MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. – Oklahoma pro Zack Birge will return to the Bass Cat Boats family for the 2025 season. After a few years away running another brand of boat, he realized that his long partnership with Bass Cat better fit his style of fishing and his values, and gave the best opportunity to maximize his success on the water.
“It feels so good to be coming back home,” Birge said. “I’m excited to run the products that I started my career in. My dad ran a Bass Cat in the past and I grew up around a lot of people in the ‘family.’ I went directly from an aluminum boat into a Bass Cat and then I ran one for 12 years.”
Birge has earned three top ten finishes in Redcrest Championships, along with two top tens in Heavy Hitters. He won a Bass Pro Tour tournament on Oklahoma’s Lake Eufaula in 2024 on his way to a sixth place finish in the Angler of the Year race. He previously won FLW’s Rookie of the Year honors in 2015.
He’ll run an Eyra and said that the boat’s sporty, nimble design is “the perfect hull.” Birge intends to fish both the Bass Pro Tour and the National Professional Fishing League in 2025, and said that the ambitious two-tour slate is another reason for the move.
“It’ll give me peace of mind when I get back in one,” he explained. “As I said, I ran a Bass Cat for 12 years, and not one time did I have a question about the reliability or the quality of the boat. That’s important, but it also comes back to the people. I know that I can call Rick Pierce and talk about just about anything – not just the boat and fishing, but life in general and business decisions. You get a family-type, honest answer. It’s unlike any other brand.”
Bass Cat’s Rick Pierce admitted that seeing Birge in something other than a Bass Cat seemed unnatural and almost painful: “While I pulled for him, watching him last season in another brand was not normal.”
That’s because he believes Birge embodies the values that distinguish Bass Cat Boats from the competition: “Some things just feel right. We are very glad to see Zack make a decision to rejoin our ‘family,’” Pierce explained. “His father had a Bass Cat boat decades ago and still has a small one today. Knowing Zack since before he could know me makes this decision very special. We’ve watched him grow up, watched him date his now-wife, start a family, and the progression from the Bassmaster College Series for Oklahoma State, on through to his professional MLF BPT successes has been an amazing process. He understands our values and we think that he’ll promote them wonderfully on and off the water.”
About Bass Cat: Bass Cat, owned by Correct Craft, manufactures the industry’s premier bass fishing boats from its headquarters in Mountain Home, Arkansas. Family operated since its founding in 1971, Bass Cat is the only bass boat company with over five decades of family involvement throughout its long history. For more information visit www.basscat.com.
About Correct Craft: Celebrating 100 years of excellence in the marine industry, Correct Craft is a Florida-based company with global operations. Focused on “Making Life Better,” the Correct Craft family includes Nautique, Centurion, Supreme, Bass Cat, Yar-Craft, SeaArk, Parker, and Ingenity boat companies, Pleasurecraft Engine Group, Indmar Marine Engines, Velvet Drive Transmissions, Mach Connections, Merritt Precision, Osmosis, Watershed Innovation, and Aktion Parks. For more information, please visit www.correctcraft.com