New Pro Fishing Tour Announced

Just weeks after the national professional fishing scene saw a major consolidation with Major League Fishing taking over FLW, a new national pro fishing league has been announced.

The National Professional Fishing League is taking applications from anglers now through the end of November to fill a 125-angler field. The first event would take place in March 2021.

There are currently no qualifying requirements to be a part of the 125-angler field; however, criteria might be formulated if more than 125 anglers apply. A Facebook post stated, “Anglers who have an interest in submitting a resume on your bass tournament accomplishments and would like to be considered 1 of the 125. we are looking for the best of the best who are looking for an opportunity to make their dreams come true.”

Resumes should be emailed to [email protected] or [email protected].

Another post from Brad Fuller said, “We are taking 125…no qualification. If we have more, then we will develop a criteria to give us the strongest most competitive field.”

Fuller, a tournament angler from Festus, Missouri, is listed in a press release as a secondary majority owner of the new National Professional Fishing League.

The majority owner is listed as Al McCulloch, who has been involved in the fishing industry as a partner in Elite Anglr, an apparel line the includes hats, beanies, shirts and hoodies. A minority owner listed is Paul Benson, who’s been with Cashion Fishing Rods.

OWNERSHIP GROUP
Majority Owner: Al McCulloch,
Second Majority Owner: Brad and Michele Fuller
Minority Owner: Paul Benson

According to the press release, “The National Professional Fishing League ownership group is proud to announce the launch of a new angler centric tour in March of 2021. Our focus is to bring simplicity back to professional bass fishing. One lake, 125 anglers, three days of fishing the heaviest combined three day weight wins. The full field will compete on all three days. One in three anglers will get paid.”

The format would be the traditional 5-bass limit common in most bass tournaments.

The press release included these details about the new fishing league:

• The 125-angler field would be on a two-year contract with an option for a third year.
• There would be six qualifying tournaments with a $5,000 entry fee per event, with tournaments spread out with two in the spring, two in the summer and two in the fall.
• A National Championship tournament would have no entry fee.
• Trailered weigh-ins; “pull right up to the stage showcasing your rig and sponsors.”
• The league would include an “Angler Committee comprised of active anglers will liaison directly with the ownership group and the tournament director. This ensures the angler always has a seat at the table.”

Below is more info directly from the press release:

PAYOUTS
Our goal is to make this a lucrative endeavor for those professionals who also hold (FAMILY) down a full-time job. We encourage anglers to fish as many other circuits as they desire. To the max extent possible, our schedule will (not conflict with) Bass Opens. Payouts have been vetted through 65 prominent anglers. They spoke and we listened! At their request, the top end of the payout bracket was distributed down. This ensures more anglers make a profit at each event:

• Half a million dollars in payouts.
• One in three anglers paid.
• No Entry Fee Championship with a minimum of $250,000 in payouts

QUALIFYING EVENTS
1st $50,000 5th $14,000
2nd $30,000 6th – 25th $10,000
3rd $20,000 26th -44th $9,000
4th $15,000

CHAMPIONSHIP (TOP 25 in points) NO ENTRY FEE
1st $50,000 5th $14,000 9th $7,000
2nd $30,000 6th $12,000 10th $6,000
3rd $20,000 7th $10,000 11th -25th $5,000
4th $18,000 8th $8,000

We want to emphasize that this is a starting point. We are currently in negotiations with endemic and non-endemic sponsors. Our goal is to build an enduring tour with the anglers and their families at the forefront. Our sponsorship goals go deeper than dollars. We are striving for partners that share our values and our passion for the outdoors. This strategy gives us a certain amount of freedom to put the anglers first and build a trail that gets back to what the founders of bass fishing intended it to be!!

As revenue is added, our intention is to meet the below goals:
• $100,000 to each of the qualifying event winners.
•  $500,000 to the Winner of the National Championship
• $100,000 to Angler of the year (determined by points)
• Pay one out of two anglers by year three

The field will be capped at 125 anglers. We are finalizing the rules, contract and expect them to be ready in the next 5 days. If you are interested in joining the field or just gathering more information, please reach out to one of the contacts listed below.

For more information, contact Al McCulloch at 314.853.0353 or Brad Fuller at 850.496.3348, or visit their Facebook Page.