2005 CITGO BASSMASTER TOURNAMENT TRAIL LOCATIONS ANNOUNCED

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Thursday, officials from BASS, the worldwide authority on bass fishing, released the official schedule for the 2005 CITGO Bassmaster Tournament Trail presented by Busch Beer.

The six-event CITGO Bassmaster Tour and the four-event Bassmaster Elite 50 series will cover eight states from first-time BASS tournament host Wisconsin to perennial tournament host Texas.

“The 2005 CITGO Bassmaster Tournament Trail is going to be great,” said Dean Kessel, Vice President and General Manager of BASS. “Ten fantastic fisheries have been scheduled for 2005, including some new locations and it’s going to be an exciting year.”

The 10-event schedule leading up to the world championship of the sport, the CITGO Bassmaster Classic presented by Busch Beer, will visit many familiar spots including Florida’s Lake Tohopekaliga, the site of Dean Rojas’ record breaking 45-pound, 2-ounce limit in 2001; Lake Guntersville, where fans saw George Cochran fall a mere 6 ounces shy of breaking 100 pounds during a four-day competition in 2004; and Lake Dardanelle, the Arkansas fishery that launched the Bassmaster Elite 50 series earlier this year.

South Carolina Tour pro Jason Quinn is thrilled to compete at the site of the 2004 Junior Bassmaster World Championship. The pros will get to test their skills on Lake Norman, the same fishery where the Junior World Champion was crowned will play host to the fifth event on the Tour schedule.

“I’m tickled to death,” Quinn said. “It’s exciting any time you get to fish a tournament like that on your home water. I think we’re going to be in for a treat, too. The last time we went to Norman, everyone was talking about how the weights were down and the fish were so small, but it’s going to be a different deal this year.

“The state record for spotted bass came out of Norman. It was 6 ½ pounds, so you can count on some big fish. When we were there for the Junior Bassmasters, the guys were all saying how good it was. We were in the dead of summer and the oxygen levels weren’t all that good, but still everybody caught fish. It’s going to be good.”

CITGO Bassmaster Angler of the Year Gerald Swindle has another reason to want to qualify for the second Bassmaster Elite 50 series. The four-event, no-entry-fee series is kicking off on Alabama’s Smith Lake, Swindle’s home water.

“This is going to be a totally different lake than we saw last year,” Swindle said. “I think we’re going to see 12- to 17-pound sacks per day and it’s going to fish huge. Smith Lake will swallow 50 boats because people will be spread out all over. You’ll see some sight fishing, some fishing deep and probably some jerk bait fishing, so it’s going to be good.

“That zero that I had on the last day last year still tastes bad in my mouth, so I’m excited to get the chance to go back there. You always want to go back for redemption, especially on your home water.”

BASS returns to Texas in 2005 for the 35th time, but it will mark the first event held at the Lone Star State’s Lewisville Lake. The popular fishery in the Dallas-Fort Worth area will host the third of four Bassmaster Elite 50 series events.

BASS is also making its debut in Chippewa Falls, Wis., which will host the Bassmaster Elite 50 series finale on Lake Wissota.

“After Tour pros had such a successful trip to Wisconsin for the 2004 ESPN Great Outdoor Games, it was a must add for the 2005 Tour schedule,” BASS Tournament Director Trip Weldon said.

Also new for 2005 are some updates to the BASS rules. Under the new rules, professional anglers are not allowed to gain any information about the fishery 30 days prior to the event; anglers will no longer be permitted to obtain information about the tournament water from their non-boater partners; and non-boaters will not be permitted to take the pros to any of their spots.

Since the non-boater will not be able to tell the pro where to find fish, the off-limits for the non-boaters has been cut from 30 days to seven.

“When we started the no-information rule, there were doubters,” Weldon said, “but since it was put in place, we have yet to have one violation. The rule has changed the mind set, with Tour anglers especially, and raised the bar of professionalism of the sport.”

Also, non-boaters will share the weight of the pro’s catch. A non-boater will be allowed to keep three fish per day and will add the weight of those three to the total weight of the pro’s catch.

BASS is the world's largest fishing organization, sanctioning more than 20,000 tournaments worldwide through its Federation. The CITGO Bassmaster Tournament Trail presented by Busch Beer, which includes the all-new Bassmaster Elite 50 series, is the oldest and most prestigious pro bass fishing tournament circuit and continues to set the standard for credibility, professionalism and sportsmanship as it has since 1968.

Sponsors of the CITGO Bassmaster Tournament Trail include CITGO Petroleum Corp., Busch Beer, Purolator, Triton Boats, Mercury Marine, Toyota, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Lowrance Electronics, Flowmaster Exhaust Systems, MotorGuide, Bass Pro Shops, and BankOne.

For more information, contact BASS Communications at (334) 551-2375 or visit www.bassmaster.com.