TBF Championship Returns to Grand Lake
The Bass Federation, FLW and the Student Angler Federation recently announced that the Grand Lake Association and Grove, Okla., will host their third consecutive TBF National Championship in 2015. New for this season, the SAF High School Fishing National Championship will be held in conjunction with the TBF National Championship.
Both events will take place on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees April 23-26, 2015. Contestants will launch from Wolf Creek Park in Grove. TBF anglers will duel for three days, with the final-day weigh-in taking place on the main Walmart FLW Tour stage in the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers, Ark., just prior to the weigh-in of the FLW Tour Beaver Lake tournament, which is taking place concurrently. The high school event will span two days, with top finishers being recognized on the Tour stage.
Grand Lake has become a regular stop for TBF, and the lake never fails to impress.
“Without a doubt there is not a better facility to host these events in the country today,” says TBF President Robert Cartlidge. “It was by the anglers’ choice from our survey information from past years that led us back to Grand Lake for an unprecedented third year. Grand Lake is an awesome fishery with something for every type of angler, so it truly is anyone’s event to win.”
The TBF championship is the culmination of more than two years of competition that involves tens of thousands of TBF club members across the United States and Canada. Only the top anglers from each state federation, the Association of Collegiate Anglers national champions and the Canadian champions earn slots. Anglers will compete for more than $250,000 in cash and prizes.
High School Fishing National Championship qualifiers have fished through a state championship and one of five conference championships to earn the opportunity to compete for $10,000 in college scholarships.
TBF National Championship anglers will compete for 16 berths in two of the sport’s most coveted events – the Forrest Wood Cup and the BFL All-American. The top boater and co-angler from each of the seven TBF divisions will advance to the 2015 BFL All-American. The TBF National Champion boater and co-angler will also advance to the world championship of bass fishing, the 2015 Forrest Wood Cup, for a shot at winning the biggest paycheck in bass fishing – $500,000.
The winning boater in the TBF National Championship also will receive the $100,000 “Living the Dream” prize package to include a prize check, fully paid entry fees in the 2016 FLW Tour as a pro, travel expense stipends for each event and use of a “Living the Dream” wrapped Chevy truck and Ranger boat for the year. The top co-angler will receive fully paid entry fees into the Rayovac FLW Series division of choice.
Coverage of the TBF National Championship will be broadcast on the NBC Sports Network and streamed live on bassfederation.com.
For more information about The Bass Federation, visit bassfederation.com.
For more information about the Grand Lake area, contact Rodney Ray, Grand Lake Association, 918.786.2289.