The last 6 years have brought turmoil to the tournament fishing scene. It all started with a significant split when Major League Fishing took most of the Bassmaster Elite series field and started the Bass Pro Tour, claiming they were the highest level of competitive bass fishing. Meanwhile, the National Professional Fishing League started up, claiming to be a pro circuit that would bring the sport back to its blue-collar roots.
The 2025 schedules are out, and this season brought out some of the biggest announcements we’ve seen in professional fishing.
We’re here to break down the rules, regs, and changes for each league at the start of 2025.
Bassmaster Elite Series
Entry Fees and Payouts
The biggest news came from B.A.S.S., which announced that there would be no entry fees for Elite Series Anglers (temporarily). On the face of it, this seemed like the news bass anglers have been waiting on for years.
It is an actual professional sport where the participants do not have to pay to play. However, upon digging deeper, it appeared that the new model may not be in the angler’s best interest. The reason? The payouts seemed … problematic.
Essentially, anglers lost a $45K expense in entry fees, but the opportunity to earn revenue through winnings was drastically cut back. B.A.S.S. crunched the numbers and stated that 85% of the anglers would have seen higher profits in one of the last 4 years with the new model. However, based on social media, anglers were in disagreement.
Updated Entry Fees and Payouts
After seeing blowback on the model, B.A.S.S. announced the creation of the “Elite Angler Advisory Board.”
This board is made up of six elite series anglers with the purpose to improve communication and input between anglers and the organization of B.A.S.S. With the announcement of the new board, B.A.S.S. also announced a restructuring of its model based on angler feedback.
Now, anglers are required to pay $10,000 for the year in entry fees and the payouts are much more comparable with other trails. The Elite Series will be paying out to 50th place, with 26th-50th earning a check of $5,500. This will definitely help offset anglers’ expenses, and it appears to be a much better model than the original one rolled out earlier this fall.
B.A.S.S. deserves some serious props for taking angler feedback into consideration and changing accordingly.
Forward-Facing Sonar
B.A.S.S. also addressed forward-facing sonar with updated rules regarding the hot-topic technology. This year, anglers will be limited to one forward-facing transducer mounted on a trolling motor, with only one trolling motor allowed per boat.
They can have a maximum of 55 inches of screen on the entire boat. While that limits things slightly, it shows that B.A.S.S. supports the new technology and does not want to restrict techniques anglers can utilize.
Format and Schedule
The Elite series is a standard five-biggest bass per day tournament trail with a field of 101 anglers. The highest total weight throughout the tournament wins it all. Be sure to check out the B.A.S.S schedule.
Major League Fishing (Bass Pro Tour)
Entry Fees and Payouts
The 2025 Bass Pro Tour entry fees are $6,428.57 per tournament. I know. It’s weirdly specific. I’d love to chat with the accounting department to see how they came up with that. That expense stings, but almost half of the 66-man field will be in the green, with MLF paying out to 30th place, which receives $10K. They are also awarding first place $150K, which is 50% more than the other two tours.
Forward-Facing Sonar
Major League Fishing announced what may be the most “fun” rules regarding forward-facing sonar. Tournament days consist of three 2.5-hour periods. Anglers are only allowed to use forward-facing sonar during one period each day, and they must announce it before the period begins.
This should make things interesting, and we’ll see how the anglers strategize to use the technology in a limited fashion. It will also improve the experience for the audience, with less screen staring and more of the “human” fishing styles we’re accustomed to seeing.
Format and Schedule
The MLF format is more complicated than the other tours. It is a catch, weigh, and release tournament where every single scorable bass counts toward the angler’s weight. Day 1 and 2 are the Qualifying Rounds, where the entire 66-angler field participates. The winner of the qualifying rounds gets an automatic bid to the Championship Round. Second through 20th place move on to the Knockout Round.
In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed. Anglers fish for one day, and those in first through ninth place advance to the championship round.
This leaves 10 anglers on championship day, where weights start at zero. The highest weight of that day wins that big ol’ $150K check.
National Professional Fishing League
Entry Fees and Payouts
The NPFL is in the middle of the road regarding fees and payouts. Each tournament has an entry fee of $5,200. I can appreciate the nice round number. They pay out to 40th place, with 40th earning $3,000 and 39th making $7,000. That means the top 39 guys will be in the green in each tournament. Similar to the Elite Series, first place gets a $100K check.
Forward-Facing Sonar
I said at the start that the fellas at the NPFL are blue-collar, so you know what that means. No forward-facing sonar is permitted to be used in the tournament or official practice. Ain’t nobody got money for those fancy fishing computers. It’s the only professional league banning the use, so this tournament trail will be loaded with classic fishing techniques and lots of fishing boat docks. If you know, you know.
Format and Schedule
The NPFL is a five-biggest-bass-per-day tournament where the entire 126-angler field participates in all 3 days of competition. There are no cut lines for the final day or championship round. The highest total weight wins. Check out the NPFL schedule and follow along.
So, Which Tourney to Watch?
The 2025 professional bass fishing season promises to bring many changes to the sport. Each league has adjusted rules that will surely affect viewership and likely affect which organizations wanna-be pro anglers attempt to qualify for. These changes will affect the lower-level tournaments in each organization and, in turn, affect you, the everyday tournament angler.
Whether you decide to fish the Bassmaster Opens, MLF’s Toyota Series, or your local grassroots league, this pro season promises to bring plenty of great fishing, insights into pros’ techniques, as well as major changes to the industry as the tours look to claim the title of the top professional bass fishing league.
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