The Champions Primer: Which Bass Pro Tour Anglers Are Locked In, and Who's Fighting for a Spot
With only two events remaining in the Bass Pro Tour season, the points race carries higher stakes than usual heading into Zenni Stage 6 Presented by Toyota at Grand Lake. Beyond the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year title and REDCREST 2027 qualification, this year's standings also determine who gets into the richest event bass fishing has ever staged.
The top 25 in the season-ending points will earn a berth in The Champions, the World Bass Enterprises tournament set for October 29–31 on Old Hickory Lake in Tennessee. There's no entry fee, and the money is unprecedented: a $1.25 million top prize and a $3.25 million total purse, with everyone in the top five guaranteed at least $100,000.
Already qualified
It isn't only the top 25 in points who get in — the winner of each of the seven regular-season Bass Pro Tour events also locks up a spot, which means all 51 BPT pros still have a path into the field regardless of where they sit in the standings.
Five anglers have already secured their places by winning regular-season events: Drew Gill, Takahiro Omori, Zack Birge, Jacob Wheeler, and Cole Floyd. The BPT contingent will make up half the overall field, with the remaining qualified anglers including Hank Cherry, Fisher Anaya, Jason Christie, Jacob Foutz, Paul Marks Jr., and Chris Johnston.
That lineup already guarantees some serious pedigree: a Bass Fishing Hall of Famer in Omori, two-time reigning national-tour Angler of the Year winners in Wheeler and Johnston, three former Bassmaster Classic champions (Omori, Cherry, and Christie), and the reigning REDCREST champ, Wheeler.
On the bubble
The top three in the Angler of the Year standings — Birge, Wheeler, and Gill — are all already in, and notably, double qualifiers don't shift the cut line for this event the way they do for REDCREST. The next two in the standings, Justin Lucas and Spencer Shuffield, sit more than 50 points clear of 25th and are all but certain to make it.
After that, it gets tense. Veteran Brent Chapman holds the final qualifying spot at 285 points. Alton Jones Jr., Brent Ehrler, Chris Lane, Ott DeFoe, and Jacob Wall are all within 10 points of him, while Keith Carson, Casey Ashley, Justin Cooper, and Bryan Thrift sit just outside the Top 25 and within striking distance.
How the event works
The Champions weekend runs in and around Nashville from October 28 to November 1, with an opening ceremony, a three-day expo, a live concert, and a pro-am pairing the Top 15 finishers with celebrities. The competition itself spans three days and will be streamed live.
Each angler weighs their five biggest bass per day, with weights accumulating across the first two days. Forward-facing sonar can be used on one of those first two days — each pro picks which — and again for half of Day 3, when weights reset and the field is trimmed to the Top 15.
For more information, visit worldbassenterprises.com.
Source: Major League Fishing, reporting by Mitchell Forde.
