ESPN

The largest CITGO Bassmaster Tour season in history will begin in March 2006, and along with increased payouts and bigger fields, there are a whole slew of titles to help everyone keep track of where the best bass anglers are going and where they've been.

It starts with the "Southern Sprint," made up of five Bassmaster Tour events that travel from the border of Mexico to within sight of Augusta National Golf Course and ends with the series' first "major" in Fort Worth, Texas.

The second leg of the season, "The Turn," has two Tour events — one in Oklahoma and the other in Kentucky before the series heads north for the third leg of the trek. This one is the "Northern Swing" with two events in the Northeast's best smallmouth waters before ending with the year's second Major on Lake Wylie.

The "Final Charge" will sandwich the last Major event on the Arkansas River with the Tour's two final stops on the Potomac River and Table Rock Lake. In all, 14 events make up the Trail in 2006; the Tour starts on the heels of the 2006 CITGO Bassmaster Classic, which is slated for Feb. 24-26 at Florida's Lake Tohopekaliga.

Here's a quick glimpse at each of those stops:

The Southern Sprint

Event: CITGO Bassmaster Tour No. 1: "Battle on the Border"
When: March 9-12
Where: Lake Amistad, Del Rio, Texas

The first stop, noted as the "Battle on the Border," begins at Lake Amistad near the West Texas border town of Del Rio.

It will likely be the first time many bass fishing fans have heard of Lake Amistad. Some of the old timers might recognize Del Rio, but it won't have a lot to do with fishing. This is where music icon Wolfman Jack became a household name on radio station XERG.

Thirty years later Lake Amistad will get its chance to enter the limelight. After this CITGO Bassmaster Tour event, chances are Amistad will make its way onto every bass angler's "must-fish" list.

The Pecos, Rio Grande and Devils rivers form the lake. It spreads out for more than 68,000 acres with more shoreline than the Texas Gulf Coast.

And while the desert environment might seem barren, Amistad is a bass fishing oasis.

The average tournament in these parts is won with a five-fish limit averaging 25 pounds. And unlike many lakes across the country, this one fits the bill for just about every style of angler. The timing will ensure that largemouth bass will be at all three stages of the spawn, from pre-spawn to post spawn. Depending on the water level (always a question on the Mexican/American border) flippers may find flooded brush full of 5-pounders, while those inclined to fish structure will have their opportunity to wiggle a drop shot in front of schools of big fish, while those wanting to look at them could find bed fish all along the banks.

With the best anglers in the world, the record for the heaviest winning weight could be in jeopardy, ensuring Amistad will become a much more familiar name in the future.

Event: CITGO Bassmaster Tour No. 2: "Lone Star Shootout"
When: March 16-19
Where: Lake Sam Rayburn, Jasper, Texas

From unfamiliar water to the most familiar in professional angling, the CITGO Bassmaster Tour's next stop is Sam Rayburn Reservoir for the Lone Star Shootout.

The 114,000-acre impoundment on the Angelina River has hosted 27 Bassmaster events and during that time it's served up a variety of winning techniques and tactics. At the top of the list is Jim Nolan's 1991 Bassmaster Top 100 victory. He holds the record for the heaviest winning stringer ever caught there at 87 pounds. But the win is most noted for bringing the Carolina rig to the forefront of professional angling, which is just one of the possibilities that Sam Rayburn can serve up in its vast hydrilla beds and flooded buck brush.

Tournaments have been won here by every big name in the game either sight fishing, on topwaters, on crankbaits or spinnerbaits. Along the way the angling world has been introduced to braided line and suspending jerkbaits during competition on these waters.

It's only a natural guess that a March event, the same week as Nolan's record tournament, might produce a few surprises.

Event: CITGO Bassmaster Tour No. 3: "Santee Cooper Showdown"
When: March 30-April 2
Where: Santee Cooper Reservoir, Manning, S.C.

The third stop returns to somewhat familiar ground, but it's early this time around.

The last time the CITGO Bassmaster Tour was here, the head-to-head drama between Gerald Swindle and Greg Hackney in the 2004 Angler of the Year race was at center stage. The result: Both anglers captured a spot in Bassmaster history.

With more than 170,000 acres of water, 600 miles of shoreline and filled with timber and stumps not to mention a whole lot of big bass, this lake always manages to shake things up.

The year before the Swindle/Hackney showdown, Zell Rowland came close to busting the 100-pound mark with the third largest winning stringer of all time at 98 pounds, 9 ounces.

Rowland caught those on a spinnerbait in 2003. In 2004 Kelly Jordon weighed in 93 pounds, 13 ounces, sight fishing.

They stand as the heaviest weights caught in the eight Bassmaster events held on the lake since 1994, giving a good indication that this lake could produce even more historical catches in 2006.

Event: CITGO Bassmaster Tour No. 4: "Southern Challenge"
When: April 20-23
Where: Lake Guntersville, Guntersville, Ala.

Then it's on to Lake Guntersville for the Southern Challenge. Like Sam Rayburn, Guntersville is a mainstay on the Bassmaster Tour. A total of 14 events have been held here since 1976, and every one of them has been different.

The lake, the largest in Alabama at 70,000 acres, is full of several types of vegetation mixed in with stumps, submerged islands and ridges, making Guntersville a wildcard event that is anything but predictable.

The last two Bassmaster Tour events are prime examples of that. In 2004 George Cochran threatened to break the 100-pound mark by throwing a suspending jerkbait over grass beds. In 2005 Zell Rowland, averaged 20 pounds a day flipping a jig around boat docks. And to add a little twist Morizo Shimizu posted a 30-pound plus sack in the final of the 2004 event cranking grass beds on the Tennessee River.

This is also where Rick Clunn won the first of his four Bassmasters Classics, an event where Ricky Green set the record for the largest bass ever caught in Classic competition, 8 pounds, 9 ounces.

The timing of the event is perfect for more big sacks to hit the scales, with the only question being how the pros will catch them.

Event: CITGO Bassmaster Tour No. 5: "Pride of Augusta"
When: May 4-7
Where: Clarks Hill Reservoir, Columbia County, Ga.

Clarks Hill Reservoir was a trivia answer until 2005. If anyone asked where Rayo Breckenridge won the 1973 Bassmasters Classic then Clarks Hill would have been the right answer.

After the 2005 season, though, the lake moved to the forefront of high-profile stops on the CITGO Bassmaster Tour when Mike Reynolds won the event on a last-cast fish.

The lake is located on the confluence of the Savannah and Little rivers and just a few Par Fives from Augusta National Golf Course. And while it might not be as well known to the bass fishing world as a whole, it is the largest man-made lake east of the Mississippi.

The lake is similar to many upland reservoirs in the Southeast, with a healthy dose of aquatic vegetation on the lower, clear end and plenty of shoreline wood and ledges on the upper, dingier end.

In 2005, the tournament was won on a spinnerbait, but top anglers posted hefty sacks on crankbaits, Carolina rigs and schooling fish as well — and that was in the middle of a snowstorm. With a May event scheduled and no chance of snow, this lake's potential is tremendous.

Event: Bassmaster "Memorial"
When: May 18-21
Where: Eagle Mountain Lake, Ft Worth, Texas

From the rolling fairways and pine forests of Augusta, the Tour pauses for the top anglers in the country to compete in the season's first major, the Bassmaster Memorial.

And this one goes to yet another unfamiliar body of water, Eagle Mountain Lake, smack dab in the middle of cow country. Eagle Mountain, built on the Trinity River is the water supply for Fort Worth.

Almost 200 years ago, this was a major stop on the Chisum Trail and a safe haven for settlers from Indian attacks. Now as a major stop on the Bassmaster Tour, there won't be any Indians, but you can bet some of the anglers will be on their own type of warpath.

With five events that will likely center on casting and winding and finesse, this lake will offer something different for the anglers.

The lake is surrounded by houses and boat docks and a smattering of vegetation in parts of the lake. But it's the boat docks that will likely be the primary focus of the qualifying anglers. In a state where power fishing is the norm, and a lake that hasn't been tested by top professionals, look for the flippers in the ranks to excel on this lake.

The Turn

Event: CITGO Bassmaster Tour No. 6: "Sooner Run"
When: June 1-4
Where: Grand Lake, Grove, Okla.

From a multitude of clear-water fisheries, the CITGO Bassmaster Tour moves to Oklahoma to the Grand Lake 0' The Cherokees for the Sooner Run in a division of the Tour referred to as "The Turn."

This lake is more or less a group of river systems created by the Grand River, the Elk River, the Neosho and other tributaries.

The lake is 45,000-plus acres with 1,300 miles of shoreline with tons of really big fish. Following the first major, a full field will find lots of structure and cover from boat docks, willows, humps and ledges that produce consistent limits of 3- to 5-pound keepers. Local tournaments are often won with a 20-pound plus stringer.

And with the fish expected to be in a post-spawn mode, the tactics will run the gamut from flipping to topwaters and semi-shallow cranking.

Event: CITGO Bassmaster Tour No. 7: "Bluegrass Brawl"
When: June 15-18
Where: Kentucky Lake, Kentucky Dam Village, Ky.

By the time the anglers reach the seventh stop on the Tour, their attention will start to shift from largemouth to smallmouth bass, mainly the smallmouth of Kentucky and Barkley lakes in an event already foretold as the "Bluegrass Brawl.''

This is just past the halfway point in the season and Kentucky Lake always offers something surprising. There have been five Bassmaster events held here and each has been different.

The last event was in 1993, and it was won by Norio Tanabe of Japan, the first international angler to ever win a Bassmaster event. He won that event on smallmouth caught on a jerkbait. But the primary tactic for this lake during the time of year the tournament will be held is usually flipping or cranking.

While Clarks Hill is the largest manmade lake east of the Mississippi, Kentucky Lake is the largest manmade lake in the eastern United States. It backs up the Tennessee River for 184 miles and creates a lake that stretches south across the western tip of Kentucky and nearly the entire width of Tennessee. At maximum normal operating level, Kentucky Lake covers 160,300 acres.

That's a lot of room for anglers to concentrate on dozens of ledges and stump fields and even the occasional town that was flooded when the lake was created. For the southern anglers in the field, it will be a last look at familiar waters before they head north.

The Northern Swing

Event: CITGO Bassmaster Tour No. 8: "Empire Chase"
When: July 6-9
Where: Lake Oneida, Syracuse, N.Y.

The Northern Swing will start at Lake Onieda for the "Empire Chase." And the chase will likely focus on smallmouth bass on a lake that is the largest inland lake in New York State.

This glacier lake is best known worldwide as a carp fishery. It's a noted destination for European carp anglers traveling to the United States. What they find is a shallow bowl of a lake that can rock and roll and produce nasty conditions for boaters. But in the last few years, thanks to cormorants wiping out the food source for walleyes, the smallmouth fishery has exploded, and big smallmouth are the norm.

In the 2003 Northern Open, Art Ferguson won the event with a two-day total of almost 40 pounds. There wasn't a third day. It was cancelled because of strong winds.

The fact that the wind could play a part in this one will have an impact on strategies. If wind is expected, don't expect anyone to play it safe, especially in July (considered the best month for bass fishing on the lake).

Event: CITGO Bassmaster Tour No. 9: "Champions Choice"
When: July 13-16
Where: Lake Champlain, Plattsburg, N.Y.

The ninth stop on the Bassmaster Tour is on Lake Champlain and is designated as the "Champions Choice."

That might be an apt name considering every professional on Tour loves to fish this smallmouth haven. Not only is the fishing great but anglers can find just about any type of bass habitat — clear water, stained water, rocky points, channels, laydowns, lilypads and bulrushes.

The lake is fertile because the Green Mountains are to the east and the Adirondacks are to the West, where billions of trees produce oxygen, and the ice on the lakes recharges the water every year, adding more oxygen. The fertile backdrop creates one of the few fisheries in the country where an angler can sit in one spot, hardly move, and catch a four-day winning stringer.

And there's a lot of room to find those honey holes. Champlain is 107 miles long and 14 miles wide. It's one of the great lakes that really isn't one of the Great Lakes. President Clinton briefly declared Champlain the sixth Great Lake in 1998. But the uproar was huge and the designation was rescinded.

Event: Bassmaster "American"
When: July 27-30
Where: Lake Wylie, Charlotte, N.C.

The final stop of the Northern Swing is on North Carolina's Lake Wylie in a major titled "The American." Which is only slightly ironic considering the last event held here, the 2004 Bassmasters Classic, was won by Japanese angler Takahiro Omori.

But even Omori won that event in all-American fashion, catching his two largest bass in the final 5 minutes of the event.

The 13,433-acre lake on the South Carolina/North Carolina border has all the things needed to create another exciting finish in the second major of the season. This is a recreational lake so boat traffic is high, but bass can be caught in a variety of fashions.

Omori posted his winning weight on a square-billed Bagley crankbait in shallow water. Contenders in the event, like Jason Quinn, concentrated on boat docks and Aaron Martens, the 2005 Angler of the Year, finished second by fishing bridge pilings within sight of the take-off point.

The event will set up the final three events of the season.

The Final Charge

Event: CITGO Bassmaster Tour No. 10 "Capitol Clash"
When: August 10-13
Where: Potomac River, Charles County, Md.

The next to last Tour event will be held in the shadows of the nation's capitol on the Potomac River in the "Capitol Clash."

The historic river is formed by water rushing down from the Blue Ridge Mountains, flowing past Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia and finally through Washington, D.C., as it heads out to the Chesapeake Bay.

Anglers often find huge groups of fish on very specific spots, like grass (there's a lot of it) or sunken wrecks and other underwater structure. Like Champlain, this is one of those fisheries that professional anglers enjoy fishing, not only because it produces hefty sacks of bass, but the sightseeing adds another element as fishermen cast in sight of Mt. Vernon (the home of George Washington) or the Pentagon.

Event: Bassmaster "Legends"
When: August 24 -27
Where: Arkansas River, Little Rock, Ark.

From the historic Potomac River, the Tour turns to Arkansas for the season's final major — the "Bassmasters Legends" tournament on the historic Arkansas River. You won't find national monuments along this river; most of its history centers on bass fishing.

The tournament will take off not far from where Rick Clunn set the all-time heaviest winning weight in a Bassmaster Classic — 75 pounds, 9 ounces, in 1984.

That Classic was historical in many ways. Most notably, on the final day of the event, Clunn shared the stage with then-Vice President George Bush and Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton.

Politicians aside, that event provides a shining example of what this river can produce. But the 1985 Classic won by Jack Chancellor shows another side of the Arkansas River. Just a year later, Chancellor's winning weight — 45 pounds — was a full 30 pounds lighter than Clunn's record.

Anglers on the Arkansas live by the credo: "The only thing you learn to expect from the Arkansas River is to expect the unexpected."

The river gets its water from Kansas and Oklahoma run off, and current flow is what turns fish on and off. If there are big flows expect better weights. If there is little or no flow expect smaller weights.

The same goes with where the anglers will fish. The Arkansas River is made up of 12 navigation pools separated by locks and dams. In a typical day, running time and locking time would make only five of those pools available for an event out of Little Rock (Pool 6). That would mean this event will likely take place from Conway (Pool 8) to Pine Bluff (Pool 4).

In that stretch there are hundreds of miles of river banks, at least six major oxbow lakes and dozens of smaller backwater ponds filled with stumps and sandbar drops, while others have cypress trees and rock jetties.

Event: CITGO Bassmaster Tour No. 11: "The Rock"
When: September 14 -17
Where: Table Rock Lake, Kimberling City, Mo.

The last stop of the season will take place just north of the Arkansas River on Table Rock Lake.

In September, this event will likely live up to its billing. For some, the big schools of spotted and smallmouth bass will likely rack up the weights on topwater lures. But others may struggle trying to fool these heavily pressured bass and have their expectations rocked in the process.

This last event may likely be the toughest. But great things always seem to happen despite the conditions. In the last two seasons on Table Rock, Mark Davis won here, Greg Hackney won his first Bassmaster Tour event and Aaron Martens captured the CITGO Bassmaster Angler of the Year title.

They did that mostly by casting crankbaits and finesse worms on light line. But the timing of this event could produce a mean topwater bite along the bluff walls and big rocky points of the lake.

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