Bass Pro And Johnny Morris Announce Amateur Fishing Tournament

Bass Pro Shops and founder Johnny Morris announced plans Monday for a national amateur bass fishing tournament to kick off the company’s 50th Anniversary celebration.

The Johnny Morris Bass Pro Shops U.S. Open National Bass Fishing Amateur Team Championships will provide a total of $4.3 million in cash and prizes, the largest cash prize of any freshwater fishing tournament to date. The event is open only to amateur anglers. The amateurs must be owners of Bass Pro brands, including Tracker, Ranger, Nitro, Triton, Sun Tracker, Tahoe, and Mako brand boats to compete in two-person teams.

Proceeds from entry fees will also go toward conservation, with a third directed to the National Fish Habitat Initiative. Bass Pro Shops and Toyota will match the donations to equal 100 percent of entry fees. More than $1 million is expected to benefit conservation.

“Fishing in the first national Bass tournament on Table Rock Lake in 1970 rewarded me with friends for life and served as my…