Georgia Outdoor News: Georgia’s Paul Marks Chases Record $3.25M Purse at WBE Championship
The eyes of the bass fishing world will be turned toward Old Hickory Lake this fall as World Bass Enterprises (WBE) launches its inaugural event, “The Champions,” featuring the largest total purse in professional fishing history. It is set to begin on Oct. 28 and run through Nov. 1.
With $3.25 million total payout on the line, including $1.25 million reserved for first place, 50 of the top professional anglers from across the world will gather at Sanders Ferry Park outside Nashville.
Brian Bird, a Texas native and former electrical contractor, saw an opportunity and wanted to bridge the gap between competing professional leagues by assembling a true world championship filed under a neutral-rules format.
“There was a lot of debate about who the best anglers in the world were,” Brain said. “I saw a need to bring the top 50 anglers from this year’s tournaments together on the same body of water, put on a true world championship tournament, and offer them a tremendous payday.”
Rather than launching a full-season tournament trial, Brain designed WBE to function as an exclusive, annual crown-jewel event.
Among those elite 50 anglers is Georgia’s own Paul Marks, a Cumming native who has earned his shot to go toe to toe with the sport’s biggest names, including Jacob Wheeler, Brandon Palaniuk, Trey McKinney and Zack Birge.
For Paul, who grew up just a mile from Lake Lanier, the sheer scale of competing for a seven figure payday in a field capped at only 50 boats is a rare opportunity.
“It’s the biggest tournament ever, getting to compete in it,” Paul said. “It’s just absurd to me, being able to fish for that much money. There’s not going to be many boats.”
Unlike some anglers who can spend a lot of time dissecting the lake off the water, Paul plans to lean on his old school method of focusing only on his practice days.
“Fish always change, and that’s what I’ve noticed the last three or four years. Fish are always doing something different than they did the year before,” Paul said. “So I’m just going to go and fish and hopefully find them.”
WBE’s unique neutral-rules format brings together the premier anglers from rival leagues under one unified championship banner, a structure praised by Major League Fishing President & CEO Boyd Duckett as “setting a new standard for what competitive bass fishing can look like.”
“World Bass Enterprises is preparing to deliver an experience at a level we’ve truly never seen before…,” Boyd said. “It’s not just another tournament. It’s a showcase of where our sport is headed.”
Adding to the tournament’s unprecedented format, WBE isn’t limiting the field entirely to full-time tour pros. Through WBE’S “Average Joes” Sweepstakes, two fans will win their way into the competition, fishing head-to-head against the world’s best for their shots at the $1.25 million top prize.
WBE is framing this tournament as the Super Bowl of bass fishing, pairing three days of competition with a full lineup in Nashville, including:
150,000 sq. ft. Outdoor & Tackle Expo at Sanders Ferry Park.
Country music star Riley Green headlining the WBE Concert 250 at The Pinnacle on Friday, Oct. 30.
NFL Hall of Famer Randy Moss, serving as the official Event Ambassador.
Family-friendly activities, interactive exhibits, flyovers, and fireworks displays.
