2015 BFL Entry Dates and Payouts
2015 BFLs to Feature Increased Regional Payouts, Expanded Regional Fields
FLW recently announced the 2015 Walmart Bass Fishing League schedule with 128 tournaments in 24 divisions offering more than $7.9 million in awards, including as much as $120,000 to the winning boater and $60,000 to the winning co-angler in the prestigious All-American. The All-American boater champion also advances to the Forrest Wood Cup for a shot at winning $500,000, the biggest payday in bass fishing.
“We are proud of our tradition of providing low-cost, close-to-home weekend tournaments that offer more opportunities to win and advance to higher levels of competition than any other circuit,” says Kathy Fennel, FLW president of operations. “We are also proud that we’ve been able to maintain the same entry fees for the past decade despite rising costs in nearly every facet of the sport.”
For 2015, however, entry fees will increase slightly from $200 to $220 per qualifier for boaters and from $100 to $110 per qualifier for co-anglers. Super Tournament entry fees will increase from $300 to $330 for boaters and from $150 to $165 for co-anglers.
With the new entry fees come higher rewards. Each Regional champion will now receive a Ranger Z518C with 200-hp outboard and $20,000 cash on the boater side and a new Ranger Z518C with 200-hp outboard on the co-angler side. The increased cash payouts will extend through 24th place for both boaters and co-anglers with 10th place earning $1,000 and $500, respectively. That’s nearly twice the 10th-place award from 2014. Ten more boaters and co-anglers in each division will also advance to Regional competition in 2015, for a total of 50 boaters and co-anglers per division, to give even more anglers the chance to punch their ticket to the All-American and ultimately the Forrest Wood Cup.
Here is the new Regional championship payout:
Anglers can register for the 2015 season at FishFLW.com or by calling 270.252.1000 on the dates listed below:
December 8, 2014 – Hoosier, Michigan, Music City and Volunteer divisions
December 9, 2014 – Bulldog, Cowboy, Great Lakes, Illini and Mississippi divisions
December 10, 2014 – Bama, Buckeye, Choo Choo, Gator and Mountain divisions
December 11, 2014 – Arkie, LBL, North Carolina, Northeast and Okie divisions
December 12, 2014 – Ozark, Piedmont, Savannah River, Shenandoah and South Carolina divisions
Phones are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Time Monday through Friday.
“We are looking forward to a tremendous 2015 season as we continue to build on the momentum of ICAST, an incredible 2014 Forrest Wood Cup in Columbia, S.C., newsstand sales that rank FLW Bass Fishing magazine as the best-selling title in its category, and our recent NBC network broadcast success,” says Trisha Blake, FLW president of marketing. “All of this means more opportunity for BFL anglers, the heart-and-soul of bass fishing.”
BFL Highlights:
Angler and Co-angler of the Year
- $1,000 Angler of the Year award in each division
- $500 Co-angler of the Year award in each division
96 Qualifying Tournaments
- $8,000 top boater award
- $3,000 top co-angler award
- Ranger Cup bonuses
- Saturday tournaments
- Winners determined by heaviest one-day catch
- 20 percent of field earns a check
- Every angler receives points
- Entry fees: $220 for boaters and $110 for co-anglers
24 Super Tournaments
- $11,000 top boater award
- $4,500 top co-angler award
- Ranger Cup bonuses
- Saturday and Sunday tournaments: full field Saturday and top 20 percent Sunday
- Winners determined by heaviest two-day catch
- 20 percent of field earns a check
- Every angler receives points
- Entry fees: $330 for boaters and $165 for co-anglers
6 Regional Championships
- Ranger Z518C with a 200-hp Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000 for winning boaters
- Ranger Z518C with a 200-hp Evinrude or Mercury outboard for winning co-anglers
- Top six boaters and co-anglers advance to the BFL All-American
- NEW FOR 2015: Top 50 boaters and co-anglers from four divisions qualify for each Regional
- Thursday, Friday and Saturday tournaments: full field Thursday and Friday and top 12 Saturday
- Winners determined by heaviest three-day catch
- NEW PAYOUT features $1,000 for boaters and $500 for co-anglers through 10th place
- Top 24 boaters and co-anglers earn checks
- No entry fee
1 Wild Card Regional
- Top six boaters and co-anglers advance to the BFL All-American
- Anglers who enter all five events within a division and fish at least two but do not advance to a Regional championship qualify
- Friday and Saturday tournament: full field both days
- Winners determined by heaviest two-day catch
- No entry fee
BFL All-American
- $120,000 top boater award
- $60,000 top co-angler award
- Ranger Cup bonuses
- Winning boater advances to the Forrest Wood Cup
- Top six boaters and co-anglers from six Regional championships and the Wild Card qualify
- Thursday, Friday and Saturday tournament: full field Thursday and Friday and top 10 Saturday
- Winners determined by the heaviest three-day catch
- Every boater earns at least $1,500, and every co-angler earns at least $750
- No entry fee
Qualifying Event Payout:
Payback is based on the number of paid entries for each tournament.
Super Tournament Payout:
Payback is based on the number of paid entries for each tournament.
Regional Championship Payout:
Field: Top 50 boaters and co-anglers from four divisions, 200 boats total.
All-American Payout:
Field: Top six boaters and co-anglers from each of six 2014 regional championships plus the top six from the 2014 wild card and top finisher from each of seven TBF divisions in the 2015 TBF National Championship, 49 boats total.
Ranger Cup: Anglers must be registered with Ranger and meet all Ranger Cup clothing and decal requirements to receive a Ranger Cup bonus. The decision of Ranger Boats is final in all matters regarding Ranger Cup bonus eligibility. Visit the Ranger Cup page at RangerBoats.com or call 870.453.2222 for additional information.