Season Preview: 2024 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series Presented by SEVIIN Reels

B.A.S.S. and St. Croix Rod, handcrafters of the Best Rods on Earth® for over 75 years, are pleased to announce that St. Croix will return as title sponsor for the 2024 Bassmaster Opens Series. Additionally, SEVIIN Reels will be this year’s Opens Series presenting sponsor. Beyond its top-level sponsorship, St. Croix and SEVIIN will extend additional support to Opens anglers through the St. Croix Rods & SEVIIN Reels Rewards Programs, which offer the opportunity for boaters and co-anglers fishing St. Croix rods and/or SEVIIN reels to earn contingency cash at each event.

The Opens circuit, which has become one of the most competitive and most followed in the sport, will again feature three divisions with three events each for the upcoming 2024 season. Winners of all events will be eligible for a berth in the 2025 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Toyota. Only anglers who fish the Elite Qualifiers Division (all nine events) will be eligible to earn invitations to the 2025 Bassmaster Elite Series.

B.A.S.S. officials recently announced the schedule for the 2024 season, once again mixing frequent destinations with some that have barely been touched by the organization during its 55-year history. Opens Tournament Director Hank Weldon says he’s looking forward to another hotly contested journey across the country with some of the finest anglers in the world.

“When we say this schedule has a little bit of everything, we mean it,” Weldon says. “From Okeechobee largemouth to a mixed bag in Minnesota, anglers who fish all nine events will have their knowledge and abilities tested to the extreme.” The final event in each division will feature live television coverage on FS1.

2024 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Presented by SEVIIN Reels Schedule

Division 1
February 1-3, Lake Okeechobee, Clewiston, Florida
March 7-9, Santee Cooper Lakes, Clarendon County, South Carolina
October 10-12, Lake Hartwell, Anderson, South Carolina

Division 2
February 15-17, Lake Ouachita, Hot Springs, Arkansas
May 2-4, Logan Martin Lake, Lincoln, Alabama
June 20-22, Lake Eufaula, Eufaula, Oklahoma

Division 3
July 11-13, Lake St. Clair, Macomb County, Michigan
August 22-24, Leech Lake, Walker, Minnesota
September 12-14, Mississippi River, La Crosse, Wisconsin

Grassroots Support
 
St. Croix Rod and SEVIIN Reels will have key company employees on site, interacting with anglers and fans at every Opens event throughout the 2024 season.
 
“2024 marks the third consecutive year St. Croix has extended title sponsorship to this amazing series,” says St. Croix Brand Manager, Ryan Teach. “Just as the Opens are a critical pathway and proving ground for some of the world’s top bass anglers, this series is an essential component in our mission of staying connected to anglers as a whole. We’re committed to innovating, designing, and crafting rods that give Opens anglers the upper hand in the diverse and emerging presentations necessary to win on tour. When we do that, we know we can make bass anglers at every level happy. And that’s exactly what we’re doing with series like Bass X, Mojo Bass TRIGON, Victory, Legend Tournament Bass, Legend Xtreme, and others under development. Elite anglers like Trey McKinney, Pat Schlapper, Bob Downey, and Caleb Kuphall proved that they can consistently compete and win at the highest level by coming through the Opens, and we’re proud that our rods have been on their decks and in their hands every step of the way.”

SEVIIN Reels Product Manager, Robert Woods, agrees. “After 75 years, St. Croix still exists and thrives because it keeps anglers at the center of its decision making. When we started working on SEVIIN Reels three years ago, we vowed to do the same,” says Woods. “We rely on input and feedback from anglers with diverse interests, skills, and backgrounds. Our pro staff includes Bassmaster Elite and Opens anglers so we can continue to develop reels like GF, GS, and GX that deliver the performance and reliability required to support angler success and satisfaction at the highest level. When we exceed the expectations of these fierce competitors, we know our reels are going to be appreciated by anglers at all levels.”
 
St. Croix and SEVIIN staffers competing in the 2024 Bassmaster Opens Series include:
 
Chad Grigsby of Minnesota – St. Croix & SEVIIN / EQ
Josh Wiesner of Wisconsin – St. Croix & SEVIIN / EQ
Joey Nania of Alabama – SEVIIN / EQ
Joey Hanna of Texas – St. Croix / EQ
Ron Ryals of Florida – St. Croix & SEVIIN / Div. 1
Justin Barnes of Georgia – St. Croix & SEVIIN / Div. 1
Mark Hooker of Texas – St. Croix & SEVIIN / Div. 2
Ken Mittelstaedt of Minnesota – St. Croix / Div. 3
Andrew Mlotek of Indiana – St. Croix / Div. 3
Steve Mortenson of Wisconsin – St. Croix / Div. 3
Eugene Kim of Illinois – St. Croix & SEVIIN / Mixed Events

St. Croix & SEVIIN Rewards Programs
 
The St. Croix Rewards Program remains unchanged this year, but an identical SEVIIN Rewards Program has been added.
 
Each program pays $1,000 to any registered pro angler (boater) who wins an Open tournament fishing St. Croix rods or SEVIIN reels, or $500 to the highest-finishing registered top-10 pro angler (boater) fishing St. Croix rods or SEVIIN Reels.
 
Similarly, each program awards $500 to any registered co-angler who wins an Open tournament fishing St. Croix rods or SEVIIN reels, or $250 to the highest-finishing registered top-10 co-angler fishing St. Croix rods or SEVIIN reels.
 
Since these are two separate contingency programs, a registered angler fishing both St. Croix and SEVIIN who wins or finishes highest in the top 10 would receive both rewards – up to $2,000 for a boater and up to $1,000 for a co-angler.
 
Anglers must pre-register to be eligible to win these contingency programs. Registration takes place at the St. Croix / SEVIIN tent prior to the start of competition at each tournament.
 
The 2024 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series Presented by SEVIIN Reels kicks off February 1-3 with Division 1 competition on Lake Okeechobee. Follow all the action throughout the entire 2024 season at bassmaster.com/opens.

About St. Croix Rod
Headquartered in Park Falls, Wisconsin, St. Croix has been proudly producing the “Best Rods on Earth” for over 75 years. Combining state-of-the-art manufacturing processes with skilled craftsmanship, St. Croix is the only major producer to still build rods entirely from design through manufacturing. The company remains family-owned and operates duplicate manufacturing facilities in Park Falls and Fresnillo, Mexico. With popular trademarked series such as Legend®, Legend Xtreme®, Avid®, Premier®, Imperial®, Triumph®, Mojo, and BASSX, St. Croix is revered by all types of anglers from around the world.

About SEVIIN Reels
Wherever and however you fish, the reel in your hand should help create better experiences. Born from St. Croix’s seven decades of design and manufacturing expertise, industry-leading customer service, and unbroken private ownership by the Schluter family dating back to 1977, SEVIIN reels are meticulously engineered and purpose-built to help anglers conquer every species on every piece of water on the planet. SEVIIN focuses on reels and reels only, designing and crafting products that improve the angling experience, regardless of the rods anglers choose. Seven seas, seven continents, seven days a week, SEVIIN reels are fueled by a collective love of fishing surpassed only by a passion to deliver the most reliable reels on the water.

About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events, and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever, and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 515,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation, and youth fishing.