T
his is not the first year that we’ve had three
major tours in bass fishing, but it’s the first year
that they’ve been pitted against one another – at least by fans – as rivals to be compared. Much of the
divisions among their supporters come down to feelings on
forward facing sonar.
Indeed, each of the three had a different FFS plan in 2025, with BASS limiting only transducers, the NPFL not allowing it at all, and BPT allowing only limited use.
But the impacts of having three tours comes down to more than just which one you like. We live in a period of keyboard cowboys, YouTube complainers, and economic uncertainty. None of the tours operates in a bubble. The actions of each affect those of the other.
Below are my thoughts on the state of tour level fishing.
[Full Disclosure: I am a Senior Writer at BASS, so you may believe that I’m biased. I try to be as objective as I can, but while I follow all pro tours, I will admit that I am most familiar with the product out of Birmingham.]
Options are Good – You might argue that the BPT is an imperfect product, but I will give the pros who formed it credit for their action. I believe that for generations bass pros have been collectively weak in making the world a better place to make a living as an angler. Ultimately, you vote with your feet, and they did. I’m not quite sure why the world needed a third tour, but the NPFL reached maturity at the right time – as a large number of pros became fed up with FFS and wanted an opportunity to fish without it. Now it’s possible for an aspiring pro (or an established one, for that matter) to figure out his or her ideal format and to work to qualify for the corresponding tour.
100 or 150 pros could make a decent living? I believe so, although social media (and the corresponding rise of non- tournament-pro influencers) throws a bit of an additional monkey wrench in that equation.
Stars are Not Emerging – Who is the last angler to become a major name since the rise of the three-tour system? Maybe Dustin Connell, although he was already rising when the NPFL came into existence. Perhaps Kyle Welcher, who has won AOY titles on two of the tours.
For the professional sport to continue to matter, we need pros whose names move products and whose stories the average fan cares about – dudes recognizable by single names or even initials. With viewership split is that even possible?
Angling Arbitrage -- At least in public, most pros claim that they want to beat the best. You rise to stardom by beating the KVDs and Wheelers of the world. But not everyone consistently has that ability, even amongst guys who are solid tour pros.
The way to win, and the way to build a career, is by exploiting subtle advantages. What’s the house advantage in blackjack? Less than 2 percent, and that’s a license to print money, so the best way for a talented pro to maximize his winnings is to find a way to extend his advantage to 5 percent, 10 percent or more. Sometimes that comes down to schedule or technology, but sometimes it’s staying ahead of trends.
To my mind, Patrick Walters is the best at this. His win at Fork came because he’d mastered FFS before many
The Pie is Still Not Big Enough – We now have somewhere between 225 and 300 tour level bass pros (recognizing that there is some overlap between BASS and the NPFL) but the overall endemic pie has not grown. In fact, it may be contracting. That means the same amount of money, many more mouths to feed – and potentially more anglers willing to take a deal for below- market wages.
Would having a single tour or even just two make it more likely that the top
Photo: BASS
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Fall 2025
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