Rapala and Association of Collegiate Anglers Renew Partnership for the 2025 Season

SAN ANTONIO, TX (June 4, 2025) – The Association of Collegiate Anglers, in partnership with Rapala, is excited to announce continued sponsorship of the Collegiate Bass Fishing Series for the 2025 season.  Rapala is dedicated to growing the sport of fishing and will continue this mission in 2025 through support of collegiate anglers.  As a part of this partnership, the following brands: Rapala, CrushCity, VMC, Sufix, and 13 Fishing are all affiliated with the weekly podcast and elite college trail, to include the 20^th Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops on Lake Hartwell this May.

“2025 is set up for an exciting season and ACA helps build the foundation of our brands with the college level tournament anglers.” Says Matt Jensen, Vice President of Marketing for Rapala USA.  “College anglers through ACA continues to be a focus for us because of the talent pool and community of avid bass anglers that love to fish the products we develop for them to succeed.”

In 2025, Rapala will continue the promotion and support of its discount program tailored to collegiate anglers.  Teams competing in ACA ran events will be eligible for key discounts off products from brands associated with Rapala, CrushCity, VMC, Sufix and 13 Fishing.  Throughout the year, Rapala and the ACA will work together to provide anglers with other incentives and opportunities including special discounts and social media campaigns.  Products from these same companies will also be included in prize payouts at numerous events throughout the year.  For eligibility and discount information, email goyouth@rapalausa.com.

“We are excited to continue this partnership between the ACA and Rapala for going on seven years,” said Kyle Curry, ACA Managing Director.  “Last year, we surpassed 200 episodes of the Rapala #WeAreCollegiateBass.  This upcoming year, we look forward to continuing to record more episodes, as well as showcasing the Rapala family of brands to the many elite college anglers.”

One of the latest additions to the Rapala lineup of baits is the PXR Deep Mavrik 110.  On the heels of its successful launch of the PXR Mavrik jerkbait, Rapala introduced the PXR Deep Mavrik 110, a new deep-diving suspending jerkbait.

Developed with some of the most meticulous bass pros in the industry, the PXR Deep Mavrik features a long, premium bill that lets the bait dive to a depth of 10 feet – perfect for bass hanging on the edges of weed lines.

“Deep diving jerkbaits have become a staple of what we do as bass anglers,” said Rapala pro Ott Defoe “It has all of the features we love in the PXR Mavrik 110 but with a deeper bill. We need a bait like this to get down quick to the desired depth (9 to 11 feet), but stay suspending, right there in their faces to tempt them.”

In this ongoing partnership, Rapala will continue to be the title sponsor of the Rapala #WeAreCollegiateBass Podcast.  Now entering its eighth season, the ACA has surpassed the milestone of producing over 200 episodes.  The podcast covers topics including the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia, tournament previews with top pros, current events in college fishing, and much more! The Rapala #WeAreCollegiateBass Podcast publishes new episodes regularly and is available across a multitude of podcast streaming services.