Major League Fishing (MLF) announced the schedule for the eighth season of professional bass fishing’s most competitive circuit, the 2026 Bass Pro Tour, last week, and local fans and anglers will be very excited to see O.H. Ivie Lake and Lake Brownwood on the list.
Early, Texas and O.H. Ivie and Lake Brownwood will play host to Stage 4 of the 2026 Bass Pro Tour season, March 26-29. Hosted by Visit Early, the event will showcase a field of 51 of the world’s top professional bass anglers competing for the sport’s largest payouts – including a top prize of $150,000 at Stage 4, and a season-long purse of millions of dollars in earnings and valuable points in the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) race and qualification into REDCREST 2027.
Anglers will compete on O.H. Ivie for the opening two-day Qualifying Round before moving to Lake Brownwood for the final two days of competition.
“We are excited to welcome Major League Fishing back to Early as the host city for the Bass Pro Tour,” said Denise Hudson-Brian, Visit Early, Texas Convention& Visitors Bureau Director. “This partnership reinforces our commitment to establishing Early as a premier destination for fishing enthusiasts at Lake Brownwood and O.H. Ivie. It also allows us to showcase the unique experiences and exceptional hospitality our community has to offer while providing a significant boost to our local economy.”
O.H. Ivie and Lake Brownwood hosted MLF pros as a part of the MLF Team Series in the fall of 2024, but this event will mark the first time that the MLF Bass Pro Tour has visited O.H. Ivie and Lake Brownwood.
“Our 2026 schedule showcases everything we love about the Bass Pro Tour – challenging new waters, high-stakes competition and a roster of the most accomplished anglers in the sport,” said Kathy Fennel, MLF Executive Vice President & General Manager. “We’re excited about several new stops on the Tour next season, including O.H. Ivie and Lake Brownwood. There’s never been a better time to be a fan of the sport of professional bass fishing.”
A key storyline entering the 2026 season is the Bass Pro Tour’s transition to a 51-angler field – the final step in a strategically planned two-year restructuring of the league’s competitive format. The next evolution is designed to create a more streamlined, sustainable model that elevates the profile of each competitor, improves storytelling for fans and sponsors and maximizes the league’s evolving digital broadcast strategy.
As in 2025, each Bass Pro Tour event will feature the full field of anglers competing in the Qualifying Round on Days 1 and 2, followed by the Knockout Round on Day 3 and then the Championship Round on Day 4. The league’s signature catch-weigh-release format ensures immediate fish care and maximum fan excitement, with every fish scored and streamed live on MLFNOW! via the MLF app, MyOutdoorTV (MOTV), Rumble, and at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
With a field of the world’s best anglers ready to make history, the 2026 Bass Pro Tour promises more action, more surprises and more big bass moments than ever before.
2026 MLF Bass Pro Tour Schedule:
Jan. 15-18 Stage 1 at Lake Guntersville Guntersville, Ala.
Hosted by Marshall County Tourism & Sports
Feb. 19-22 Stage 2 at Lake Hartwell Oconee County, S.C.
March 5-8 Stage 3 at Lake Whitney (Days 1-2) & Lake Waco (Days 3-4) Waco, Texas
Hosted by the Greater Waco Sports Commission, the City of Waco and the Waco TPID
March 26-29 Stage 4 at O.H. Ivie Lake (Days 1-2) & Lake Brownwood (Days 3-4) Early, Texas
April 16-19 REDCREST 2026 TBA
April 30-May 3 Stage 5 at Beaver Lake Northwest Ark.
May 16-21 MLF Heavy Hitters at Orange Lake Ocala, Fla.
Hosted by the Ocala/Marion County Visitors & Convention Bureau
June 18-21 Stage 6 at Grand Lake Grove, Okla.
Hosted by the City of Grove and the Grove Convention & Tourism Bureau
Aug. 6-9 Stage 7 at Lake Erie Sandusky, Ohio
Hosted by Shore & Islands Ohio
Proud sponsors of the MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing Co., Bass Force, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sport Apparel, Fishing Clash, Grizzly, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, NITRO Boats, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Star brite, Suzuki Marine, Toyota and Zenni.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the 2026 Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery, Discovery+, Discovery GO, Animal Planet, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and Game & Fish TV, and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 20 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.