New tournament circuit announced today

[12poundbass]

19 minutes ago, BassNJake said:

You want to sneak me a hint as to who he tagged?

Unable to access social media at work to take a look

@J Francho is correct Justin Lucas

[J Francho]

To be sure it was in response to Justin's congrats.

[12poundbass]

Just now, J Francho said:

To be sure it was in response to Justin's congrats.

Oh it was? I didn't even notice that! You can tell it's Monday! Geez I suck at life today! ? I'm putting myself in timeout until 5pm. ?

[Jrob78]

Bass Pro Tour (previous circuit)
1. Edwin Evers (Elite Series)
2. Timmy Horton (Elite Series)
3. Skeet Reese (Elite Series)
4. Boyd Duckett (Elite Series)
5. Marty Robinson (Elite Series)
6. Zack Birge (FLW Tour)
7. JT Kenney (FLW Tour)
8. Greg Hackney (Elite Series)
9. Jason Lambert (FLW Tour)
10. Chris Lane (Elite Series)
11. Alton Jones (Elite Series)
12. Alton Jones Jr. (Elite Series)
13. Jeff Kriet (Elite Series)
14. Randall Tharp (Elite Series)
15. Gerald Spohrer (Elite Series)
16. Fletcher Shryock (Elite Series)
17. Dave Lefebre (Elite Series)
18. Michael Neal (FLW Tour)
19. Andy Montgomery (Elite Series)
20. Kelly Jordon (Elite Series)
21. Mike McClelland (Elite Series)
22. Jared Lintner (Elite Series)
23. Roy Hawk (Elite Series)
24. John Murray (Elite Series)
25. Scott Suggs (FLW Tour)
26. Justin Atkins (FLW Tour)
27. Ott DeFoe (Elite Series)
28. Cody Meyer (FLW Tour)
29. Brent Chapman (Elite Series)
30. Jacob Wheeler (Elite Series)
31. Keith Poche (Elite Series)
32. David Walker (Elite Series)
33. Cliff Crochet (Elite Series)
34. Jacob Powroznik (Elite Series)
35. Russ Lane (Elite Series)
36. Greg Vinson (Elite Series)
37. Brandon Coulter (Elite Series)
38. Mark Davis (Elite Series)
39. Dean Rojas (Elite Series)
40. Terry Scroggins (Elite Series)
41. Gerald Swindle (Elite Series)
42. Mark Rose (FLW Tour)
43. Aaron Martens (Elite Series)
44. James Elam (Elite Series)
45. Randy Howell (Elite Series)
46. Bobby Lane (Elite Series)
47. Takahiro Omori (Elite Series)
48. Brett Hite (Elite Series)
49. Fred Roumbanis (Elite Series)
50. Luke Clausen (Elite Series)
51. Kevin VanDam (Elite Series)
52. Jonathon VanDam (Elite Series)
53. Shaw Grigsby (Elite Series)
54. Todd Faircloth (Elite Series)
55. Stephen Browning (Elite Series)
56. Tommy Biffle (Elite Series)
57. Casey Ashley (Elite Series)
58. Adrian Avena (Elite Series)
59. Cliff Pace (Elite Series)
60. Bradley Roy (Elite Series)
61. Josh Bertrand (Elite Series)
62. Wesley Strader (Elite Series)
63. Gary Clouse (no tour affiliation)
64. James Watson (FLW Tour)
65. Jason Christie (Elite Series)
66. Gary Klein (Elite Series)
67. Shinichi Fukae (Elite Series)
68. Brent Ehrler (Elite Series)
69. Paul Elias (Elite Series)
70. Britt Myers (FLW Tour)

71. Matt Lee (Elite Series)

72. Justin Lucas (Elite Series)

73. Jordan Lee (Elite Series)

74. Andy Morgan (FLW Tour)

75. Jesse Wiggins (Elite Series)

76. Dustin Connell (Elite Series)

77. Brandon Palaniuk (Elite Series)

 

Elite Series
> Chris Zaldain (confirmed BPT invitee)
> Keith Combs (non-BPT invitee)
> Micah Frazier (non-BPT invitee)
> Bill Lowen (confirmed BPT invitee)
> Matt Herren (non-BPT invitee)
> Seth Feider (confirmed BPT invitee)
> Chad Pipkens (non-BPT invitee)
> John Crews (non-BPT invitee)
> Brandon Card (non-BPT invitee)
> Cliff Prince (non-BPT invitee)
> Mark Menendez (non-BPT invitee)
> Drew Benton (confirmed BPT invitee)
> Clifford Pirch (non-BPT invitee)

> Hank Cherry (non-BPT invitee)

 

FLW Tour
> Bryan Thrift (non-BPT invitee)

 

[punch]

Matt Lee jumped! This must mean Jordan's gone. Bass must be BEGGING Brandon to stay. He's the only young "star" they will have left?

[12poundbass]

I read Justin Lucas jumped. It was on his Instagram. I don't do social media besides this so someone else can confirm.

 

Back in the corner I go. ?

[scaleface]

Scott Martin wasnt invited ? Someone must seriously dislike him .

[Team9nine]

3 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Scott Martin wasnt invited ? Someone must seriously dislike him .

The way it's playing out, this seems way bigger than who likes who. It's more like which organization do we want to kill, and which do we want to protect? You protect FLW by leaving most all its stars intact.

[punch]

Yeah it seems pretty obvious that MLF is trying to devalue and destroy Bass. 

 

I think the end game is for a Johnny Morris to purchase Bass at a discount once it's brand is diminished. 

[BrianinMD]

J. Lee confirmed MLF via Facebook and Instagram

[Troy85]

43 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

The way it's playing out, this seems way bigger than who likes who. It's more like which organization do we want to kill, and which do we want to protect? You protect FLW by leaving most all its stars intact.

No doubt. 

Its funny, the past couple weeks I've heard it mentioned many times about how its so hard to make a living in this sport, and only a few pros are able to do it in the current system(which MLF claims they are trying to fix).  Yet, The only ones invited are the ones who are already making a good living from pro fishing.  The lesser named guys who are more likely struggling to make it, who probably need the guaranteed payout of MLF are the ones who didn't get invited. 

 

Not blaming MLF or the pros decisions, in the end its just business.

 

 

 

[punch]

The thing I find the most interesting is out of 50+ Bass Elite anglers that are jumping ship, EVERYONE is saying how GREAT Bass was to them and are thanking them left and right as they exit their organization. Nobody is keeping it real and explaining why they actually left. 

 

I wish one of them would tell the truth... hopefully Ike on his live show this week? 

[ratherbfishin1]

This might be a dumb question but, is all this a good thing or bad thing? I’m just lost now

[punch]

4 minutes ago, ratherbfishin1 said:

This might be a dumb question but, is all this a good thing or bad thing? I’m just lost now

Well, let's break it down..

 

MLF = GREAT for them because they created a new tour out of thin air and acquired the biggest names in the sport in the first year of it's operation. They didn't have to build up the BPT over time. They basically got all the A list anglers right out of the gate. Best case senario for them. They havn't had a single BPT event yet and have the best roster in fishing locked in for 3 years. 

 

Bass = total disaster for them. They have to reboot their entire Elite division. All the time they have spent building up anglers and creating a prestigious brand has been decimated. To make it worse they have NOTHING to promote this next year. They lost all 12 of their previous Classic winners, and their reigning AOY is gone. Who do they use in their marketing?! They look terrible in all of this for not being able to retain.. anyone. Something stinks there and it's really obvious. Will their big sponsors pull out? 

 

FLW = They got some residual damage when their current AOY champion jumped, but their big stars are still in-tact AND they have the best minor league system in fishing. It seems they are going to not really benefit or be hurt while MLF rips all the meat off Bass's carcass. 

 

 

[ratherbfishin1]

2 minutes ago, punch said:

Well, let's break it down..

 

MLF = GREAT for them because they created a new tour out of thin air and acquired the biggest names in the sport in the first year of it's operation. They didn't have to build up the BPT over time. They basically got all the A list anglers right out of the gate. Best case senario for them. They havn't had a single BPT event yet and have the best roster in fishing locked in for 3 years. 

 

Bass = total disaster for them. They have to reboot their entire Elite division. All the time they have spent building up anglers and creating a prestigious brand has been decimated. To make it worse they have NOTHING to promote this next year. They lost all 12 of their previous Classic winners, and their reigning AOY is gone. Who do they use in their marketing?! They look terrible in all of this for not being able to retain.. anyone. Something stinks there and it's really obvious. Will their big sponsors pull out? 

 

FLW = They got some residual damage when their current AOY champion jumped, but their big stars are still in-tact AND they have the best minor league system in fishing. It seems they are going to not really benefit or be hurt while MLF rips all the meat off Bass's carcass. 

 

 

I think I got it now, thanks!

[12poundbass]

2 hours ago, Troy1985s said:

No doubt. 

Its funny, the past couple weeks I've heard it mentioned many times about how its so hard to make a living in this sport, and only a few pros are able to do it in the current system(which MLF claims they are trying to fix).  Yet, The only ones invited are the ones who are already making a good living from pro fishing.  The lesser named guys who are more likely struggling to make it, who probably need the guaranteed payout of MLF are the ones who didn't get invited. 

 

Not blaming MLF or the pros decisions, in the end its just business.

 

 

 

Not everyone on that list are making a great living. Yes there are a lot of big names but not all of them are making big money. 

[scaleface]

Reminds me of the Monday Night wrestling wars   when WCW took a lot of the talent from WWF . WWF is still here WCW not .

[Gundog]

2 hours ago, punch said:

The thing I find the most interesting is out of 50+ Bass Elite anglers that are jumping ship, EVERYONE is saying how GREAT Bass was to them and are thanking them left and right as they exit their organization. Nobody is keeping it real and explaining why they actually left. 

 

I wish one of them would tell the truth... hopefully Ike on his live show this week? 

I learned a long time ago not to burn bridges. It only makes it tougher to cross them again. I think most of the BASS anglers are feeling a bit apprehensive about the jump so they are being cautious. Besides, it doesn't make a good impression on the next employer to bash the previous employer. It lets them know what is in store for them if you leave. 

[Jrob78]

Andy Morgan is in!

 

Down to 4 spots. I imagine Ike and BP will be 2 of those.

[12poundbass]

I'm not and FLW so I don't know any of the names except for Scott Martin and a couple others who were on MLF but I guess a couple big FLW names jumped to MLF. Andy Morgan being one.

[punch]

Andy Morgan is a big shocker. 

 

Another bombshell

[smallies24/7]

BMP to MLF

[12poundbass]

Brandon Paulnuik to BPT!

Apparently my page didn't refresh so I see I'm about 50 minutes late to the party. I'm throwing in the towel and going to bed! ?

[12poundbass]

So that makes 77 right now. Who are the last three? Ish, Ike, and MDJ? Hunter Shryock is left out, which is understandable. 

[A-Jay]

39 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

Brandon Paulnuik to BPT!

Apparently my page didn't refresh so I see I'm about 50 minutes late to the party. I'm throwing in the towel and going to bed! ?

A-Jay