20 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Amazing how much more enjoyable Bass fishing is to watch with diversity of techniques and locations.

 

Gonna be really hard to watch the Elite Series after seeing this format and then getting to watch pure Bass fishing with the NPFL.   

 

Sure hope BASS changes next year.   

I agree.  These three organizations stumbled into conducting an experiment that will demonstrate how fish are caught, and who wants to watch what type of fishing.  Although, BASS has a huge finger on the scale with their organization legacy weight.  It may take a couple years for people to shift their viewing, express their preference and the viewing platforms to adjust so people can view conveniently and without glitches.

So let’s hear your predictions.  When the year is over,  how much higher (or lower) will the average weight caught per angler per period be during FFS periods?

If it was a 5 fish format, I'd say 4/5 fish would be FFS ones.   

 

So maybe 75-80%.     Every fish counts format kind of muddies the water.   

 

There's just no way that traditional methods will hold a candle to the scope.  

41 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

So let’s hear your predictions.  When the year is over,  how much higher (or lower) will the average weight caught per angler per period be during FFS periods?

May be several factors to consider that could effect the out come.  Not sure if the FFS use in every derby will play out like this first one has so far.  These are some serious sticks with a lot on the line, so I am betting that as this deal moves forward, they will figure out on average how to make the best use of that unit. Since 2/3's of the time they are not using it, I could see it all evening out.  But we'll obviously find out.  

😃

A-Jay

16 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

There's just no way that traditional methods will hold a candle to the scope.  

 

Biggest fish on BASS tour last year was caught ultra shallow with a frog in summer heat of Alabama 

 

Pretty sure Justin Hamner's Lake Fork 11lb+ fish caught on a jerkbait was big fish of the year.    

 

2023 Big Fish was Jason Christie with a Lay Lake 9.4lb fish caught ultra shallow on a whacky worm out of pads. 

 

 

Ah yes you are correct, I was a year off. He got two large cardboard checks for that frog eater. And Alex was at the tourney I believe ! 

Yeah that's the one, still one of my all time favorite catches.

 

I love the Marshall's reaction 🤣

 

 

Oh heck that’s a spinning rod and I think wacky worm. Was that the one that rolled on a frog and he followed up? I remember listening to the live while fishing so I wasn’t looking

 

Crazy shallow, that ls where we catch them downriver on my Alabama vacation every year too, water temp in the low 90s and they stay about shin deep haha

Yeah I seem to recall him losing one perhaps on a frog, and then casting back with the whacky worm.    Not sure if it was the same fish, but he was clued in by missing or losing a fish before the monster.   

 

He came close to winning it, I think he lost another giant fish on the last day that would have given him the win.   

So glad the entire 2nd period has been a FFS Fest -

🥴

A-Jay

My buddy who just missed qualifying for the BPT by a spot or two roomed with Jake Lawerance last year on the invitationals.    He said the dude is next level good, and genuinely a really nice guy.    

 

Obviously he's a savant on the scope but watching his second period you really get the sense that he's a well rounded angler.   

 

The BPT only takes 6 anglers from the Invitationals whereas the Elites take 9 from the Opens.    I wonder if this is partly the reason we haven't seen the rookies outside of Drew Gill dominate the BPT like the rookie Open guys dominated the Elites last year.   

 

Surprising to see Wheeler fall down the leaderboard today after such a dominate day yesterday.  Wonder what changed for him.  

 

 

 

10 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Surprising to see Wheeler fall down the leaderboard today after such a dominate day yesterday.  Wonder what changed for him.  

If you don't think you can beat the guy on top and you're not worried about dropping out of the top 20 there's no reason to try to move up.  He's scouting for tomorrow.

Just now, Tennessee Boy said:

If you don't think you can beat the guy on top and you're not worried about dropping out of the top 20 there's no reason to try to move up.  He's scouting for tomorrow.

So the weights reset after the first two days/knockout round?

 

If that's the case I can totally understand, but then why is a guy like Lebrun burning through all his fish?  

Just now, AlabamaSpothunter said:

So the weights reset after the first two days/knockout round?

 

If that's the case I can totally understand, but then why is a guy like Lebrun burning through all his fish?  

Yes weight go to zero tomorrow and in the final round.  The guy at the top skips tomorrow and moves straight to the finals.  Sometimes I wonder if being off the lake for a day doesn't hurt you more in the end. 

Thanks, and that's really wild!   I assume you mean just the number 1 place guy skips a day.    

 

I agree with you; no way would I want to take a day off in the middle of leading an event.    We've all seen how fast a school of fish, or a huge swath of bait can move in 24hrs.      

2 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I assume you mean just the number 1 place guy skips a day. 

Yes LeBrun skips tomorrow if he hangs on to first place.  The other 19 of the top 20 fish tomorrow and the top 9 move on to the finals.

6 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Thanks, and that's really wild!   I assume you mean just the number 1 place guy skips a day.    

 

I agree with you; no way would I want to take a day off in the middle of leading an event.    We've all seen how fast a school of fish, or a huge swath of bait can move in 24hrs.      

Theres about a $5k difference in finishing 10th and 11th. You take the guaranteed top 10 if you can get it. Most of these guys $5k is huge not to mention points, standings, and qualifying for red crest

On 1/30/2025 at 11:06 AM, TnRiver46 said:

I do watch MDJ and DC on YouTube, that’s the extent of my BPT consumption . They are hilarious 

Who are MDJ and DC?

Mark Daniels Jr., and Dustin Connell.    They do a "rate the bait" show along with a couple other pros on youtube.  

I'm glad they're trying this new format. 

17 out of the 19 anglers using the FFS in this first period.

DC just pinned a mutant.

A-Jay

 

I sort of like this format.

 

Faircloth is the only angler with FFS in the final period of the day and lets see if he can close the gap and get above the cut-line.

Shuffield is the only one using FFS in period 3.  He did well with it yesterday in the 3rd period.  I assume scoping is not working as well for him today.