By August a fishing tournament calendar built around “upcoming 2026 events” is mostly a historical document. Most of the season has been fished. What has value now is the record of what 2026 produced, the 2027 dates organizers have already locked in, and the handful of major events still to come before the year closes.
This is that calendar. Every date, fee and payout below is sourced to a tournament organizer, a sanctioning body, or a named news outlet. Where 2027 dates have not been published, the historical window is given instead and labeled as such.
Confirmed 2027 Dates
| Event | Location | 2027 Dates | Species | Entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLF Bass Pro Tour Stage 1 | St. Johns River, Palatka, FL | Jan. 14–17 | Bass | Qualification only |
| Jimmy Johnson’s Quest for the Ring | Hollywood, FL | Mar. 2–6 | Billfish, meat fish | $5,000 per boat (billfish championship) |
| Bassmaster Classic | Lake Hartwell, Greenville, SC | Mar. 19–21 | Bass | Qualification only — $300,000 to win |
| Bisbee’s Costa Rica Offshore | Costa Rica | Apr. 6–10 | Billfish (all release) | $5,000 base / $119,140 all-in |
| REDCREST 2027 | Logan Martin Lake, Birmingham, AL | Apr. 16–18 | Bass | Qualification only — $300,000 to win |
| MLF Kubota Heavy Hitters | Kentucky & Barkley Lakes, KY | May 22–27 | Bass | Qualification only |
| Gold Cup Tarpon Tournament (64th) | Islamorada, FL | June 21–25 | Tarpon (fly, all release) | 25-angler field |
| White Marlin Open | Ocean City, MD | Aug. 2–7 | White marlin, blue marlin, tuna | See organizer |
The White Marlin Open has published dates three years out: August 2–7, 2027, August 7–12, 2028, and August 6–11, 2029. The full 2027 MLF Bass Pro Tour runs seven stages from the St. Johns River in January to the Pasquotank River in August.
Still to Come in 2026
| Event | Location | Dates | Species | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White Marlin Open | Ocean City, MD | Aug. 3–8 | White marlin, blue marlin, tuna | Fish any 3 days; polygraphs Aug. 9 |
| Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain | Plattsburgh, NY | Aug. 13–16 | Bass | $100,000 to win |
| The MidAtlantic | Cape May, NJ / Ocean City, MD | Aug. 16–21 | Billfish, tuna, wahoo, dolphin | $3,500 base entry; 11+ calcuttas |
| Bassmaster Open at Lake Erie | New York | Aug. 20–22 | Bass | $2,000 pro entry |
| Bassmaster College Championship | — | Aug. 20–22 | Bass | Collegiate |
| Bassmaster Kayak Series | Wolf and Fox Rivers, WI | Aug. 22–23 | Bass | Catch-photo-release |
| Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River | Clayton, NY | Aug. 27–30 | Smallmouth bass | Elite season finale |
| CCA Texas STAR closes | Texas coast | Sept. 7 | Redfish, inshore, offshore | $30/$70 entry; $2M+ prize table |
| CCA Florida STAR closes | Florida | Sept. 7 | Multi-species, CPR | $150,000+ in prizes/scholarships |
| Bassmaster Elite Qualifier | Norfork Lake, AR | Sept. 23–25 | Bass | Elite Series qualifying |
| Bisbee’s Los Cabos Offshore | Cabo San Lucas, MX | Oct. 12–17 | Billfish, tuna, dorado | $1,500 base / $36,000 all-in |
| Bisbee’s Black & Blue | Cabo San Lucas, MX | Oct. 19–24 | Black and blue marlin | $5,000 base / $84,500 all-in; $11.5M+ purse |
| Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship | Port Aransas, TX | Nov. 6–8 | Redfish | Invitational |
| Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Championship | — | Nov. 18–21 | Bass | Classic berths awarded |
| TNT Fireworks Bassmaster Team Championship | — | Dec. 9–12 | Bass | Two-angler teams |
How 2026 Went: Results Worth Knowing
Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament — Morehead City, North Carolina
The 68th Big Rock rewrote its own record book in June. Marlin Fever, a 63-foot Jarrett Bay run by Captain Cameron Guthrie, weighed a 919.9-pound blue marlin caught by angler Connor Daniel, beating the 914-pound tournament record set in 2019. The payout was $6,513,187.50 out of a total purse of $9,038,225, from a field of 278 boats and 331 total catches, according to Marlin. That single check exceeded the winner’s share of several major professional sporting events.
Bassmaster Classic — Knoxville, Tennessee
Dylan Nutt, 22, of Nashville, won on the Tennessee River in March with 66 pounds, 13 ounces, more than nine pounds clear of Trey McKinney. Nutt took $300,000 and became only the second B.A.S.S. Nation qualifier to win the Classic, after Bryan Kerchal in 1994. The 2027 Classic moves to Lake Hartwell, March 19–21 — Hartwell’s fifth, the most of any venue.
REDCREST — Table Rock Lake, Missouri
Jacob Wheeler won Major League Fishing’s championship in April at Table Rock, a title that had eluded him through the tour’s previous seasons.
The MidAtlantic — Cape May and Ocean City
The 2025 edition distributed more than $3.20 million to 19 winners, topped by $863,363 for a 75-pound white marlin and $706,219 for an 804-pound blue. The 2026 event, the 35th, runs August 16–21 from the Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May and Sunset Marina in Ocean City.
The Season-Long and Regional Events
Not everything on the calendar is a weekend. Several of the largest tournaments in the country run for months and cost almost nothing to enter.
- CCA Texas STAR — May 23 to September 7, 2026, the entire Texas coast. Entry is $30 for CCA members, $70 for non-members including a year of membership, $10 for youth. More than $2,000,000 in prizes and scholarships, including Ford F-150 and boat packages for tagged redfish.
- CCA Florida STAR — Memorial Day weekend through September 7, 2026, statewide, catch-photo-release with an official identifier. More than $150,000 in prizes and scholarships, including $100,000 in college scholarships.
- Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo — the 93rd running was held July 16–17, 2026 at Dauphin Island, with a youth tournament July 11. Entry was $60 for adults and $5 for anglers 15 and under, with jackpot categories from $40 to $400 covering big game, king mackerel, speckled trout, shark, red snapper and swordfish.
- International Grand Isle Tarpon Rodeo — July 23–25, 2026 in Grand Isle, Louisiana. First held in 1928 and billed as the oldest fishing tournament in the United States, with tarpon, redfish and offshore divisions and a $10,000 grand prize.
- Salmon-A-Rama — July 11–19, 2026 out of Racine, Wisconsin, on Lake Michigan. Boat, shore, kayak, youth and perch divisions, with a $50,000 grand prize for the largest fish across the boat, shore and kayak divisions. The 2025 edition awarded more than $180,000 in prizes.
- Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s National Team Championship — July 23–25, 2026 on the St. Marys River at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan (walleye).
Tarpon Season, in Brief
Florida’s tarpon tournament season is compressed into six weeks in May and June and is now over for 2026. Boca Grande ran Ladies’ Day on May 9, the World’s Richest Tarpon Tournament May 13–14 with more than $120,000 on the line, Howl at the Moon May 30, the Gasparilla Island Kids Classic June 6, the Red Gill Invitational June 13 and Howl at the Moon “Ladies Night Out” June 20. In the Keys, the 31st Golden Fly ran May 18–20 and the 63rd Gold Cup June 15–19, both out of Islamorada.
Planning a Tournament Year
A few structural facts make the calendar easier to work with.
Offshore billfish tournaments cluster where the fish and the weather overlap. The Mid-Atlantic canyon season runs June through August — Big Rock in June, the White Marlin Open and the MidAtlantic in August — because that is when white marlin and bigeye are on the edge and the weather windows are workable. Cabo runs its majors in October. Costa Rica runs in the spring. If you are chasing more than one, the calendar rarely conflicts.
Professional bass runs front-loaded. The Bassmaster Classic is in March, REDCREST in April, and the Elite Series regular season is essentially finished by the end of August. The Elite schedule opens in Alabama in February and finishes in New York in late August, which means the northern smallmouth events land in the last month of the season.
Inshore is the long game. The season-long tagged-fish contests — CCA STAR in Texas and Florida — span roughly Memorial Day to Labor Day and are the only major tournaments an angler can enter and then simply fish their home water for fifteen weeks.
Book lodging before you enter. Ocean City during White Marlin Open week, Cape May during the MidAtlantic, Islamorada during Gold Cup week and Boca Grande during the May tarpon tournaments are all fully booked months out. The entry is usually the easy part to secure.
Watch for the 2027 announcements. B.A.S.S. typically publishes its Elite Series and Opens schedules in the early fall. Saltwater organizers generally post the following year within a few months of the current event closing. Anyone planning around an unannounced date should use the historical window and confirm before committing money.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the richest fishing tournament in the United States?
By single-payout, the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament in Morehead City, which paid $6,513,187.50 to one boat in 2026 out of a $9,038,225 purse. Bisbee’s Black & Blue in Cabo San Lucas advertises a larger overall purse at more than $11.5 million but is fished in Mexico.
Which major tournaments have announced 2027 dates?
The Bassmaster Classic (March 19–21, Lake Hartwell), the full MLF Bass Pro Tour schedule including REDCREST (April 16–18, Logan Martin) and Heavy Hitters (May 22–27, Kentucky and Barkley), Bisbee’s Costa Rica Offshore (April 6–10), the Gold Cup Tarpon Tournament (June 21–25), Jimmy Johnson’s Quest for the Ring (March 2–6) and the White Marlin Open (August 2–7).
Which 2027 schedules are still unannounced?
As of August 2026, the Bassmaster Elite Series and Bassmaster Opens 2027 schedules had not been released — the only 2027 event on the B.A.S.S. calendar was the Classic. Most saltwater tarpon and redfish events, and the season-long CCA STAR programs, also had not posted 2027 dates. These typically come out between September and February.
What is the cheapest major tournament to enter?
CCA STAR, at $30 for Texas members. There is no boat requirement, no travel requirement and a 15-week fishing window against a prize table valued above $2 million.
When is peak tournament season?
June through August for offshore and tarpon, February through June for professional bass, and May through September for the season-long inshore contests. August alone carries the White Marlin Open, the MidAtlantic and the close of the Bassmaster Elite regular season.
Related Reading
- How to Enter Fishing Tournaments — fees, calcuttas, weigh-ins and polygraphs.
- White Marlin Open — the largest billfish tournament in the world.
- Bass Tournaments — B.A.S.S., MLF, entry costs and 2027 schedules.
- Redfish Tournaments — CCA STAR, the Redfish Cup and regional series.
- Tarpon Tournaments — Boca Grande, the Keys and Grand Isle.
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