New tournament circuit announced today

[Arlo Smithereen]

22 hours ago, Jeff Staffer said:

I wont watch mlf because i find it boring.  THeir selling this as something that your wives are going to watch as well which wont happen.

Are any of these guys really superstars or just familiar faces.

Bobby lane out john cox in

matt lee out carl jocumsen in

Bass will make stars i just hope if any of the guys who left want to come back they have to re qualify and lose all exemptions.

I also hope bass doesnt try to fill the whole roster out from the opens.  Their are big names and future stars to go after at flw

You're wrong. I've had housewives who couldn't care less about fishing telling me they watched MLF and liked it. 

[Team9nine]

7 hours ago, J.Vincent said:

So I actually caught the last 60 minutes of the IKE Live broadcast, and man I'm happy I didn't watch the entire 5 hour broadcast : ) 

Not a fan of the show, either... 

[YoTone]

not surprising that Ikes in.

whos the biggest star now in B.A.S.S now that its been gutted?

[1simplemann]

I wonder what Dave Mercer is going to say next year at the weigh in's? "Here's Joe Blo, he caught a 5lb'r last year". He's going to have study and learn 50 new guys!

[12poundbass]

Pretty funny that Ike runs his show 5 hours last night and at the very end acts as if he's making his announcement and then cuts out (so I've been told) then announces it on FB just a little bit ago. Ole Ike putting his marketing degree to work.

 

Love him or hate him he can flat out fish, has credentials that no other angler has, is good for fishing and the fans, and is a great marketing mind. ?

[scaleface]

So let me get  this straight . I   have never watched MLF . They dont have a creel limit ? You catch 50 one lb bass you have 50 lbs ?   

[J Francho]

2 minutes ago, scaleface said:

So let me get  this straight . I   have never watched MLF . They dont have a creel limit ? You catch 50 one lb bass you have 50 lbs ?   

If those 50 one pounders are legal size, then yes.

[scaleface]

Just now, J Francho said:

If those 50 one pounders are legal size, then yes.

Beetle spin ought to become a major sponsor .  My Uncle Steve could compete in one of these events .

[12poundbass]

21 minutes ago, J Francho said:

If those 50 one pounders are legal size, then yes.

They switched it to one pound and bigger. There's no minimum size limit anymore. 

[DHP]

I would hope they’d go to a best weight of 5 fish. 

[12poundbass]

17 minutes ago, DHP said:

I would hope they’d go to a best weight of 5 fish. 

They already said it's still going to be every scorable fish. 

[bowhunter63]

Ike live was a joke last night,Boyd avoided the questions like a congressman.Then it cuts out in the middle of the interview.Wonder if it goes down hill will BASS or FLW take these guys back.Gonna be interesting,But you can win a ton of money catching dinks all day.

[J.Vincent]

3 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Not a fan of the show, either... 

I'm a big fan of Iaconelli , and his Classic victory in New Orleans still gives me goose bumps whenever I watch the footage....As for the show, I wish Mike would stick to specific broadcast lengths and not stretch 1 hour into a 5 hour marathon. And the audio quality of the broadcast needs work, It sounds like the shows callers are on a CB radio 

[Jrob78]

I watched some of it last night. Ike and Pete are ok but those other 2 guys made it unwatchable.

 

I did find it interesting that BASS offered guys a $50,000 bonus to stay and only a few took it. BASS brought this on themselves by not listening to the anglers, resentment has been brewing for years.

[OCdockskipper]

2 hours ago, 1simplemann said:

I wonder what Dave Mercer is going to say next year at the weigh in's? "Here's Joe Blo, he caught a 5lb'r last year". He's going to have study and learn 50 new guys!

I believe there will be about 40 new Elites, but if some of them are guys like Carl Jocumson or other past Elites, there will be some familiar faces.

 

I also have a sneaking feeling that Roland Martin may make a 1 year commitment via the Legends exemption.  You know he would love a shot at a Classic title & 2020 might be a great opportunity against a less experienced field (2019 Classic will still be loaded).

[volzfan59]

1 hour ago, J.Vincent said:

I'm a big fan of Iaconelli , and his Classic victory in New Orleans still gives me goose bumps whenever I watch the footage....As for the show, I wish Mike would stick to specific broadcast lengths and not stretch 1 hour into a 5 hour marathon. And the audio quality of the broadcast needs work, It sounds like the shows callers are on a CB radio 

J.Vincent, If you haven't, read Joe's book. You will love his Classic victory even more! In a nut shell, he was down and out, physically, mentally and emotionally. Looking at a divorce, he said that the Classic was going to be his last tournament. Then he wins the dang thing! If I remember correctly, all of that is where his phrase "Never give up" came from.

I've had the good fortune to meet him twice. Super nice guy. I can't begin to tell you how nice he was to my youngest son.

[Logan S]

59 minutes ago, Jrob78 said:

I did find it interesting that BASS offered guys a $50,000 bonus to stay and only a few took it. BASS brought this on themselves by not listening to the anglers, resentment has been brewing for years.

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.  

 

There's got to be more to the financial story on MLF/BPT, because if you look at the numbers about entries/payouts/etc objectively, the new BASS deal is better than BPT for current Elite anglers.  No way that many guys bail on the better plan just out of spite or resentment toward BASS....There's more to those numbers that MLF/BPT isn't releasing yet (if ever).

[Jeff Staffer]

Rolland wont be there hes another guy owned by johnny morris. 

Bass should abandon their qualifing rules for this year and invite a bunch.

 

[redux]

I'm glad we are starting to hear from some BPT invitees who turned it down. Feider and Benton both make some good points in the Bass Zone article and I appreciate how self aware they are.

[12poundbass]

2 minutes ago, Jeff Staffer said:

Rolland wont be there hes another guy owned by johnny morris. 

Bass should abandon their qualifing rules for this year and invite a bunch.

 

That makes no sense. You do realize Johnny Morris sponsors all 3 tours right? 

 

Who is 2 of Mark Zona's biggest sponsors? 

12 minutes ago, volzfan59 said:

J.Vincent, If you haven't, read Joe's book. You will love his Classic victory even more! In a nut shell, he was down and out, physically, mentally and emotionally. Looking at a divorce, he said that the Classic was going to be his last tournament. Then he wins the dang thing! If I remember correctly, all of that is where his phrase "Never give up" came from.

I've had the good fortune to meet him twice. Super nice guy. I can't begin to tell you how nice he was to my youngest son.

I have his book and read it 3 times. It's a pretty good book that gives fishing tips, his journey from his first bass he caught, how sponsorships work, to some of the sides of professional bass fishing most of us don't see. 

[punch]

20 minutes ago, 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.  

 

There's got to be more to the financial story on MLF/BPT, because if you look at the numbers about entries/payouts/etc objectively, the new BASS deal is better than BPT for current Elite anglers.  No way that many guys bail on the better plan just out of spite or resentment toward BASS....There's more to those numbers that MLF/BPT isn't releasing yet (if ever).

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". 

[Jrob78]

38 minutes ago, 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.  

 

There's got to be more to the financial story on MLF/BPT, because if you look at the numbers about entries/payouts/etc objectively, the new BASS deal is better than BPT for current Elite anglers.  No way that many guys bail on the better plan just out of spite or resentment toward BASS....There's more to those numbers that MLF/BPT isn't releasing yet (if ever).

I know about the 20k toward entry fees for guys who registered early but I'm pretty sure Ike's wife brought up the 50k bonus to Dave Precht when they were talking to him. She asked him about guys turning down 50k to stay and paying 50k to MLF. I could have misheard though, the audio was pretty bad.

[Team9nine]

45 minutes ago, Jrob78 said:

I know about the 20k toward entry fees for guys who registered early but I'm pretty sure Ike's wife brought up the 50k bonus to Dave Precht when they were talking to him. She asked him about guys turning down 50k to stay and paying 50k to MLF. I could have misheard though, the audio was pretty bad.

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 ?

[J Francho]

1 minute ago, 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 ?

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

[BassNJake]

14 minutes 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". 

MLF's online exposure is nothing like BASS.

You have to pay to see anything online and there is not any live coverage due to their TV deals.

This may change but I doubt it. 

I'd venture to guess there will be a lot more ways to pay for content thru various packages.

The same stuff we have been watching for years for free.

 

Advancing the sport is getting Colleges, High Schools and the youth involved.

BASS has been doing this, MLF has not.

 

I guess we'll have to wait and see how this shakes out and see how committed to advancing the sport MLF is.