No-Entry Fee AFTCO Open

SAN ANTONIO, TX – Prize payouts & contingencies are a huge incentive for paying expensive entry fees to compete in bass tournaments. However, even after paying to enter a tournament, the angler is still not guaranteed to receive any form of return for their payment. The Association of Collegiate Anglers proudly runs no entry fee events that feature prize payouts, contingencies, product, meals, and valuable points towards the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia for all anglers competing in a given event.

The next ACA ran event will be the AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open at Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, AR on October 10-11. This tournament will pay out positions 1st-20th, exact prizes, as well as overall big bass honors. To go along with that, thousands of dollars will be available through contingency programs from partners affiliated with the series. And lastly, double points will be awarded for the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia. We will go into greater detail about each of these items throughout this article.

New for the 2020-2021 season, additional qualification spots into the 2021 BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops on Lake Murray in South Carolina will be awarded. The Top 5 finishing teams in the overall tournament results at the 2020 AFTCO Open will automatically qualify for the season-ending Championship as that exact two-angler team. If John Smith and John Doe for University X finish in the Top 5 at the AFTCO Open, the exact two angler team of John Smith and John Doe qualify for the 2021 Championship. These qualifying spots will be in addition to the qualifications earned by teams based upon either Top 25 School of the Year ranking or total number of events fished in 2020-2021. There is no limit as to how many teams a given school can qualify through this method. If University X has five teams finish in the Top 5 at the AFTCO Open, they will qualify all five of those teams for the Championship.

Each regular season ACA event awards 1,000 points to the overall winning team, and schools are eligible to earn ‘double points,’ which awards points for each school’s top two finishing teams inside of the Top 100.

The 2020 AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open will pay out the Top 20 places in the final standings. Additionally, exact place prizes will be awarded to 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and 70th places. Those prizes will include product & gift cards from these brands:

-AFTCO

-Wiley X

-Denali Rods

-Berkley

-Bass Pro Shops

-Engel Coolers

-TH Marine

-Rapala

-Solar Bat

Lastly, we will take a look at the contingency payouts available to anglers competing in the AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open.

·ACA Bass Pro Shops Collegiate Bass Fishing Series Contingency:

o $500 to the winning team if both anglers have logo

o Or $250 if one angler on winning team has logo

o Or $250 to highest-finishing team with at least one angler having logo on jersey

·Ranger Cup University

o $1,000 to the highest-finishing qualified team

·Garmin Tournament Rewards

o $500 to the highest-placing Garmin user

·Yamaha Power Pay

o $500 to the highest-finishing qualified team

·Mossy Oak Elements Contingency

o $500 to 1st Place if wearing Mossy Oak Elements pattern and logo on their jersey

o Or $100 Bass Pro Shops gift card to team in the Top 10 with pattern and logo

·Secret Lures Big Bass Bounty

o $500 will be paid if Big Bass winner caught fish using Secret Lures product