FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Kay Donaldson, Program Director
PHONE: 256.350.3500 / 855.9FISHAL
EMAIL: kay@alabamabasstrail.org
Record Sell Out for 2019 Alabama Bass Trail Tournament Series
Registration is closed for both North and South divisions.
Decatur, Ala. (October 15, 2018) – Tournament officials announce registration is closed for the 2019 Alabama Bass Trail Tournament Series (ABTTS), with all 450 of the available boat entries in the North and South divisions selling out in a record 39 days. The 2019 tournament series gets underway February 16.
“Wow is all I can say when thinking about both divisions selling out in less than 40 days. We are thankful to the anglers who believe in our staff and commit not only their finances but their time as well to travel the great state of Alabama and fish with us,” said Kay Donaldson, program director for the Alabama Bass Trail. “This is the quickest we have sold out to date. The record was 72 days but the 2019 registration sold out in 39 days.”
Sanctioned by BASS (Bass Anglers Sportsman Society), the ABTTS contains two divisions, North and South, and each division is made up of five tournaments on five different lakes. The maximum number of boats for each tournament is 225. Teams must fish in all five tournaments in their respective division and no single entries are allowed.
“Anglers pay in advance for each division and we actually have multiple teams that fish both divisions,” added Donaldson. “Our teams are made up highly competitive bass fisherman from across nine states.”
According to Donaldson, teams are traveling from nine states, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Missouri, Kentucky and Ohio, to compete in the 2019 tournament series. The 2018 Tournament Series generated an economic impact on the Alabama economy of over $3.8 million, up from $3.1 million in 2017. The trail consists of five regular season events in each division and a championship.
Dates and locations for the 2019 tournament series are as follows:
South Division:
February 16, 2019 Lake Martin / hosted by Alexander City Chamber of Commerce
March 30, 2019 Lake Jordan / hosted by the City of Wetumpka
April 20, 2019 Alabama River / Cooter’s Pond / hosted by City of Prattville Parks
and Recreation
May 18, 2019 Lay Lake / hosted by Shelby County Commission
June 15, 2019 Lake Eufaula / hosted by Eufaula-Barbour Chamber of Commerce
North Division:
February 23, 2019 Smith Lake / hosted by the Chamber of Commerce of Walker Co.
March 23, 2019 Wheeler Lake / hosted by Decatur Morgan County Tourism
April 27, 2019 Weiss Lake / hosted by City of Leesburg
May 11, 2019 Pickwick Lake / hosted by Florence-Lauderdale Tourism
June 8, 2019 Neely Henry Lake / hosted by the City of Gadsden
The championship event will include up to 185 boats. The 185 boats are comprised of the 10 divisional tournament winning teams, top 75 teams in points from both divisions that fished all five events in their respective divisions, along with the top 15 student boats, top five college teams and the top five couples teams collectively from both divisions that fished all five events in their respective division.
Each tournament features a $10,000 guaranteed first place prize and pays 40 places totaling over $47,000. In conjunction with the Alabama Bicentennial celebration in 2019, an additional $200 bonus prize will be awarded at each tournament to the team that finishes in the 200th place. The winning team of the championship walks away with a fully rigged bass boat valued at $45,000; there is a $5,000 bonus cash prize for Angler of the Year and $2,500 for runner-up Angler of the Year. According to Donaldson, over $568,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded when the ABTTS wraps up its season in 2019.
2019 Payout Schedule:
First place $10,000
Second place $ 5,000
Third place $ 4,000
Fourth place $ 3,000
Fifth place $ 2,000
Sixth place $ 1,500
Seventh place $ 1,100
Eighth place $ 1,100
Ninth place $ 1,100
Tenth place $ 1,100
11th – 20th $ 750 each
21st – 40th $ 500 each
200th Place Bonus $ 200
ABT Tournament sponsors include Phoenix Bass Boats; Bill Penney Toyota; the Alabama Tourism Department; America’s First Federal Credit Union; Academy Sports & Outdoors; Garmin; T & H Marine Supplies, Inc.; Alabama Power Company; Buffalo Rock, Inc.; Jack’s; Wedowee Marine; Trapper Tackle; Lews Fishing; FishNeelyHenry.com; Power-Pole; YETI and Hydrowave. Pond MD will manage fish care and Southern Stream Live will be the live-streaming company.
For more information, call Donaldson at 855.934.7425 or visit www.alabamabasstrail.org.
About Alabama Bass Trail
The Alabama Bass Trail is a program of the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association. Its mission is to promote Alabama as a year-round fishing destination, to preserve natural resources for generations to come, and to educate high school and college-aged students to be good stewards of natural resources. The 13 bass fishing lakes consist of Lake Guntersville, Wheeler Lake, Pickwick Lake, Lewis Smith Lake, Neely Henry Lake, Weiss Lake, Lake Martin, Lay Lake, Logan Martin Lake, Lake Jordan, Alabama River, Lake Eufaula, and the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta. For more information, visit www.alabamabasstrail.org.
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The Alabama Bass Trail is a program of the
Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association.
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