Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing Guide 2025: Play for Free and Win Big Prizes!

The Complete 2025 Guide to all 3 Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing Games, including the brand new Pick’em Challenge.

Learn how to play, build your winning team, and compete for huge prizes in Fantasy Fishing, Pick’em Challenge, and Drain the Lake. / B.A.S.S.

What Is Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing?

Each year, Bassmaster.com attracts approximately 30,000 fans to play their Fantasy Fishing games. If you’re a fan of the sport, why wouldn’t you play? If you're going to follow the 2025 Bassmaster Elite Series anyway, it only helps to increase your level of involvement and excitement. And best of all, it’s free to enter and there are lots of great prizes to be won.

How to Play Fantasy Fishing: The Basics

Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing is the original fantasy fishing experience. In this game, Bassmaster divides the whole field of competitors into five “buckets”. Pick one angler from each bucket, and that’s your “team”. If your team accumulates the most points based on their tournament finish, you're the winner.

Years later, Bassmaster added the Drain the Lake game. In this one you pick any eight anglers from the entire field for each tournament. The catch is, you can only pick each angler one time per season. Once they’ve been on your team for an event, they’re not available for another event.

And new for the 2025 season they’ve added the Pick'em Challenge. Bassmaster determines seven head-to-head battles for each tournament. You decide, this guy or that guy, for each of the seven pairings and that’s your team for that event. Each time you pick the right guy, you get a point, making seven points a perfect score per tournament.

4 Reasons You Should Play, Even If You’re Not an Expert

Some people reading this may be thinking, “but I don’t know the anglers well enough to pick.” I understand that initial response, but please consider the following.

First, this is a great way to get to know the anglers. It makes you take an extra couple minutes to think about their strengths and maybe even research their past performances.

Second, it adds another level of involvement and excitement while watching the tournament play out.

Third, bass fishing is loaded with variables and some things you just can’t predict. Although, I’ve been following this sport for decades and give my picks a good deal of genuine consideration, my wife, who is not a longtime, diehard fan, picks her teams based solely on home field advantage, with jersey color as a tiebreaker, and crushes my teams almost every time. Yes, sometimes it’s maddening, but it’s always good for a laugh.

And finally, it’s free. It costs nothing for the potential to win some pretty big prizes. Which is also the reason I’m able to laugh every time my wife’s team wins.

Bassmaster’s 3 Fantasy Fishing Games Explained

Following is a brief guide for the three different games—how to play and what you might win.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article, including game rules, scoring, and prize details, is an approximation based on available data. Actual rules, eligibility requirements, and prize values may vary. For the most up-to-date and official details, please visit bassmaster.com.

1.) FANTASY FISHING: The Original Game & How to Win

Rapala Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing / B.A.S.S.

The Objective: Accumulate the most points over the course of each tournament.

Select Your Anglers: For each tournament, you must select five anglers to form a complete roster. All rosters are divided into five angler groups.

• Group A – select one angler.
• Group B – select one angler.
• Group C – select one angler.
• Group D – select one angler.
• Group E – select one angler.

Scoring: Points are awarded based on the finishing position of your team of anglers, plus bonus points for daily leaders, big bass of the tournament, a heaviest one-day total weight.

PRIZES

Individual Tournament First Prizes: The Individual Tournament First Prize winner will receive a prize package to include:

• $2,500 Bass Pro Shop Gift Card
• $1,000 cash (to be awarded in the form of a check)
• Rapala prize package including a $500 Rapala.com credit
• If an Individual Tournament First Prize winner is a B.A.S.S. Member, bonus $500 Bass Pro Shop Gift Card

Individual Tournament Second, Third and Fourth Prizes: Each Individual Tournament Second, Third and Fourth Prize winner will receive a Rapala prize package or $250, $100 and $50

Runner-Up Prizes (top Season total): Season Runner-Up Prize winner will receive a prize package to include:

• $1,000 Bass Pro Shops Gift Card
• Rapala $100 Rapala.com credit

Grand Prize (top Season total): The Grand Prize Winner will receive a prize package to include:

• $15,000 Bass Pro Shops Gift Card
• $5,000 cash (to be awarded in the form of a check)
• Rapala prize package including a $100 Rapala.com credit)
• A trip package for one to the 2026 Bassmaster Classic
• If Grand Prize winner is a B.A.S.S. Member, bonus $500 Bass Pro Shop Gift Card.

2.) NEW PICK ‘EM CHALLENGE: Head-to-Head Matchups Explained

NEW for 2025 TH Marine Bassmaster Pick'em Challenge / B.A.S.S.

The Objective: Accumulate the most points over the course of each tournament.

Select Your Anglers: For each tournament, players will be presented with seven head-to-head match-ups between two anglers. Players select one of the two anglers for each of the seven match-ups per tournament.

Scoring: Each player will receive one point for each match-up where the player correctly selected the angler that finished the highest. The maximum number of points a player can earn per tournament is seven, a “Perfect Score”.

PRIZES

Individual Tournament First Prizes: The Individual Tournament First Prize winner will receive a prize package to include:

• $150 T-H Marine Gift Card

Grand Prize (top Season total): The Grand Prize Winner will receive a prize package to include:

• Atlas Hydraulic Jack Plate
• HydroWave KVD Edition Fish Feeding Stimulator
• 16 oz. G-Juice
• $200 T-H Marine Gift Card
• $2,500 Bass Pro Shops Gift Card
• If Grand Prize winner is a B.A.S.S. Member, bonus $500 Bass Pro Shop Gift Card
  

3.) DRAIN THE LAKE: A Unique Strategy Game

Falcon Bassmaster Drain the Lake Fantasy Fishing Challenge / B.A.S.S.

The objective: Accumulate the most points over the course of each Tournament.

Select Your Anglers: For each tournament, you must select eight anglers to form a complete roster per the tournament schedule. Anglers may only be selected by an individual player once during the entire tour. Once an angler is selected by a player, that angler may not be chosen again by that player during the tour.

Scoring: Points are awarded based on the finishing position of your team of anglers, plus bonus points for the tournament winner.

PRIZES

Individual Tournament First Prizes: The Individual Tournament First Prize winner will receive a prize package to include:

• $100 Falcon Rods Gift Card
• $250 Bass Pro Shops Gift Card
• If an Individual Tournament First Prize winner is a B.A.S.S. Member, bonus $500 Bass Pro Shop Gift Card

Grand Prize (top Season total): The Grand Prize Winner will receive a prize package to include:

• $2,500 Bass Pro Shops Gift Card
• A trip package for one to a lake in the state of Oklahoma to fish with Luke Palmer. Trip package includes:
• Round-trip coach-class airfare (up to $500 in value) to Oklahoma
• Two nights hotel accommodations
• 1-day fishing with Luke Palmer
• $150 spending money
• If an Individual Tournament First Prize winner is a B.A.S.S. Member, bonus $500 Bass Pro Shop Gift Card

Why You Should Play Fantasy Fishing This Year

It’s not too late, but you need to hurry. You can still get your Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing picks in, but only until 6:00AM ET on 2/20/25. The first Elite Event on the St Johns River starts Thursday morning. And if you miss that deadline, all is not lost. It’s going to make it tough to win the overall season grand prizes, but you can still win any of the rest of the individual tournament prizes. And again, see the list above for all there reasons to play.

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