Another example.   Micheal Jordan left basketball to play minor league baseball.  He decided he wanted to return to basketball and the Chicago Bulls swallowed their pride and took the traitor back.  I think that was the right decision for both parties.😆

David Fritts just announced his retirement. Not sure if he was on a legend exemption but if he was will open the door for someone. 

Wonder who is coming in now 

My understanding is BASS only allows two "Legend" exceptions per season......so last year that would have been Nixon and Clunn.   

 

Given the way Fritts fished it's hard to think he qualified for the Elites, and I would have thought he too got a legend exemption until I learned about the two per year deal.    

9 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Another example.   Micheal Jordan left basketball to play minor league baseball.  He decided he wanted to return to basketball and the Chicago Bulls swallowed their pride and took the traitor back.  I think that was the right decision for both parties.😆

That's totally different, the Birmingham Barons minor league baseball team didn't specifically say in their mission statement that the goal was to put the Chicago Bulls basketball team out of business.   

 

I went to see him play a couple of times, and I know a lady who rear ended him softly at a stop sign on purpose in order to meet him 🤣

I don’t know why anyone has a loyalty to B.A.S.S. I can see why bass anglers feel a part of the organization since it’s the original but it’s not the same, it’s been sold 3 times with different people running it.

B.A.S.S. made it very expensive for Elite pros to compete and the reason why both FLW and MLF were able to offer a better venue for the anglers.

I am the oldest B.A.S.S. Life member on this site dates to 1968. I don’t have any loyalty to B.A.S.S. and enjoy watching other venues and following individual pro careers.

Today David Fritz announced his retirement and as these older pro’s age out young guns will fill the place. No reason for any animosity toward the pro anglers or the organizations.

I would good for the sport to organize Senior tour with limited events.

Tom

 

4 hours ago, GReb said:

David Fritts just announced his retirement. Not sure if he was on a legend exemption but if he was will open the door for someone. 

 

3 hours ago, bowhunter63 said:

Wonder who is coming in now 

No one else comng in. Clunn and J Lee have the two available this coming year. The previous year, Clunn finished Top 70, so didn’t need the exemption - Nixon and Fritts took them per a Mercer post.

@WRB, I would like to see some sort of seniors tour too, as long as anyone but mlf runs it.

48 minutes ago, volzfan59 said:

@WRB, I would like to see some sort of seniors tour too, as long as anyone but mlf runs it.

Agree completely. I would actually pay to watch this on TV. 

1 hour ago, volzfan59 said:

as long as anyone but mlf runs it

And as long as they aren't all scoping either.

4 hours ago, gimruis said:

And as long as they aren't all scoping either.

That brings up another thought…..

 

I’d like to see a tournament series with some old school BASS rules - 18’ boats, 150hp max, 2 sonar units max. Maybe go so far as to put the 6 rods, and “X” pounds of tackle rules in. Would be really interesting to see how everyone adapts.

I'll never understand the angst people have against either organization. I am a fan of bass fishing, and have my favorite anglers, and do not care what league they fish. I watch them all. Been a b.a.s.s. member since 1974. My butt didn't hurt when MLF formed, actually was excited to see the top 80 or whatever guys left b.a.s.s. to start a new league. Instantly, b.a.s.s. became a secondary league in my eyes. We all make decisions in our life, some work out, some don't. Things and situations change, so we try something else. My opinion might be different if i was a pro, but i'm not, so .....

9 hours ago, ElGuapo928 said:

That brings up another thought…..

 

I’d like to see a tournament series with some old school BASS rules - 18’ boats, 150hp max, 2 sonar units max. Maybe go so far as to put the 6 rods, and “X” pounds of tackle rules in. Would be really interesting to see how everyone adapts.

You, Sir, are speaking my language!

On 11/15/2023 at 12:55 PM, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Yeah I'm wondering how he qualified, because you do in fact have to.

 

He didn't qualify through the Opens, didn't qualify through BASS nation.  

 

ETA:  If I were BASS I think I'd blacklist the big names that jumped ship to the MLF.     Let the little guys go to the opens or whatever, but the big guys who very well could have killed BASS should have an extremely tough time getting back into the elites if at all.   I'd play for keeps if I were BASS now that the MLF ship is sinking.    

lets be real here.I dislike mlf because boyd and a few of his cronies said they wanted to put bass out of buisness. i dont care that they formed their own leauge but the whole disdain for bass and wanting to put them out of buisness rubbed me the wrong way. as far as j.lee he used a legend exemption which is within the rules and he is a legend. and dont fool yourself BASS is going to benefit from having him. Boyd is a con man and promissed these anglers a bunch of things he couldnt deliver, if a competitor offered you several thousand dollars more and better benefits very few people would be loyal to their current employer. and they shouldnt be. theres no loyalty from BASS, if you dont keep your points standing up they will cut you. so why should the anglers be loyal? its just like pro sports loyalty be dammed you gotta make your money while you can. now the guys who ran their yap about burying bass.... they probably wont be back. jordan was a class act, he left for what looked like a better deal. it wasnt , now hes back. its a win for bass just like it is him and hes a hammer. scope or no scope he will do fine in the elite series.

I won’t buy a Ford because their CEO once said he wanted to put GM out of business. 😆

So many Body Duckett fans...that water has to be getting heavy at this point 🤣

On 11/19/2023 at 9:51 AM, AlabamaSpothunter said:

So many Body Duckett fans...that water has to be getting heavy at this point 🤣

Had boat issues while down at Guntersville last month & when we asked a bait store clerk where we should go, they recommended Duckett Marine. When we walked out of the bait shop, I looked at my dad & said our boat wasn’t going to Boyd’s place. We went to another repair shop & saw Swindle come in - was pretty cool. A salesman urged me to go speak to him but I didn’t want to come off like a fanboy.

 

I lost respect for Duckett most when KVD pointed out (ironically on a televised MLF cup show) how Duckett couldn’t figure out how to get bit & was following him around all day trying to see what KVD was doing. I’m a fan of both formats & didn’t get wrapped up in the split. I see both sides. Just amazed at how low & dishonorable some anglers can be all in the name of money regardless of what league they fish. Is one reason why I don’t tournament fish. People act like grown babies.

On 11/16/2023 at 6:40 PM, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Man if I quit my job to go work for a direct competitor that lured me away, I wouldn't dare go back to the job begging for it back, nor would I expect any sympathy from the employer.  

 

You're making it too personal.  Business is business.   I left a Chevrolet dealership in 2016 after 16 years there.  The owner of that dealership called me once a month asking me to come back up until he sold the place a few months ago.   

 

I don't follow professional bass fishing.   From what little I've seen about Lee and BASS they're following the rules.  I think it would have been good publicity both for Lee and BASS to have him qualify via the opens, or whatever.  In the social media age publicity = money.  Lee could have an "I'm coming back" tour.   Instead, BASS and Lee followed the rules as they're written.   

It's not personal at all, it's just a shame that the sport is such a joke and slowly dying on the vine.

 

Look at where the sport was in the late 90s/early 2000s, and where it is today......it's a shell of its former self.      

 

The snake oil salesman, and his band of disloyal, gullible minions certainly helped accelerate that process.

 

The young guys and Milliken at BASS are the future of this sport, not Jordan Lee, I'll happily admit I'm wrong if that's not the case again after next season.    

Jordan Lee is younger than Ben Milliken 

There are no ‘clean hands’ when it comes to where we are as a ‘professional’ sport. One of the biggest ironies is that you can make a pretty good argument that we are so screwed up some 50 years later because of Ray Scott. Likewise, the anglers themselves have shown little sign of dedication, commitment, or strong enough leadership in the past of forcing the issue even though they’d all benefit in the end if successful, MLF being their most recent attempt. BASS has a long track record of major flub-ups and controversies, which partly led us to where we are at the present. This doesn’t change until one organization eats all the others, whether by agreement or brute force. Irwin Jacobs was arguably one big sponsor deal away from burying BASS in the early/mid 2000s, but he didn’t get it done and it ultimately cost him the company. So we are where we are, and anglers and organizations will continue to do what is in each of their best interests until the ‘Grand Unification’ occurs.

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Jordan Lee is younger than Ben Milliken 

I guess you missed the part....."The young guys and Milliken "

 

Reading comprehension is important

 

Eta:   @PhishLI posted a fantastic thread that was quickly deleted the other day discussing Milliken's video on why the sport is in such a bad place.       He absolutely nailed it.     

Well if 34 isn’t young then I’m ancient 

 

I would include Lee in the “young guys” that will be at the top . 

Laughs in 19yr old Elite Series pro Trey Mckinney......yes we're ancient in this game 🤣

 

 

Speaking of J Lee, looks like his off season is going well

43 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Well if 34 isn’t young then I’m ancient

 

We've all seen photos of you here.  You LOOK old.  lol