000 in entry fees, which became a barrier to entry for many and a heavy burden of investment to recoup for the rest. The organization added $200,000 to the payouts, raising the total to $4.1 million. Additionally, the anglers were allowed to vote on whether they wanted to boost the payouts through a voluntary contribution that was capped at $10,000. For 2025, the field voted on the max contribution, which not only reduced their initial investment by $35,000, but boosted payouts to meet angler expectations (50th place receives $5,000).
As you can imagine, these changes were met with consternation and concern by some competitors. These anglers took to social media to air complaints, because, I guess, that’s what grown men do these days. Those guys needed to read a little John Maxwell, an American author who famously said, “Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.”
See, professional angling, through the steps taken by B.A.S.S. for the 2025 season, is pointed in a direction for seismic growth. Every one of these decisions was made to ensure the competitive ladder of bass fishing can continue to add rungs, to redefine what it means to be a pro. I have little doubt that as our sport continues to evolve at a blazing pace there will be anglers who dislike it. But, I’ll lean on the words of Socrates (a pretty smart dude), who said, “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
