It’s a shame we can’t have both formats. Both are compelling and fun to watch. I think most of the fans who’ve been around the sport for years will always gravitate to the 5 fish limit though. I know bass and flw aren’t going anywhere but the first few years will be rough

 

It’d be nice if they used different formats within a tournament. Best 5 one day, all scorable the next. Restrict different areas each day. Something to keep it interesting and award the best well rounded anglers that week. 

 

5 hours ago, punch said:

I think there's a few factors there. Based on what Boyd has said publicly, and what the anglers have said between the lines, it seems to me that the TV package that MLF will have will be pretty substantial since they are partners with KSE (Outdoor channel, Sportsmen Channel, World Fishing Network). They all seem to feel the online & TV exposure that MLF will have will dwarf Bass & FLW. How extensive the media platform MFL has is still under wraps, but it obviously must be pretty amazing for everyone to rush to it.  The other thing that the anglers seem to be excited about is having a say in how the tour functions. They keep mentioning that anglers will be involved in tour decisions & all members will have a voice. Boyd even said that the tournament structure and payouts can likely change before the tour starts based on the anglers decisions. It's not set in stone.  

 

Ike was pretty clear last night that they all feel fed up by Bass and their stagnet payout structure and overall lack of progressing the sport forward. Bass is stale and resting on it's name alone and not "advancing the sport". 

Can anyone else see a problem with 80 anglers each thinking they will be in on making decisions for the league.  These guys may be killing eachother by next fall. 

On 10/2/2018 at 12:34 PM, fishwizzard said:

A common complaint about MLF is that it’s a “dink fest”, but has anyone ever done the math to see if the average tourny win generaly comes from catching piles of smaller bass?  I tried to google around for data like this but the curret drama is all thats showing up. 

If you’ve ever watched BASS Live on some of the northern lakes or southern spotted bass lakes it can be a total dink fest too. I watched most of the tournaments when I wasn’t fishing myself and it’s just like any other trip. Lot of casting and not a lot of catching. Guys may catch a couple fish per hour or go hours without a bite. Depending on the lakes they fish we’ll see different strategies come in to play and could be good drama seeing which will play out. MLF was running a lot of smaller lakes and I’m betting they change with angler input. Imagine the weights at Chik on schooling 5-8lb bass in early spring.  

I just read on BF about the anglers decisions to change formats. Interesting stuff. The anglers will have a say. Some just wanted a change. Others liked Faster boats. No livewells + fish care + no balance beams etc. 40 boats fields, less anglers. new venues. More TV exposure, better chance to get non endemic sponsors. Lot's of reason's why they switched. I like the fact that they will be going to different places. BASS was getting boring in that regard.

Several have mentioned "faster boats". What have I missed?

25 minutes ago, volzfan59 said:

Several have mentioned "faster boats". What have I missed?

No livewells full of water.. 80 gal x 8lbs = 640 lbs. Less weight=more speed

"1simplemann", thanks buddy.

9 hours ago, 1simplemann said:

No livewells full of water.. 80 gal x 8lbs = 640 lbs. Less weight=more speed

Man, you could fit a lot of beer and ice in an 80g tank.  

80 gallon livewells?  Try 30.

The 80 member MLF team is announced, impressive list.

Tom

^^^^^^?

As fans of bass fishing, we all win. If I were b.a.s.s., I would be devastated. If I were f.l.w., not so much. Although I like the mlf format and love to watch, I think over-all it is inferior to the biggest 5 format. It is a lot harder to catch 5 bigguns than 15 dinks. I almost feel like I could compete in mlf, but not bass or flw…. 

One thing I noticed is how different the two tours have tried to market their anglers (at least in the past).  BASS uses the the pros as an interviewee, some one who is answering specific questions about bass fishing.  This is done in their "Day on the Lake" series as well as other how-to articles.  There is a little background and personal information, but it is basically surface stuff and not always 100% relevant (i.e., calling Litner the "MilkMan" because he used to do that).

 

MLF is trying to make them entertainers, not just pro anglers.  They are trying to have these guys hold an audience without being interviewed, at least in the promo videos and how-to segments on their website.  A few (Swindle, Ike, KVD) can do that, but most can't and look like they have been coached as to how to wave their hands around while speaking.  It reminds me of the change the the TV show "The Bass Pros" made when they stopped having anglers host the segments (giving that job to Zona) and just had them teach while angling.

4 hours ago, detroit1 said:

I almost feel like I could compete in mlf, but not bass or flw…. 

Thats the way I feel  too .

Starting to see the best part about having a big 3 instead of big 2 as anglers who’ve been running around the country fishing open tournaments for years announce their Elite membership 

I got an email from my friend Yusuke Miyazaki over the weekend that he is back into the Elites.  He said that this was due to his finishes in the Opens.  He failed to re-qualify in his last year in the Elites.  

On 10/3/2018 at 1:52 PM, Logan S said:

It was $20k bonus toward entry fees, not $50k cash.  I think the reason so many didn't bite is becasue their sponsors were covering some/all of their entries either way...And those sponsors wanted the anglers in MLF.  

 

 

 

On 10/3/2018 at 3:03 PM, Team9nine said:

Didn't watch Ike Live, but BASS threw out that money option (50k) to at least a few of the Elite anglers trying to get them to stay on ?

 

On 10/3/2018 at 3:05 PM, J Francho said:

I'll take a stab.... KVD, Ike, Swindle, Reese....

 I spoke to Adrian Avena and he said he was offered $50K that would be wired directly to his bank account if he agreed to stay with B.A.S.S for 3 years. So if he was offered that im sure all the Elites were offered that, not only the top guns.

 

Everyone except Duckett im guessing lmao. 

52 minutes ago, YoTone said:

 

 

 I spoke to Adrian Avena and he said he was offered $50K that would be wired directly to his bank account if he agreed to stay with B.A.S.S for 3 years. So if he was offered that im sure all the Elites were offered that, not only the top guns.

 

Everyone except Duckett im guessing lmao. 

Yep - it was equivalent (in my mind) to a 50k signing bonus, above and beyond the publicized perks that were part of the BASS payout makeover. Not certain how many were offered, but certainly more than just Adrian. I think they went after a lot of the younger guys with that offer, hoping the money would sway their decision.

Would be hard to know these things if you weren't "in the know"....I stand corrected.  

 

Another reason to think that there's a lot more to the MLF/BPT deal than what has been published so far.  It's hard for me to believe that so many anglers would leave BASS as a no-entry fee platform with a $50k signing bonus purely for spite.  

There must be some pretty big projected profit sharing with the BPT. That would be hard to turn down. 

Scott     Martin said he turned down MLF to stay with FLW .

59 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Scott     Martin said he turned down MLF to stay with FLW .

He also said he wasn’t invited. Can you turn down an invitation you were never given?

4 minutes ago, Scott F said:

He also said he wasn’t invited. Can you turn down an invitation you were never given?

 

Yep , youre right . 

 

6 hours ago, Scott F said:

Can you turn down an invitation you were never given?

Sure you can. I do it all the time. I once turned down Heather Locklear's invitation to go to the prom. She never asked but I was busy that day and couldn't go. ?

15 hours ago, scaleface said:

 

Yep , youre right . 

 

Smart, diplomatic response from Scotty. He and Thrift are gonna rule the FLW Tour.