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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — In an effort to inspire more youth involvement in bass fishing, B.A.S.S. has extended its presenting sponsorship of the 2021 Big Bass Zone (BBZ) Junior Championship, an online tournament for anglers ages 13 to 19. In 2020, the event’s second year, 52 anglers from 48 states qualified for the championship event.

The BassCat Boats Big Bass Zone Junior Championship presented by B.A.S.S. is a unique event in the world of fishing. Since this grass-roots bass tournament is held online, young competitors have the opportunity to fish from anywhere and on their schedule. There is no need for expensive equipment, as anglers only need a camera or phone and an email address to register their catch. The competitors catch a fish then submit the fish to a virtual leaderboard for each state through the Fishing Chaos app. The angler with the heaviest five-bass limit from that state qualifies to move on to the 2021 BBZ Junior Championship world finals.

“This format allows every kid that can find a fishing rod the ability to compete against their peers across the country for incredible prizes, including a fully loaded BassCat, Anglers Inn International trips and Bethel University scholarships,” said BBZ Junior Championship president Bill Siemantel. “They can qualify by fishing from the bank, from a kayak or from a bass boat in every sort of fishery you can imagine.”

To participate, anglers simply register online at bbzworld.com or fishingchaos.com. Registration fees are $28 for a single state or $53 to fish nationally in any state except Alaska. Once a bass is caught, the angler takes a photo of the fish on an official ruler (both length and girth) and submits the catch online. Anglers can enter as many bass as they like, and the angler who catches the five biggest fish in his or her state by Aug. 15, 2021 will qualify for the championship event to be held in Branson, Mo., Oct. 29-30.

The 2021 champion will take home an astonishing prize package that includes a fully loaded 2021 BassCat Margay powered by a Mercury Pro XS outboard and outfitted by MotorGuide, Lowrance and Power-Pole. Other prizes up for grabs in the tournament include trips to Lake El Salto, Mexico, provided by Anglers Inn International, scholarships from Bethel University and a host of gear from AFTCO.

Carter Doren, a high school junior from Las Vegas, Nev., captured the 2020 BBZ Junior Championship title with a 4.35-pound largemouth. It was one of four tournaments Doren won during his 2020 season. Additionally, Doren was the 2020 Co-Angler of the Year for the Nevada Bass Anglers, an adult fishing club, where he placed in the Top 5 multiple times. Earlier this month, Doren was named to the prestigious Bassmaster High School All-American Fishing Team presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors.

Other notable young anglers who have participated in the BBZ Junior Championship include Dylan Fogarty of Mechanicsburg, Pa., a two-time Bassmaster High School All-American who now fishes for Bethel University.

Registration for the BassCat Boats BBZ Junior Championship presented by B.A.S.S. is currently open. For more information, visit bbzworld.com.

About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 515,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.

The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Basspro.com Bassmaster Opens Series, TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation Series, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors, Bassmaster Team Championship, Bassmaster B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series powered by TourneyX and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk.

The post B.A.S.S. Returns As Presenting Sponsor For The 2021 Big Bass Zone Junior Championship appeared first on Bass365.com.

About the Lake
Wright Patman Lake is a reservoir located in the northeast of Texas, about 20-miles south-west of the City of Texarkana. The reservoir is about 31.75 square-miles with a max depth of about 40-feet. The reservoir was formed in 1956 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Sulpher River as a flood control/water conservation lake for downstream communities. Home to species such as Blue Catfish, Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Crappie, Sunfish, and White Bass, Wright Patman is loaded with Largemouth bass and double-digit bass are caught annually. Although the lake lacks aquatic vegetation, the predominate cover includes a variety of flooded timber & brushes, creek channels, and riprap. 

Anglers Take
Landon Tucker enjoyed a top 5 finish to begin the season at Lake Eufaula and is looking to keep his points stands in check at Wright Patman. The Georgia angler made the trip to Texas to pre-practice on Patman to learn the lake.

“When I was there the water was about 228.5’ elevation, roughly 2.5’ high. I did a bit of looking around for brush, similar to what I did at Eufaula. I did fish a bit and caught them pretty well but the lake will fish small and guys will be fishing a lot of the same water. I anticipate the fish might be caught in all three phases, pre and post spawn as well as fish on beds.”

Although Tucker had some success and learned the lake a little, he is keeping an open mind come official practice. If the water level changes, so will the fish. Tucker is going to spend the official practice period exploring and doesn’t plan on fishing a whole lot. Keeping his options open and fishing the conditions will be key.

A “semi” local angler, River Lee also spent some time on Wright Patman before the cutoff period and expects to find stable muddy water come the tournament which will have a lot of guys fishing the same water during the event. The dirty water is normal on Wright Patman and the fish don’t seem to mind.

“This lake has a good population of bass but it has not seen many multi-day events. I expect that as the event goes on the fish will feel pressure and bites may be hard to come by. The fish should be in and around the brush regardless as the water will be stable, but I won’t rule out a shad spawn bite either. The water temperatures should be in the mid to upper 60’s and even low 70’s. If the weather does stay warm all along (through the event), the shad spawn might be a player but it’s not like other lakes. There are so many shad in this lake the bass don’t have to move far to get on them so places that look like typical shad spawn areas won’t necessarily have the bass, even if they load up with shad.”

Lee lives about 2-hours away and calls Rayburn home. With minimal experience on Patman, Lee plans on fishing his strengths and keeping it simple to hopefully catch pressured bass. The typical baits will work for this time of year and if someone can figure out how to catch them around other anglers, they will have an advantage.

An Oklahoma angler who will be the local favorite at Stop Six Grand Lake, Jeff Dobson is looking forward to fishing the Texas reservoir this week. Dobson spent a few days prior to the off-limits period and like the others, it was more for exploring than actually fishing.

“I practiced for two days and really only fished for 4 hours on day two. I did really well but I am not going to get too caught up in that. I really wanted to learn how to navigate because when the water drops, it can be confusing to get around. I found some water in a creek that was cleaner than anything else and even fished up the river some. These fish must be used to dirty water because the cleaner water didn’t seem to make any difference to where I got bit.”

Dobson also expects there to be some sort of mix of all three spawn phases and is preparing for it all. He does believe more fish have spawned or are spawning than not, however. One of the biggest factors for this event will be pressure, and Dobson knows a pattern will prevail.

“This event will be very interesting as the lake is looking like (from practice) it will be fishing really small. A lot of anglers will find the same thing and the one who figures out how to manage the pressure and still get bites will win. I am not sure what the pattern will be, but this one will not be won off a spot or two.”

Similar to the other anglers, Dobson thinks getting a good bag on the first day and protecting it with good bags will be how it all plays out.

“I think we’ll see a big bag, 23-pounds or more, and then a few 18 to 19-pound bags to follow. To get paid, I think you will need a few 12-pounds bags.”

The angler with the shortest commute and most experience on Wright Patman, Mike Yoder, doesn’t believe the lake level will give him an opportunity to use his “local advantage” and even believes it’s a “coin flip” that knowing the lake might hurt him.

“If the water got up high like the last 6 years, I would have caught them extremely well. The big misconception is that as a local, I have some special honey holes, and I do, but its dry ground this week and will be for the event. For a small event, 25 to 50 boats, I might have some advantage, but with 108 anglers of this caliber, there is no way.”

The two other local lakes – Milwood and Lake of the Pines – are fishing extremely well, but Wright Payman is not. Yoder thinks although the current water is stable, it’s a tough lake level for this event. 

“The Army Corps of Engineers is going to keep it tough and were going to hit a bad time – the “funky” time. When it froze down here, and then was warm for a while, I think the majority of the fish busted the bank and spawned. It seems like this event is falling exactly between the spawn, post-spawn, and before the shad spawn gets good.”

It’s no doubt the pressure and cooler nights will keep the fishing tough, and he who can fish the moment will make it happen.

“I purposely didn’t pre practice for this event because I know it’s going to be a changing event and I’ll have to fish the moment every single day. I didn’t want to get any misconceptions or get on something that may change. I want to show up and fish what the lake has to offer.

Yoder believes that its going to be 50-50 if his advantage not only helps him, but hurts him as well. The three issues – post spawn funk, water level, and water color – are going to all factor. He knows he can’t get caught up in running all over and needs to settle down.

“I need to overcome those three factors and the guys who do the same thing will do well this week. Local events have seen the weights drop drastically and it’s been that way for a few weeks. If the weather stays warm and the nights don’t get too cold, the fishing should improve.”

How to Watch
Tune in daily April 22^nd through the 24^th to thenationalprofessionalfishingleague.com to watch daily LIVE Coverage, the LIVE Leaderboard, LIVE Blog, and daily on the water photo galleries of the anglers on Wright Patman.

Under the Go Live Tab, choose LIVE Broadcast with links to the real-time LIVE Leaderboard with estimated weights entered by the anglers.

See the Results from Lake Eufaula here!

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, & Twitter!

The post The National Professional Fishing League comes to Texarkana’s Wright Patman Lake appeared first on Bass365.com.