We’d like to thank Jeff Haines for sharing his Bassmaster Tournament Patch Collection with us here on the Bass Fishing Archives. Below you’ll find the Tournament Patches for the 1980 Season. Click on the first image to open the gallery.
1979 Bassmaster Alabama Invitational Lake Eufaula
1980 Bassmaster Florida Invitational East Division Lake Toho
1980 Bassmaster Mississippi Invitational West Division Lake Sardis
1980 Bassmaster Missouri Invitational West Division Lake of the Ozarks
1980 Bassmaster North Carolina Invitational East Division Albermarle Sound
1980 Bassmaster Texas Invitational West Division Toledo Bend
1980 BASS Champs Lake Guntersville
1980 BASS Masters Classic St. Lawrence River Contestant Patch
1980 BASS Masters Classic St. Lawrence River Press Angler Patch
The 1980 season of the Bassmaster Trail completely changed from the previous years where there were six qualifying events for the BASS Masters Classic. In 1980, Ray Scott changed the entire format creating two divisions, East and West, that would compete in three divisional events. The Top-90 in the AOY standings from each division would then compete against each other in the 1980 BASS Champs event and the Top-20 from each division would then go on to compete in the 1980 BASS Masters Classic.
The other big change that took place was the 1980 tournament year would start off in November, shifting the entire schedule left, which would allow the BASS Masters Classic to be held earlier in the year. This would open up the possibility of hosting the Classic on a northern tier lake.
As in previous years, the schedule was filled with some familiar lakes. But this year would also see the addition of three lakes never visited by the organization. Those lakes were, Sardis Lake, MS, Lake of the Ozarks, MO, and Albermarle Sound, NC.
Here’s the 1980 schedule:
- ALABAMA INVITATIONAL East Division – Lake Eufaula, Alabama, Lakepoint Marina, November 14-16, 1979.
- FLORIDA INVITATIONAL East Division – Lake Toho, Kissimmee Florida, Big Toho Marina Kissimmee, February 27-29, 1980.
- MISSISSIPPI INVITATIONAL West Division -Sardis Lake, Mississippi, Gulf Trail Lodge Sardis, March 26-28, 1980.
- MISSOURI INVITATIONAL West Division – Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, Osage House Resort, Osage Beach, Apr 23-25, 1980.
- NORTH CAROLINA INVITATIONAL East Division – Albermarle Sound, North Carolina, Elizabeth City Yacht Yard and Marina, May 21-23, 1980.
- TEXAS INVITATIONAL West Division – Toledo Bend Reservoir, Texas, Frontier Park, Hemphill, June 25-27, 1980.
- BASS Champs Tournament – Lake Guntersville, Alabama, North Sauty Marina, Scottsboro, July 23-25, 1980.
- CHAPTER CHAMPIONSHIP – August 20-22, 1980, Site to be announced, August 4, 1980.
- BASS Masters CLASSIC – September 24-26, 1980, Site to be announced.
The 1979 tournament year would also continue with the combined total weight system to determine the Bassmaster Angler of the Year.
For full coverage of the 1980 season, please click on the links below.
- 1980 Bassmaster Trail – Part One
- 1980 Bassmaster Trail – Part Two
- 1980 BASS Champs
- 1980 B.A.S.S. Federation Championship
- 1980 BASS Masters Classic
The patches presented above are the patches the angler received at each of the events in the 1980 season. It’s not a complete set of patches for the year in that the 1980 BASS Masters Classic Contenders and Press Angler patches are missing. If anyone knows of these patches and is willing to part with them, please contact us at terry@bass-archives.com. Jeff Haines would be interested in talking with you.
