Been some shakeup over in KBF Land the last week or so. If you haven’t watched any of the videos or aren’t in the Members Only Facebook group, here’s a list of the more significant changes that affect us…
KBF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
They held on for as long as possible, but the KBF National Championship has been postponed. Tentatively, they’re looking at the first week in November. Nothing concrete yet, but that’s what they said.
Obviously this will mean that some of us who had qualified and planned to fish it will no longer be able to, but maybe it will open the door to some others who couldn’t fish it this month but can in November.
Disappointing, though, for sure.
PARTNER/CHALLENGE/TRAIL SERIES CHAMPIONSHIPS
Originally, the Partner Championship and Challenge Series Championship were to take place concurrently on October 17–18 on Caddo Lake, followed by the Trail Championship the next weekend on Kentucky Lake.
Not ideal for someone who may have qualified for and wanted to fish all three.
Well, now everything is combined. Again. Like last year. There is a Youth Series Championship somewhere in the mix there, but I don’t know much about it and it doesn’t really apply to any of us in this group. But that’s also been combined with it.
Assuming they wanted as much time between these events and the National Championship (if the November dates stand), these combined championships will take place on Caddo Lake, October 17–18.
PRO SERIES
The Pro Series has been dissolved into the Trail Series. All previously scheduled Pro Series events are now Trail Events.
This includes the Pro Open that was scheduled for May 2 on Hopatcong Lake in NJ. It is now a Trail Event for the northeast region. Great for us. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and all that fun stuff, this one is in jeopardy of being postponed. More on that below…
REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Regional Championships are no more. I have yet to wrap my head around this one. These events are now rebranded as SuperTrail events and you do not have to qualify to fish them.
I have no idea if this means there will no longer be a Regional Champion or Regional Angler of the Year or what, but I feel like some of the shine has been scrubbed off of this one. There’s something to be said about earning your way to a championship and winning it. Now anyone can fish it. Just gotta be a KBF member.
This SuperTrail will be worth points and a half in the Angler of the Year race. So going into the Trail Championship, if you’re gunning for overall Angler of the Year or the TEN, your best three Trail events and SuperTrail event points will count.
POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL EVENT POSTPONEMENTS
In addition to the National Championship postponement, KBF has tentatively postponed all live events in the next 60 days. That puts our brand new Hopatcong Lake Trail event inside the bubble. If things change for the better out there and all these quarantines and travel/social gathering restrictions are lifted, then the show will go on, nothing changes. But as of right now, the May 2 event is slated to be rescheduled. Bummer.
If things get worse…well, now you’re talking about the Lake George event as well, which is just outside that 60-day window.
STATE CHALLENGE SERIES
A bit of good news among all this: the KBF State Challenges are still going to happen as scheduled. The Massachusetts state challenge starts on April 1, and registration is open on TourneyX now, so go on and sign up. You’ll still need to adhere to any local restrictions imposed by the state or whatever, but you should be able to compete.
Lord Hoover did say that, if your state does not reach five or more anglers, it will not be combined with another state and there will be no challenge. They simply do not have the time to do that at the moment. So make sure your state gets at least five anglers. Massachusetts won’t have this problem, of course.
Anyway, can’t say I’m happy about all of this, but it’s all out of my control. When things change, and I’m sure they will, I’ll let you know…