Operation Bass is announcing the addition of a new Northern Division to the EverStart Batteries Series. The four-event division will add a third circuit to the 3-year-old EverStart tour, complementing its Western and Central divisions.
“We’re really looking forward to fishing in the North,” said EverStart Tournament Director Jerry Stakely. “The fishing there is phenomenal – for both largemouth and smallmouth.”
Operation Bass officials say they are looking to capitalize on a largely untapped bass fishing market in the North, where national pro bass circuits are scarce.
“I think we miss a lot of people,” Stakely said. “They don’t have a lot of tournaments to fish up there.”
One appealing aspect of a northern circuit for Operation Bass is higher population density. By adding a branch of the EverStart Batteries Series – the feeder circuit for the prestigious Wal-Mart FLW Tour – in the North, Operation Bass hopes to increase the visibility of the sport by increasing its accessibility to even more bass enthusiasts.
“There are more bass fishermen in the North, really, than you think there are,” said Operation Bass Chairman Irwin Jacobs. “Many of them have to travel a thousand miles to fish a tournament. Now we’re bringing it closer to them.”
Stakely says that although competitive bass fishing isn’t as high-profile a sport in the North as it is in the South – particularly in the cities – he foresees no problems filling the tournament fields. The tournament director admits he receives roughly 10 calls a week from people asking about the prospect of a Northern Division.
“I think our tournaments are going to be very successful up there,” he said, “and it will make us more of a national event, too.”
This will not be Operation Bass’ first foray northward. The Wal-Mart FLW Tour enjoyed successful stops on Lake St. Clair, Detroit, Mich., in 1999 and the Connecticut River, Hartford, Conn., in 1998. The 2001 FLW schedule also includes two northern stops – Lake St. Clair and Lake Champlain, Plattsburgh, N.Y. Several divisions of the Red Man Tournament Trail – like the Great Lakes, Michigan and Northeastern divisions – also focus on the fisheries of northern waterways.
Northern Division tournaments will use the same pro-am format as Central and Eastern Division events, and will contain the same field sizes – 175 pros and 175 co-anglers per tournament. The top 50 pros and co-anglers from each of the three EverStart divisions (a reduction from this year’s format of 75 from two divisions) will be invited to the year-end Invitational Challenge.
The EverStart Batteries Series Northern Division is slated to begin in 2001. Dates and locations are still being confirmed. The entire EverStart Batteries Series 2001 season schedule will be released as soon as details are finalized.