Earlier this year, we at the Fishing Association were approached by Rich Chapman who had an idea that he thought we may be interested in. Essentially, what he proposed was a series of matches, which ranked the anglers participating depending on where they placed forming a league like structure. With cash pay outs after each monthly match there was also the opportunity for anglers to make a career out of fishing whilst challenging those already in the profession. Having read the proposal Steve saw the potential to change or at least shake up the fishing world. It was a great concept and so we set to work to create the Elite League.
Aim To be ranked the top angler at the end of the season and be awarded the title Elite League Champion whilst gaining as much of the cash prize pot as you can.
Season March - September
How it works Between March and September every time you fish in our Elite League you will gain points. The number of points you gain will be dependent on where you place in both your section and overall in each match, in both qualifiers and finals. On the last Saturday of each month there will be a final. Each of the finals will be fished by the section winners of each of the 4 qualifiers, which will be held on the 1st and 2nd Thursday and Friday of the same month at 1 of the 8 predetermined venues. Over the course of the 7 months your points will be added together, forming a league table showing where every angler is ranked. At the end of the season the angler at the top, ranked number one, will be the crowned the elite league champion for that year. All anglers participating will be ranked accordingly based upon their performances over the season.
Season Prize Pot £256,000 ** Minus peg fees and 3rd party administration costs ** This sum is based on all 1280 spaces being filled at a cost of £200 per ticket for all the season qualifiers. 4 qualifiers per month, 28 in total. This is subject to change depending on uptake.
Qualifiers There will be 4 qualifiers per month from March – September, each to be held on the first and second Thursday and Friday at 1 of 8 predetermined venues. For each of those qualifiers, section winners will go through to fish a monthly final. As the introductory month, the 4 qualifiers in March will be 80 peg qualifiers. In each of these qualifiers, there will be 8, 10 peg sections. If you win your section, you will have earned your place in March’s final. Each qualifier will therefore generate 8 finalists, equating to a 32 peg final on the last Saturday of March. Everyone else in the qualifying match will receive points based on where they came in their section as well as those with the top 8 weights overall taking additional points. Beat just 9 others to win your 10 peg section to qualify for your spot in the monthly final and a chance for a spot in all finals thereafter. Please note there are no ‘default’ wins in the Elite League.
All subsequent months up to and including September are 40 peg qualifiers.
Monthly Final Each month’s final will comprise of 4, 8 peg sections and the top 4 in each section will automatically qualify for the next months final.
This is where not only additional, high value points can be won but also your chance to win cash prizes. More importantly you can also earn the chance to go straight through to the following months final. This should be every angler’s overall objective – to be 1 of the 16 anglers who guarantees a spot in the following months final thus avoiding the monthly qualifiers and in turn increasing their chance to win monthly cash prizes and to gain those all important big points. Potentially, you could win just one qualifier and see yourself in every final there after.
Cost Entry fee for each of the 28 qualifiers will be £200 including 3rd party transaction fees (2.4%+20p)
Anglers are invited to enter multiple qualifiers on the understanding that if they qualify they will be entitled to a refund minus transaction fees, on the qualifier tickets purchased that are no longer required.
Refunds Refunds will only be given to those who have purchased more than 1 qualifier ticket in each given month and who no longer require those tickets having qualified for that month’s final. Those that place in the top 16 of any final who automatically qualify for the next month’s final thus avoiding the 4 qualifying matches will also receive a refund should they have purchased qualifier tickets for that coming month. Please note: All refunds are minus transaction fees. If you have purchased a ticket and changed your mind no refundwill be given however tickets are transferrable, subject to an administration fee.