Earning $1M for catching bass just got a lot easier

What’s that old saying? Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you give him a chance to win a share of $4.3 million?

That’s the prize pool for the inaugural — inhale if you’re reading this aloud — Johnny Morris Bass Pro Shops U.S. Open National Bass Fishing Amateur Team Championships.

Whew!

The first-of-its-kind tournament, which is expected to generate more than $1 million in support of The National Fish Habitat Initiative, makes a qualifying stop April 24 at Lake Mead. The top 40 teams there will move on to compete for the big money starting Nov. 19 at Missouri’s Table Rock Lake. First place at the Lake Mead event is $50,000, while the biggest bass caught there will be worth $1,000 per pound. The top prize in the finals, $1 million, is billed as “the largest cash payout of any single freshwater fishing tournament in history.”

To put that in perspective, whole striped bass, like the ones found in Lake Mead, sell for $281.25 for an average 15-pounder at New York’s legendary Fulton Fish Market. The only other way we know of to earn $1 million by catching them would involve hauling in 3,555 of the scaly rascals.

If that’s your plan, though, there’s another saying you should consider: You’re gonna need a bigger boat. basspro.com/shop/en/usopen