Alabama Bass Trail 2016 Schedule Announced

Decatur, Ala. (May 1, 2015) – After an extremely successful year two, the Alabama Bass Trail Tournament Series (ABTTS), the largest team tournament trail in Alabama is pleased to announce the 2016 tournament schedule. The 10 lake team-style tournament series will be held on ten of the lakes of the Alabama Bass Trail beginning February 20, 2016, with the championship tournament to be held on Lake Eufaula October 7-8, 2016.

“The Alabama Bass Trail tournament format has been wildly successful, pulling anglers from six states for two years consecutively and creating an economic impact of over $2.5 million in the areas around the Trail’s lakes,” said ABT Program Director Kay Donaldson. “I am so proud of what our state has accomplished while promoting the sport of bass fishing. We have showcased these lakes to the world and provided a needed boost to the local economies. We are extremely excited to take tournaments to two new locations in 2016, Lake Martin in the South and Weiss Lake in the North.”

Sanctioned by BASS (Bass Anglers Sportsman Society), the Alabama Bass Trail Tournament Series gets underway February 20, 2016. The tournament trail contains two divisions: North and South. Each division is made up of five tournaments on five different lakes. Maximum number of boats for each tournament is 225. In 2016, no single entries will be allowed. Teams must fish in all five tournaments in their respective division.

North Division:

Lewis Smith Lake                   February 27, 2016 hosted by Chamber of Commerce of Walker County

Lake Guntersville                    March 19, 2016 hosted by the Marshall County CVB

Pickwick Lake                        April 23, 2016 host TBD

Neely Henry Lake                   May 21, 2016 hosted by City of Gadsden Parks & Recreation

Weiss Lake                              June 18, 2016 hosted by the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce

South Division:

Lake Martin                            February 20, 2016 hosted by the Alexander City Chamber of Commerce

Lay Lake                                 March 12, 2016 hosted by Shelby County Commission

Mobile Delta                           April 9, 2016 hosted by the Mobile Sports Authority and the Mobile CVB(held at Live Oak Landing)

Millers Ferry                            May 14, 2016 hosted by the City of Camden

Lake Jordan                            June 4, 2016 host TBD

The 145 boats in the championship are comprised of the 10 divisional tournament winning teams, top 55 teams in points from both divisions that fished all five events in their respective divisions, along with the top 25 student boats collectively from both divisions that fished all five events in their respective division. Hosted by the Eufaula-Barbour County Chamber of Commerce, the championship tournament is set for October 7-8, 2016 on Lake Eufaula.

Anglers who fished all five events in their respective divisions in 2015 will be given a priority entry period from August 1 to August 14, 2015 to register online at www.alabamabasstrail.org. Registration will be open to the public on August 15, 2014. Entry fee per tournament is $1250 per team, which includes registration for all five tournaments in respective division.

According to Donaldson, in 2015 the both the North and South Divisions experienced growth in participation “A trail like the ABT is a collaborative effort requiring time and energy from many individuals and steadfast support from sponsors and anglers who are all focused on a common goal – to showcase bass fishing in Alabama,” added Donaldson.

Alabama Bass Trail Tournament sponsors include Bill Penney Toyota, the Alabama Tourism Department, Phoenix Bass Boats, Inc., Academy Sports & Outdoors, Garmin, T & H Marine Supplies, Inc., Alabama Power Company, Buffalo Rock, Inc., Jet-Pep, Inc., AFS Inc., Tennessee Valley Authority, Window World, Inc., LEER Truck Caps And Tonneau Covers, Vicious Fishing, E3 Sports Apparel, Navionics and Frogg Toggs, Inc. Fishlife will be the official tournament directors and Southern Stream Live will be the live-streaming company.

For more information, call Donaldson at 855.934.7425 or visit www.alabamabasstrail.org.

About Alabama Bass Trail
The Alabama Bass Trail is a program of the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association. Its mission is to promote Alabama as a year round fishing destination, to preserve natural resources for generations to come, and to educate high school and college aged students to be good stewards of natural resources. The 13 bass fishing lakes consist of Lake Guntersville, Wheeler Lake, Pickwick Lake, Lewis Smith Lake, Neely Henry Lake, Weiss Lake, Lake Martin, Lay Lake, Logan Martin Lake, Lake Jordan, Alabama River (Millers Ferry), Lake Eufaula, and the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta. For more information, visit www.alabamabasstrail.org.