BASS releasese 2010 schedule for Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Women's Tour

BASS releases 2010 schedule for Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Women's Tour
The 2010 Toyota Tundra WBT Angler of the Year will earn a Classic berth

by BASS Communications, www.sports.espn.go.com

For the third consecutive year, the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Women's Tour will award a coveted Bassmaster Classic berth to the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Women's Tour Angler of the Year. The 2010 WBT schedule will span five events, four regular-season tournaments and a championship, and will visit fisheries in Alabama, Texas and Louisiana.
The top 20 WBT anglers, based on their Toyota Tundra WBT Angler of the Year standings in the regular season, will qualify for the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Women's Tour Championship. The location for the Championship is set for Oct. 15-17 on Sam Rayburn Reservoir out of Lufkin, Texas, which will serve as the host of the event. From that event, the Toyota Tundra WBT Angler of the Year will be determined and the winner will receive a coveted qualifying berth into bass fishing's premier event, the Bassmaster Classic.
"The Bassmaster Women's Tour continues to receive some incredible exposure," said Jamie Wilkinson, senior director of event operations and business development, BASS. "Once again, we have scheduled some top-notch fisheries and engaged communities."
The 2010 season will kick off March 18-20 on Wheeler Lake out of Decatur, Ala. BASS previously has held 10 events on Wheeler but the season opener will mark the first WBT event on the spacious fishery. In 2009, BASS doubled up on Wheeler with a Bassmaster Central Open event in addition to a Bassmaster Elite Series event, the Evan Williams Bourbon Dixie Duel. The Decatur-Morgan Convention & Visitor's Bureau will serve as host.
The second event will be held April 22-24 on Sam Rayburn Reservoir out of Lufkin, which will also host the event. Rayburn, a perennial BASS favorite, has been the site of more than 30 BASS events with the last one, a Bassmaster Central Open, in September. Stephen Johnston of Hemphill, Texas, bested the field with a three-day total of 57 pounds, 5 ounces.
For the third regular-season event of 2010, the WBT will visit Belton Lake and Temple, Texas, on June 10-12. Belton, officially impounded in 1954 and just more than 12,000 acres, has never hosted a BASS tournament in the organization's 40-plus year history. The Temple Convention & Visitors Bureau is the local host.
The final regular-season event is set for the Ouachita River out of West Monroe, La., on Sept. 16-18. Ouachita hosted a WBT event earlier this April. Texas' Janet Parker scored victory on the river with a three-day total of 32 pounds, 2 ounces. As in 2008, the Monroe-West Monroe Convention & Visitors Bureau will host the event. After Ouachita, the regular-season AOY standings will be finalized and the qualifying berths for the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Women's Tour Championship will be determined.
The WBT Championship will mark the end of the 2010 season. Spacious Rayburn will provide a different set of conditions for the Championship event from the April WBT tournament. After points are awarded based on Championship finishes, the Toyota Tundra WBT Angler of the Year will be crowned.
Entry fees will be collected for all five events. Once again, anglers will be able to drop their lowest finish from the four regular-season events before the regular-season standings are finalized and the Championship berths are decided.
At each event, the champion pro will receive $1,000 in addition to a fully-rigged boat package valued at $55,000. The winning co-angler will receive $500 plus a boat package valued at $25,000.
Academy Sports + Outdoors, a Katy, Texas-based sporting goods retailer, continues to reap the benefits of sponsoring the WBT.
"Academy Sports + Outdoors is pleased to sponsor the Bassmaster Women's Tour again in 2010," said Anita Sehgal, vice president of marketing at Academy Sports + Outdoors. "The WBT is a great vehicle that grows the sport of fishing by giving women the opportunity to fish competitively and to be role models for young anglers throughout the United States."
Registration for the four 2010 regular-season events can be completed at Bassmaster.com. Priority registration is open to the top 50 pros and co-anglers in the 2009 Toyota Tundra WBT Angler of the Year standings at 9 a.m. ET Monday, Nov. 2. Registration will open at 9 a.m. Monday, Nov. 9, for all BASS members who wish to sign up for all four regular-season events. Those who wish to sign up for single events can register beginning at noon Monday, Nov. 16.
Fans can visit Academy stores for additional information on the WBT and find out more about the organization at www.Academy.com.