BASS unveiled the 2011 Bassmaster Elite Series regular-season schedule Wednesday, June 16, 2010. The most prestigious level of tournament fishing will kick off near BASS headquarters with consecutive events in Florida and will come full circle for the conclusion in Alabama, BASS birthplace. In between, the circuit will visit three fisheries-St. Johns River, Toledo Bend, and West Point Lake - that will host their first Elite Series event.

“It’s exciting to bring the Elite Series to new communities and expose the most prestigious level of tournament bass fishing to new fans and BASS members,” said Tom Ricks, vice president and general manager, BASS. “We appreciate the support of the outstanding communities that are involved with BASS events.”

In February, BASS announced the dates for the 2011 Bassmaster Classic: Feb 18-20, out of New Orleans. The Super Bowl of bass fishing will kick off the BASS season and usher in ESPN2’s coverage of BASS in 2011. As with past years, each Elite Series event will receive one hour of television coverage on ESPN2’s The Bassmasters.

Additionally, Bassmaster.com will continue to define tournament coverage with their devotion to new technologies such as BassCam, BassCast, and BassTrakk, as well as expansive traditional coverage with photo galleries and analysis. ESPN3.com will serve as the home for live, streaming coverage of Bassmaster Elite Series weigh-ins.

The 2011 season gets rolling on two Sunshine State fisheries, with the Elite season opener set for the Harris Chain of lakes. The Sunshine Showdown will be held March 10-13 in Tavares, FL, and will mark the Elite Series’ second visit to the Harris Chain.

The waterway, which has featured some compelling storylines during Elite competition, includes six lakes and three tributaries and has rich shoreline vegetation. In March 2008, the last event held there, Mike McClelland toted 59 pounds, 2 ounces, to the scales to beat Brian Snowden in a come-from-behind thriller.

Next, anglers will head north to Palatka, FL, for the March 17-20 Citrus Slam on the St. Johns River. The St. Johns has been a popular BASS tournament fishery in the past - it has hosted 16 events, but has yet to host an Elite event. The last event, a 2008 Bassmaster Southern Open, was won by Elite Series pro Peter Thliveros of St. Augustine, FL, with a three-day total of 55 pounds, 3 ounces. Thliveros also scored a victory on the Harris Chain in 2005.

Florida’s longest river holds big largemouth bass and a variety of saltwater species, which tend to group with the bass. In addition to Thliveros, fellow Elite pro Terry Scroggins of San Mateo will be a tournament favorite.

From Florida, the Elites will take a three-week break before heating up again at Pickwick Lake out of Florence, AL. The April 6-9 Alabama Charge will be Pickwick’s second consecutive Elite event.

During the 2010 Elite Series regular season, Kevin Short of Mayflower, AR, worked Pickwick for 75 pounds, 1 ounce, to score his second career Elite victory. Pickwick showed what it’s capable of on the final day of competition as short smashed a 23-pound, 5-ounce, limit despite a weather-shortened day. During that tournament, Pickwick became the first fishery in Elite competition to surrender a limit to anglers during all competition days.

From Pickwick, Elite anglers will travel southwest to Toledo Bend, another fishery that BASS helped put on the map. The Battle on the Bayou, set for April 14-17 from Many, LA, will tally the 13^th time BASS has visited the Bend. The last event, a 2009 Central Open, produced a rare tie after the conclusion of the three-day event. In the ensuing fish-off on the following day, Elite pro James Niggemeyer of Van, Texas, claimed victory, which helped him to qualify for the 2010 Bassmaster Classic.

Next, anglers will trek to the Peach State on May 5-8 and compete on West Point Lake out of LaGrange, GA. West Point has never hosted an Elite event, despite having served previously as tournament waters for one Bassmaster Open and four invitationals. The Open was the last BASS event there, in 2005, and Elite pro Mark Menendez took up honors with a three-day total of 36 pounds, 14 ounces.

Surrounded by deep forests and rolling fields, West Point Lake extends 35 miles along the Chattahoochee River on the Alabama-Georgia state line. The lake’s 525 miles of shoreline provide excellent opportunities for good-sized largemouth.

After, West Point anglers will head May 12-15 to Columbia, S.C, and Lake Murray, which served as the fishery for a 2008 Elite Series event. Fred Roumbanis of Bixfy, OK, won that tournament with a four-day weight of 66 pounds, 13 ounces.

Impounded in the 1930’s, Lake Murray is a top fishing destination in the Southeastern U.S. and has been the site of eight previous BASS events. The Palmetto State fishery provides opportunities for a top water slugfest, and anglers often compare it to Georgia/South Carolina’s Clarks Hill Lake, a frequent stop on the Elites.

From South Carolina, anglers head to the Arkansas River and Little Rock, AR, on June 9-12 for the Diamond Drive. The Bassmaster legends, a 2006 Elite-level event also out of Little Rock, produced a winning weight of 34 pounds, 9 ounces, for Arkansas and Elite Series pro Scott Rook.

To wrap up the 2011 Elite Series season on June 16-19, anglers will head to the second Tennessee Valley Authority fishery on the schedule in Wheeler Lake. The Dixie Duel, held out of Decatur, AL, will serve as tournament waters for the finale, which will determine qualifiers for the Bassmaster Elite Series Postseason and Bassmaster Classic.

Wheeler has hosted eight BASS events, with the previous Elite Series event occurring in April 2009. While anglers will hit the fishery at a different time of the year in 2011, Wheeler should provide for a tight battle. Tommy Biffle of Waggoner, OK., won the 2009 event with a weather-shortened three-day total of 50-13.

After the completion of the 2011 regular season, the top 12 in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the year standings will qualify for the 3^rd Annual Bassmaster Elite Series Postseason. The location for the 2011 postseason will be announced at a later date.

Thus far for the 2010 season, the Bassmaster Classic and the Bassmaster Elite Series have generated 17 percent more visits from users and 16 percent more average time spent on Bassmaster.com. The streaming video of the weigh-ins on ESPN3.com have produced an increase of 252 percent in terms of unique users.

The entire pro roster for the 2011 Bassmaster Elite Series will be released in early 2011, when all qualifications are realized.

On the heels of another successful season of the Bassmaster Elite Series Marshal program, BASS will open registration for 2011 Marshals in January. BASS Federation Nation, Life, and insider members will be eligible for priority registration for the eight regular-season events.

Zwolle Tamale Recipe

Ingredients

10 pounds of pork (1 ½ hog heads) or a 10-pound pork roast
Broth from the pork meat
One gallon shelled, yellow corn
½ cup of pickling lime
Lard
Salt
Garlic Powder
Ground red pepper
Black pepper
30 dozen corn shucks

Steps to making the tamales

First Day

Boil meat until tender; de-bone and grind finely; sauté garlic in small amount of lard; add round red pepper, black pepper and salt to taste to ground pork for hot, medium or lightly seasoned tamales.
Boil shelled yellow corn in water with the lime in a large wash pot until the husks fall off the corn kernels and the corn becomes tender; Wash corn about 11 times to remove the lime, then drain. Place in a freezer for 4 to 6 hours before grinding.

Second Day

Grind corn; mix with pure lard, 9ork meat broth and then salt to taste. Lard keeps the tamale dough from being sticky; test on palm or hand and if dough doesn't stick to palm, then it is ready.
Wash and scald corn shucks; drain off water; place flattened corn shuck in palm of one hand with the other hand or spreader, daub corn mixture onto the corn shuck, spreading it crosswise to both edges leaving both ends of the length-wise shuck free of dough.
When a thin layer is daubed into the suck; spread a heaping teaspoon of the meat mixture lengthwise and fold one end over about two inches. Stand tamales with folded ends down into a large steamer until the bottom is completely packed; Pour in about three inches of water – but do not cover the tamales.
Fill the post with the rest of the tamales which will be about ½ the recipe. Cover tightly and cook slowly for about 1 ½ hours – repeat for the second half of the recipe.
Tamale can then be frozen and prepared as needed by just simply placing them into a rice cooker or steamer until warm.

One of our favorite women on the bass fishing
trails, Judy Wong of Many, will be inducted into the
Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame at the
Renaissance Hotel in downtown Nashville on
Saturday.

"It's a huge honor," Wong told Bassmaster this week.
"Certainly it's one I'll cherish, it's such a prestigious
award. I've been in this sport for a long, long time,
and it's a sport I love and I've been very fortunate."

A three-time Bassmaster title winner (2007 and 2009
Women's Bassmaster Tour Championship, along
with a 2009 regular event), Wong has continued to
compete on the Bassmaster Central Open trail since
the WBT was summarily dismissed by ESPN earlier
this year in one of its more illogical moves.

Wong is an accomplished acrylic painter and
recently displayed her Toledo Bend Lake Association
winning poster of a bass shooting out of the water
with a lure in its mouth. The original of that piece
sold for $5,000 at the TBLA banquet and auction.
She has produced a wide range of outdoor related
art and has plans for more in the future.