The 2023 Bassmaster Elite Series season is right around the corner, which means it’s time for a new season of Rapala Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing and Mercury Bassmaster Drain the Lake Challenge. You can head over to bassmasterfantasy.com and set your roster for the first Bassmaster Elite Series event at the Lake Okeechobee to be held Feb. 16-19.
“We’re happy to launch the games early this year to give players more time to choose their teams,” said B.A.S.S. Digital VP Jim Sexton. “With 104 Elites anglers in the 2023 field, including 13 new Elites, we all need time to research our choices.”
In case you missed it last season, you can now sign up for text alerts to remind you about the deadline for each tournament. And, you can now see how your team is performing in real-time, during the tournament, on your Fantasy pages.
Fantasy Fishing participants will be playing for a stellar lineup of prizes once again in 2023. The Rapala Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing winner of each individual tournament will receive a prize package that is worth $4,000 or $4,500 depending whether or not the winner is a B.A.S.S. Member. In other words, it pays to be a B.A.S.S. Member!
The player that takes down the competition over the course of the entire year will win a grand prize that features a total ARV of $21,150 or $21,650 if the winner is a B.A.S.S. Member. The grand prize features a $15,000 Bass Pro Shops Gift Card, $5,000 cash, a Rapala package and a trip package for one person to a to-be-determined location in the state of South Carolina to fish with Davy Hite.
Playing Fantasy Fishing is a blast, and it’s also worth noting that it is FREE to play!
For more information about the prizes and rules for Rapala Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing, click here!
The Buckets
The 2023 Elite Series field consists of 104 anglers, including 13 new elites. Below is how the Fantasy Fishing Buckets will lay out to start the 2023 season.
BUCKET A
• Brandon Palaniuk
• Brandon Lester
• Chris Johnston
• Drew Benton
• Patrick Walters
• Matt Arey
• Matt Robertson
• John Cox
• Chris Zaldain
• Jay Przekurat
• Gerald Swindle
• Drew Cook
• Taku Ito
• Jeff Gustafson
• Bryan New
• Kenta Kimura
• David Mullins
• Cory Johnston
• Caleb Kuphall
• Keith Poche
• Cooper Gallant
BUCKET B
• Brandon Cobb
• Stetson Blaylock
• Seth Feider
• Bob Downey
• Marc Frazier
• Tyler Rivet
• Greg Hackney
• Jason Christie
• Luke Palmer
• Austin Felix
• Buddy Gross
• Scott Canterbury
• KJ Queen
• Jacob Powroznik
• Cody Huff
• Lee Livesay
• Pat Schlapper
• Clifford Pirch
• Bradley Hallman
• Cole Sands
• David Gaston
BUCKET C
• Scott Martin
• Chad Pipkens
• Bryan Schmitt
• Brandon Card
• Brock Mosley
• Carl Jocumsen
• Shane LeHew
• Hunter Shryock
• Caleb Sumrall
• Bill Lowen
• Ray Hanselman Jr
• Jacob Foutz
• Jamie Hartman
• Jason Williamson
• Jake Whitaker
• Gregory DiPalma
• Paul Mueller
• Joseph Webster
• Joey Cifuentes
• John Soukup
• Logan Latuso
BUCKET D
• Josh Douglas
• Micah Frazier
• Koby Kreiger
• Masayuki Matsushita
• John Crews Jr
• Joshua Stracner
• Mike Huff
• Todd Auten
• Keith Combs
• Clent Davis
• Skylar Hamilton
• Matt Herren
• Justin Atkins
• Kyle Welcher
• Bernie Schultz
• Alex Redwine
• Clark Wendlandt
• Cliff Prince
• Larry Nixon
• Alex Wetherell
• Kyoya Fujita
BUCKET E
• Wes Logan
• Darold Gleason
• Mark Menendez
• Steve Kennedy
• David Williams
• Derek Hudnall
• Justin Hamner
• Hank Cherry Jr
• Rick Clunn
• Ed Loughran
• Michael Iaconelli
• Matty Wong
• Jonathan Kelley
• Frank Talley
• Gary Clouse
• David Fritts
• Brad Whatley
• Kyle Norsetter
• Bryant Smith
• Will Davis
Mercury Bassmaster Drain the Lake Challenge
The 2023 Bassmaster Elite Series season will serve as the second full season fans can play Mercury Bassmaster Drain the Lake Challenge. If you missed out on playing Drain the Lake (DTL) in 2022, be sure to set your DTL rosters in addition to traditional Rapala Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing.
Drain the Lake is considered an elimination pool game. For the first event, you can select any eight anglers in the entire Bassmaster Elite Series field that you think will succeed in that particular event. The catch is that after you select an angler for an event, you will no longer be able to select him again for the rest of the season. The Drain the Lake format requires an entirely new strategy. As you select your team for each event, you’ll have to think ahead to the upcoming events and make sure the anglers on your team are not better suited for upcoming events.
The Grand Prize winner for Drain the Lake will win a trip to fish with Bassmaster LIVE Host Mark Zona in a to-be-determined location in Michigan that includes round-trip coach-class airfare (up to $500 in value), two nights hotel accommodations (up to a $400 value), one day fishing with Mark Zona and $150 spending money. Also, if the Grand Prize winner is a B.A.S.S. Member as of 6:00 AM ET on Aug. 26th, 2022, he/she will receive an additional $500 Bass Pro Shop gift card. The total ARV of Grand Prize is set at a minimum of $1,050 and a maximum of $1,550. The winner of each individual tournament will also receive a prize package from Mercury that includes a $200 Mercury gift card, as well as an additional $500 Bass Pro Shops gift card if he/she is a B.A.S.S. Member.
To learn more about the Mercury Bassmaster Drain the Lake rules and prizes, click here!
Sign up today and set your rosters for the upcoming Bassmaster Elite Series season!