Major League Fishing Reveals Smith Mountain Lake as Venue for 2025 Bass Pro Tour General Tire Heavy Hitters All-Star Event

World’s largest tournament-fishing organization announces full schedule for 2025 Bass Pro Tour 

FRANKLIN COUNTY, Va. (July 18, 2024) – Major League Fishing (MLF) announced today the schedule for the seventh season of professional bass fishing’s most competitive circuit, the 2025 Bass Pro Tour, and local anglers will be very excited to see Smith Mountain Lake on the list. 

Smith Mountain Lake and Franklin County will play host to the 2025 General Tire Heavy Hitters All-Stars event, May 17-22. Hosted by Visit Franklin County, VA and Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge, the event will showcase the 30 pros that qualified from the 2024 Bass Pro Tour season competing in a no-entry-fee tournament for a top prize of $100,000 to the winner. Anglers will also be awarded Big Bass Bonuses during the competition, that pay up to $100,000 for catching the single biggest bass. 

To qualify for General Tire Heavy Hitters, the weight of an angler’s single-largest bass from each of the seven 2024 Bass Pro Tour events was recorded. The 30 anglers with the heaviest total from those seven bass qualified to compete in this tournament.

“Franklin County, Visit Virginia's Blue Ridge, and the Smith Mountain Lake Community are thrilled to showcase not just a world-class fishery but also an authentic metro-mountain lifestyle,” said Kevin Tosh, Franklin County Director of Tourism. “Hosting the Major League Fishing Heavy Hitters event is the result of more than a decade of strategic stocking, conservation, and fish care efforts by local anglers, business owners, and tournament organizers. We warmly invite all anglers and families to come to Franklin County and discover "Virginia's Big Bass Playground" at Smith Mountain Lake."

“Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge and Franklin County are excited to co-host the 2025 General Tire Heavy Hitters tournament at Smith Mountain Lake. We’re looking forward to welcoming our friends at Major League Fishing, a premier professional bass fishing organization, to our destination,” said John Oney, Director of Sports & Sales, Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge. “This all-star event will feature professional anglers, families, staff, and other support personnel from across the country in a six-day competition. As a result of hosting, our region will be highlighted through ongoing national television coverage on the Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, and livestreaming on MLFNOW! This tournament will give our region a terrific platform to showcase our outdoor recreation opportunities, arts & culture, attractions, and many other metro mountain adventures that we’re known for.”

Although Smith Mountain Lake has played host to dozens of MLF (and former FLW) tournaments over the years, this event will mark the first time that the MLF Bass Pro Tour will visit the storied fishery.

“We’re excited about the rollout of the Bass Pro Tour 2025 schedule and what the season will offer to our fans: a fun mixture of new and familiar destinations, with a variety of fishery types and styles,” said MLF Executive Vice President & General Manager Kathy Fennel. “The schedule includes some of the best bass lakes and rivers in the country, including Smith Mountain Lake, which will create consistent excitement for our fans. We’re grateful to our fans, local partners and Bass Pro Tour anglers as we’re set up for an exciting 2025 season.”

Every day of catch, weigh, immediate-release competition will be broadcast live on MLFNOW! and streamed to the Major League Fishing app, MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) and Rumble apps, and at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

2025 MLF Bass Pro Tour Schedule:

Jan. 30- Feb. 2 | Stage One at Lake Conroe | Conroe, Texas
Hosted by Visit Conroe

Feb. 13-16 | Stage Two at the Harris Chain of Lakes | Leesburg, Fla.
Hosted by Discover Lake County Florida 

March 6-9 | Stage Three at Lake Murray | Columbia, S.C.
Hosted by the Capital City Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board

April 3-6 | Bass Pro Shops REDCREST 2025 at Lake Guntersville | Huntsville, Ala.
Hosted by Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association and the Madison County Commission

May 1-4 | Stage Four at Lake Chickamauga/Nickajack Lake | Chattanooga, Tenn.
Hosted by Chattanooga, Tennessee and Fish Tennessee

May 17-22 | General Tire Heavy Hitters at Smith Mountain Lake | Franklin County, Va.
Hosted by Visit Franklin County, VA and Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge

June 5-8 | Stage Five at Kentucky Lake | Calvert City, Ky.
Hosted by the Kentucky Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau

June 26-29 | Stage Six at the Potomac River | Marbury, Md.
Hosted by Charles County Recreation, Parks and Tourism

Aug. 7-10 | Stage Seven at Saginaw Bay | Bay City, Mich.
Hosted by Go Great Lakes Bay and the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce

Proud sponsors of the MLF Bass Pro Tour include: Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Garmin, General Tire, Humminbird, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, PowerStop Brakes, Rapala, REDCON1, Star brite, Suzuki, Toyota, U.S. Air Force and WIX Filters.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the 2025 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 Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network 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 17 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.