Has anyone else noticed that Greg Hackney, Jason Christie and a few others are fishing BASS Opens and not the FLW Super tournaments? Possible precurser to going back? Anyone hear any rumors or info?

 

I am pretty sure that Hackney could go back after paying the opt out contract fee since he was angler of the year.

I think there were around 20-30 BPT guys who aren’t fishing the FLW. 

Who knows but the event was in Cristies backyard. Why not fish it

I believe both Hackney and Christie both committed to fishing the opens at the beginning of the season.

This FLW super tourney thing came about later.

 

Also how big is Jason's backyard? OK and TN are not exactly neighbors.

 

Good event so far too, just watched Jacob Wheeler land a 9.9

I think theres a fairly significant group of anglers who would walk out of MLF tomorrow if not for that $50K buyout.  Lots of factors in play for 2021.  Going to be interesting!

Correct me if I am wrong but aren't they fishing the opens to try and qualify for the classic? The FLW super tournament was added later in the year and would provide them no benefits other than a slightly larger check than the opens. The opens on the other hand would provide a check and qualification to the classic. 

 

Could be completely off base but this was my rationale.

Christie has been adamant about wanting to get back to the Classic. That said, I do believe we will see several guys try to get back to the Elites when they get a chance, no idea about Christie or Hackney in particular though.

With the lack of fishing while everything was shutdown I have a feeling a lot of these guys want to fish as many tourneys as they can now.  That was a long time to go without any major tourneys.

Pending angler votes BPT could be going to entry fees in 2021...I imagine there is going to be some movement in the field if fees go into effect.

Be nice to see some of the bigger names switch back over to balance things out. Anglers and fans win with them being competitive with each other.