Kicking Off the 2018 Season!

A Long Winter…

When each Minnesota Bass Tour season ends, the countdown to the next season begins almost immediately for me. As my brother Dan and I went through the sad process of winterizing our Champion bass boat last November, questions immediately started swirling about the next season:

“What can we as Directors do better for next year? How do we ensure a fun member experience? How do we continue to differentiate ourselves for our members and sponsors? What lakes are we going to be on? Who are going to be the sponsors? Heck, when will the ice just get off the lakes just so we can get the boats out on the water?!”

I think we can all specifically relate to the last question regarding ice out as we just experienced one of the latest hard water seasons in Minnesota history! Admittedly there was some benefit to this – we got an extended period of time to enjoy the gear from the Clam Outdoors, Platinum Sponsor of the Minnesota Bass Tour for the past 5 seasons!

So while the countdown always seems to take forever for me, here we are at the start of our 8th season!

Camaraderie, Education, Competition and Fun Rewards

These are the 4 pillars of the Minnesota Bass Tour and over the next months we’re going to reaffirm our commitment to these and the member experience. After all, these are what have made the Minnesota Bass Tour the premier bass fishing tournament league for us weekend anglers.

For camaraderie and education, we are excited to have a couple new teams this year and to reconnect with members we haven’t seen since the TOC. We will continue the exchange of cutting edge techniques and how we fish certain bodies of water or conditions, sharing what we know with the expectation that knowledge is reciprocated from others. For non-members of the tour, yes, this really does happen. After each tournament we have a round robin by team to share the daily experience. We become better anglers because of this practice.

For competition, undoubtedly there will be tournaments won by mere ounces or team of the year points coming down to the last tournament day. It’s a new season and we all start at zero and it’s anyone’s to win! Will your team take home the title? We have certainly become a successful bunch as our historical results rival that of some of the local professional circuits. Some of our anglers have even moved on and experienced success at those levels too.

Fun Rewards is the result of this community-like environment. As a grass roots organization, sponsors have taken notice and want to be a part of our story resulting in mutually beneficial relationship for them and our members! And we have exciting news about this!

2018 Platinum and Gold Sponsorships

As indicated earlier, we are proud to have Clam Outdoors as our Platinum Sponsor for the 5th season! Their products and broad selection of outdoor gear under their brands of Polar Trailers, Jason Mitchell Elite Series Fishing Rods, Big Tooth Tackle, and Quick-Set Shelters have provided much delight to bass tour members.

We are also excited to announce the addition of two new Platinum Sponsors: Quantum Fishing and Blackfish Gear.

Quantum Fishing provides the official reel of the Minnesota Bass Tour! They are sponsoring the East & West Rush Lake tournament, Big Bass of the Year Award, Team of the Year awards in addition to providing other benefits for members. Their reels are “Performance Tuned” and now I guess we can say the MN Bass Tour is “PT” too!

For Blackfish Gear, they are the official technical clothing of the tour. You are going to see their innovative gear worn by members while facing whatever the elements may be for that day – all in style and pure comfort. They are sponsoring the Team of the Year prizes, each tournament’s Biggest Bass Award, and keynote sponsor of the Tournament of Champions on Gull Lake.

Besides the Platinum level partnerships, we are just as excited for the Gold level ones who will be sponsoring other tournaments and prizes as well. These companies include past sponsors of Sunline, Big Bite Baits, and Jason Mitchell Elite Series Rods, but also newly added partners in All-Terrain Tacklen, Denali Rods, Spro Lures. These brands are some of the best in the industry and members get the opportunity to be a part of their story in 2018!

Here We Go!

In just a few short days, we officially start the 2018 season. Hopefully we all can get our PBs (personal bests) whether for an individual fish or team total, cash some checks for the effort, and continue to enhance our ability to catch the green and brown bass we love chasing!  This is the Minnesota Bass Tour, the premier bass fishing tournament league! 

Good luck to all anglers and make sure you follow us on Facebook and this site for more results and stories!

– Jim Krocak

The Minnesota Tour Directors
Jeremie Larson | Jesse Larson | Lucas Matzke   |   Jim Krocak