School is back in session across the United States, and there was a time when that meant fishing would have virtually come to a halt for young anglers.
But with the rise of competitive high school and college fishing, the start of the school year now sometimes actually signals an increase in the hours they’ll be spending on the water. They fish hard because they want to win the long list of tournaments coming their way — and the Bill Dance Nationwide Giant Bass Open is offering those youngsters a chance to fish competitively every time they wet a hook.
“We believe this is going to be huge with anglers of all ages around the country,” said Shane Frazier, CEO of the Giant Bass Open organization that has experienced remarkable growth since the first two-day tournament was held in October 2023. “We think it will be particularly popular among young anglers who are already familiar with the process of uploading fish pictures from their phones. This is right up their ally.”
The tournament works like this:
Anglers can sign up by visiting the website FishingChaos.com, creating a profile, and paying the $44.99 entry fee for the region of their choice and then decide whether to fish in the length division or weight division. Anglers under the age of 18 will fish in the youth category.
When they catch a bass that meets the criteria for their region, they’ll earn membership into the Bill Dance Giant Bass Club and receive a unique commemorative coin, plus a window decal that identifies them as a member. Cash prizes will be given to the anglers who catch the biggest fish in each region (adult and youth) every month. Even the anglers who don’t win the month will go into that month’s drawing for even more cash and prizes.
Monthly prizes and payout will be determined by the number of nationwide entrants and will eventually include a 21-foot fiberglass bass boat and a Ford F-250 truck given away at the end of the year.
“I know a lot of grown-up anglers — me included — who would have loved to have something like this shoot for when we were young,” said fishing superstar Bill Dance. “All I got was a tug on my line, and as great as that was, it sure would have been nice to fish for something like this. All young anglers have that opportunity now, whether they’re fishing from a bass boat, a kayak or just walking the bank.”
Billed as the “most affordable and accessible tournament in history,” the GBO offers 365 days of competition for the forementioned $44.99 entry fee. That works out to about 12 cents a day. Seriously, name a tournament with a cheaper entry fee than that.
The tournament is only open to public waters, and the criteria is different for each of the five regions to qualify for the Bill Dance Giant Bass Club:
Central — Length 21 inches; Weight 5 1/2 pounds
Northeast — Length 21 inches; Weight 5 1/2 pounds
Southeast — Length 22 inches; Weight 7 pounds
West — Length 21 inches; Weight 5 1/2 pounds
Nationwide/Big 3 (California, Florida, Texas) — Length 24 inches; Weight 9 pounds.
In each division, all fish entered with a minimum length of 18 inches or a minimum weight of 4 pounds will give anglers an additional chance at the year-end drawing, but will not provide entrance into the Bill Dance Giant Bass Club. The year-end prizes will be determined by the number of nationwide entrants and again, could include a Ford F-250 truck and a 21-foot fiberglass bass boat.
Frazier said the GBO online format is perfect for intrasquad tournaments for all the members of one team — and a special private leaderboard will be available for such events at FishingChaos.com. He believes such tournaments — even if they’re just for bragging rights — will encourage anglers to spend more time on the water crafting their skills for the tournament season.
The GBO contest format allows anglers to “double dip,” weighing in the big bass they catch during tournament action and uploading them for membership into the Bill Dance Giant Bass Club. They can win twice for one bass.
GBO entrance could also be good for teams that have more anglers than boat captains.
“That’s a major problem on the high school circuit,” Frazier said. “Some schools have so many kids that want to fish that they can’t get them all on the water. Since the Giant Bass Open format caters to bank fishermen anyway, teams could conceivably have a junior varsity that fishes from the bank and enters their fish through FishingChaos.com.
Wherever they fish — competitively or not — he says all young anglers can benefit from entering. One cast from that old, rocky point they walk on the bank could make them a winner.
“Our fear is that some young angler is going to go fishing tomorrow and catch the fish of lifetime but won’t be able to enter in the Nationwide Giant Bass Open because he or she hasn’t registered,” Frazier said. “For literally pennies a day, every bite you get can mean just a little bit more. There’s just no reason not to.”
What you need to know
* $44.99 covers 365 days of fishing. The simple math on that works out to about 12 cents a day.
* Angers can fish two high school or college tournaments at once by entering a fish you are taking to the scales at your regular tournament and then uploading that same fish to the Nationwide Tournament
* You can fish the Nationwide Tournament even if you don’t have access to a conventional bass boat. You can enter a fish caught out of a kayak or even FISH OFF THE BANK
* Your High School can actually have its own private site set up on Fishing Chaos at no charge so you can have a monthly competition within your school. Every time an angler enters a fish in the Nationwide Tournament, it will automatically be entered on your private high school site. As we all know, money is great. But long after it’s spent, the bragging rights will live on
* Those fish you catch during tournament practice that haven’t meant much in the past, could now be worth a lot — long before your actual tournament begins
* If students in your school play other sports but want to fish on the school team, this format allows them to compete anytime their schedule allows