Fishing Tournaments and Organizations: B.A.S.S., MLF, High School, College, FFI, TU and IGFA

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Pre-dawn at a big reservoir: a hundred bass boats idling in the dark, navigation lights blinking, an emcee calling boat numbers one by one for blast-off. Eight hours later, a crowd at the weigh-in stage cheers as an angler holds up a five-pound largemouth before it goes back into a release tank. Now picture a high school junior and her partner in the same scene at a state championship, or a dozen fly anglers in waders spending a Saturday morning restoring a trout stream with their local Trout Unlimited chapter. Fishing has a whole world of fishing tournaments and organizations, and this page is the map.

Who’s who in fishing

Organization	What it does
State fish and wildlife agencies (and NOAA Fisheries offshore)	Licenses, seasons, limits and fish stocking. The legal rules of the sport.
B.A.S.S. (Bassmaster)	Bass tournaments from junior anglers to the Elite Series and the Bassmaster Classic; B.A.S.S. Nation clubs.
Major League Fishing (MLF)	Bass Pro Tour, Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit, Toyota Series, Phoenix Bass Fishing League, college and high school fishing.
Student Angler Federation (SAF)	School fishing clubs and free high school tournaments, run with MLF and The Bass Federation.
Fly Fishers International (FFI)	Fly fishing education, conservation and fly casting instructor certification.
Trout Unlimited (TU)	Cold-water conservation: protecting and restoring trout and salmon streams.
IGFA	The International Angling Rules and world records for fish caught on rod and reel.
RBFF / Take Me Fishing	Participation research and the national “Take Me Fishing” campaign to get people started.

How a bass tournament works

Most bass tournaments are about weight, not numbers. At a Bassmaster Elite event, for example, each angler may bring five bass to the daily weigh-in; each “keeper” must be at least 12 inches unless local rules say otherwise, and once you have five you “cull,” swapping smaller fish for bigger ones. Elite events run four days: the full field fishes two days, the top 50 fish Saturday and the top 10 fish Sunday, with the heaviest four-day total winning. Fish are kept alive in aerated livewells and released after weighing. Club and local tournaments work similarly, usually as two-angler teams in one day.

Major League Fishing’s Bass Pro Tour does it differently: in 2026, every bass above a minimum weight set by MLF counts, weighed on the spot by an official and released immediately, with live scoring on its SCORETRACKER. Both organizations now limit forward-facing sonar at some events. Every circuit publishes its own rulebook covering boundaries, check-in times, boating safety and fish care; read it before you enter.

B.A.S.S.: from the first Classic to the Elite Series

Ray Scott organized his first national bass tournament on Beaver Lake, Arkansas, in 1967, founded the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) in 1968 and held the first Bassmaster Classic in 1971: 24 anglers flown to a lake they didn’t know until they were in the air, which turned out to be Lake Mead. Today’s ladder, as of the 2026 season:

• Bassmaster Classic: the sport’s best-known championship. The 2026 Classic was held on the Tennessee River at Knoxville, March 13 to 15, and won by Dylan Nutt of Nashville.
• Bassmaster Elite Series: 101 pros and nine regular-season events in 2026.
• Bassmaster Opens and Elite Qualifiers: the path to the Elite Series for up-and-coming anglers.
• B.A.S.S. Nation: local clubs and state federations, with their own championships.
• College, High School and Junior Series: the 2026 High School and Junior Series shared four events, from Lake Toho in Florida (January) to Kerr Reservoir in Oklahoma (May), with national championships on Kentucky Lake out of Paris, Tennessee, in late July.

Major League Fishing

MLF runs the other big ladder in bass fishing. At the top, the 2026 Bass Pro Tour has a 51-angler roster and seven regular-season events, from Lake Guntersville in January through South Carolina, Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Oklahoma and Ohio, plus the REDCREST championship. The Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit is the qualifying route to the Bass Pro Tour: in 2026 it guaranteed $100,000 to the winner of each of its six events and its championship, on a $5,000 entry, and sent the top five in the Angler of the Year standings to the 2027 Bass Pro Tour. Below that, the Toyota Series and the Phoenix Bass Fishing League are regional circuits for weekend anglers. In the BFL, “boaters” fish from the front deck and “co-anglers” without a boat fish from the back, paired by random draw.

High school bass fishing

Illinois was the first state to hold a sanctioned high school bass fishing championship, with the Illinois High School Association starting it as an activity in the 2008 to 2009 school year. Tennessee and then Kentucky (from 2012 to 2013) followed, and Georgia joined Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi in sanctioning it in 2020. The NFHS lists bass fishing among the emerging sports its member associations are adding. Where your state association doesn’t sanction it, students fish through school clubs:

• Student Angler Federation (SAF): it takes six members to start an SAF school club. MLF’s Abu Garcia High School Fishing events are free two-angler team tournaments, mainly for grades 9 to 12 (one partner can be in 7th or 8th grade), with scholarships and prizes.
• Bassmaster High School Series: open to students in good academic standing through official clubs, with a national championship for grades 8 to 12; the Bassmaster Junior Series serves grades 2 through 8.

In high school events an adult boat captain supplies and drives the boat but isn’t allowed to fish; the students do the fishing. More on getting started young on our fishing with kids page.

College fishing

Fishing isn’t an NCAA championship sport, so most college teams are clubs, but some schools, among them the University of Montevallo, Bethel University, Adrian College and Dallas Baptist University, run varsity-style programs with fishing scholarships. They compete on two national circuits: the Bassmaster College Series and Major League Fishing’s college fishing circuit. MLF says its college and high school circuits offer prizes, scholarships and paths to the Toyota Series Championship, and that college anglers can qualify to fish REDCREST against the pros for a top prize of $300,000.

Fly fishing: FFI and Trout Unlimited

Fly fishing has more than 8 million participants in the US, according to RBFF, and two big organizations. Fly Fishers International, founded in 1964 to 1965 and based in Livingston, Montana, focuses on education and conservation and has run its Casting Instructor Certification Program since 1992, with four levels from Certified Casting Instructor to Two Hand Master Casting Instructor. If you’re taking a casting lesson, an FFI certification is a good sign the instructor knows how to teach. Trout Unlimited began in July 1959 when 16 anglers met on the banks of Michigan’s Au Sable River; it now has about 300,000 members and supporters in more than 400 chapters and councils, and local chapters run stream cleanups, habitat projects and youth programs.

IGFA and world records

The International Game Fish Association, founded on June 7, 1939 and now based in Dania Beach, Florida, was created to standardize angling rules and keep records. Its International Angling Rules set what counts as a fair catch for a record (equipment, line class, how much help you can have), and it publishes world records by species, line class and tippet. Many saltwater tournaments base their rules on IGFA’s.

Kit for tournament days

Prices change often. The prices below are what we saw at the maker or a major retailer in October 2026; check the current price before you buy.

Most bass tournament anglers carry several rods rigged for different lures, often including baitcasting setups for heavier lures and line. If you’re learning to throw one, the Abu Garcia Black Max EZ Cast combo (about $59) has a 6 ft medium graphite composite rod and an anti-backlash system the maker says controls the spool automatically. Clear, stackable boxes like the Plano StowAway 3600 4-pack (about $32) keep lures sorted by technique. Add a Coast Guard-approved life jacket you wear while running (Bassmaster rules, for example, require a Coast Guard-approved life jacket, fastened, whenever the combustion engine is running), a Columbia PFG Terminal Tackle UPF 50 shirt (about $23 and up) for long days in the sun, and polarized sunglasses. For fueling and heat on a long tournament day, see our fishing day and tournament day page, and for the full list, our fishing gear page.

Fishing organizations questions

What is the difference between B.A.S.S. and Major League Fishing?

They’re the two big bass tournament organizations, each with its own pro tour, qualifying circuits and youth programs. B.A.S.S. runs the Bassmaster Elite Series and Classic with a five-bass daily limit; MLF runs the Bass Pro Tour, where every bass above a minimum weight counts and is released right away.

Is fishing a high school sport?

In some states, yes: Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi are among the state associations that have sanctioned bass fishing. Elsewhere, students fish through school clubs on the Student Angler Federation and Bassmaster High School circuits.

Can you get a college scholarship for fishing?

Yes, at some schools. Fishing isn’t an NCAA sport and most college teams are clubs, but schools such as the University of Montevallo, Bethel, Adrian College and Dallas Baptist offer fishing scholarships, and college and high school circuits award scholarships as prizes.

Who keeps fishing world records?

The International Game Fish Association (IGFA), founded in 1939. A record catch has to follow its International Angling Rules and be submitted with the required documentation. Many states also keep their own state records.

What does Trout Unlimited do?

It’s a conservation group, founded in Michigan in 1959, that protects and restores cold-water streams for trout and salmon. Its 400-plus local chapters run habitat projects, cleanups and youth programs, and anyone can join.

Whether you want to chase a Classic trophy, help your school start a fishing team or just fix up your home river, there’s an organization for it. Back to the fishing hub, or see licenses and regulations and fishing training. Curious how team sports organize? See soccer leagues and associations.