The Future Pro Tour is an amateur level team circuit that offers a great opportunity to learn the basics of competitive bass fishing, meet lots of great people, and just have fun. Our goal simply put, is to provide a venue in which entry/amateur level anglers can improve on their bass fishing skills in a friendly yet competitive environment. Requiring only a nominal entry fee ($90 per team), we encourage all participants to share information, and be part of making our events a fun experience for all.
The Future Pro Tour is a team format and features 2 divisions – Div I (0-90hp) and Div II (91hp and above), where anglers in each division fish for that division's prize money. At the end of the year, teams with the most points from each division will qualify for the end of year – Future Pro Only – tournament of champions dubbed the Future Pro Tour Classic!
But that is only a part of our mission. We also endeavor to ensure that our members build on their bass fishing skills by offering informative seminars before each event hosted by the west’s top bass professionals. 2009 Bassmaster Classic Champion Skeet Reese, the west's all-time money winner Gary Dobyns, 2-time B.A.S.S Elite Series Champion Ish Monroe, and Freshwater Hall of fame inductee Dee Thomas, to name a few, have joined in as headliners at our seminars to share with us the angling secrets it took them a life time to learn.
Whether you are a beginner, a novice, an intermediate level angler, or desire to fish with your spouse, or child, we invite you to come be apart of the most exciting bass fishing circuit in the west. We can’t guarantee that you will catch fish, but we can guarantee that you will have a whole lot of fun trying!
Future Pro Tour Staff
Frank Ono - Director, Business Development
While facilitation of an enterprise as large as the Future Pro Tour takes an extraordinary amount of work and planning, hardly anything is as important as maintaining focus and keeping in perspective the "business" side of the Tour. Frank Ono brings to our organization many years of corporate level experience, and deals with the areas of strategical financial planning, ensuring that the Future Pro Tour always remains a financially viable organization.
Mark Hayworth - Operations Manager
As director of tournament operations, Mark is responsible for the facilitation of the event from beginning to end to ensure that equipment is set up properly, that the weigh-in, check-in, an awards processes are done at the highest level of efficiency possible. If something needs to be done, Mark is the "McGuyver" with a single-minded focus - and that is to get the job done.
Nikki Benson, Sales/Marketing Director
That Future Pro Tour events are run in a professional and organized manner is by no means an accident. When you see everything in place - even to the smallest detail, you can be sure that Nikki had a big part in making it so.
Responsible for ensuring that all facets of tournament operations are running at maximum efficiency, Nikki also directs efforts to ensure that the Future Pro Tour's family of premier sponsors receive maximum ROI on their investment in the Tour, keeping an open line of communication between them that insures their needs and concerns are addressed in a timely fashion.
Shannon Harris - FPT Administration, Membership Services
Shannon Harris is our membership services associate responsible for ensuring that member information is consistently updated, and that members are enrolled in the various angler services and contingency programs available to Future Pro Tour members.
Anthony Harris, Future Pro Tour - General Counsel
Anthony Harris is the Future Pro Tour's General Counsel responsible for all legal concerns that require attention. Privacy laws, insurance obligations, liability and asset protection are his specialties, and he is a valuable member of our team. Anthony received his pre-law degree from Golden Gate University graduating with summa cum laude honors, received his Juris Doctorate from Texas Southern University, and successfully passed the California BAR Exam. His offices are located in Alameda California. - ahlawoakland@yahoo.com (510) 827-8676
Tournament Competition Committee
The Future Pro Tour organization is proud to have four of the west's most respected and talented sportsmen's heading up it's Tournament Competition Committee, a committee charged with the all-important task of reviewing and interpreting existing FPT policies and procedures, and helping to create/implement new policies that will help the FPT evolve as an organization - to the benefit of it's members.
Consummate sportsmen, all have a penchant for impartiality, fairness, and the seemingly rare ability to look at issues from both an angler and business perspective, knowing full well that making the “tough calls”, on such issues as angler eligibility, disqualifications, and penalty assessments, often is a thankless job not always received well.
Tournament Competition Committee Members:
Charlie Almassey - A progressive minded FLW touring pro and inland district manager for West Marine Products.
“I consider it a great privilege to be able to lend my time and contribute my thoughts to help anglers grow and enjoy their first tournament experiences”.
– Charlie Almassey
Andy “Cooch” Cuccia - Top guide and noted delta “guru”, Andy, brings a lifetime of fishing experience and a refreshing brand of “plain talk” to the committee table, as he uses the knowledge gathered from guiding over 100 days a year, to help the committee understand how policies, rules, and procedures affect grass roots anglers.
“Consistency is a key for those new to competitive fishing…When anglers know what to expect and feel that rules are applied fairly across the board, it tends to eliminate controversy”.
– Andy Cuccia
Jeff Huth – Is a long time Ranger/Mercury pro-staff member not only well respected amongst his peers, but also carries a passion for the community at large, hosting events for the Clovis Mounted Police Department and participating in various community-minded events in the central valley. Never shy to tell you just what he thinks, Jeff's candor and honesty is a welcome part of committee discussions, helping members keep “on point”, when dealing with controversial issues.
Alan Fong - This outstanding fishermen and teacher, uniquely rounds out the committee and is a top guide and tackle industry notable, who was the former co-host of the ever popular “Fun Fishing” TV show. Alan's “tell it like it is” approach along with the incredible amount of respect he commands throughout the fishing industry is an invaluable asset to the TCC.
“One of the goals I hope to accomplish as part of this committee is to help new anglers understand that fishing competitively means rules must be adhered to as stated”. If you “mess up”, and get DQ'd or penalized, it's not the end of the world…it just means you need to learn from your mistakes and commit yourself to improvement”.
– Alan Fong