First two BPT groups revealed for next week's kickoff

[EWREX]

3 hours ago, 1simplemann said:

IMO, There's nothing weird at about the penalties. It's all about fish care. If fact, I think the penalty should be higher for intentional boat flipping! I cringe when guys say " Get in the boat!" and then flip them in and they get slammed up against something. 1st. how would you feel if you were dropped from something that high. They can't talk but I bet they don't enjoy one bit. 2nd. It's a known fact carpet is very bad for their slime coat. It's about fish survival. if they swim off doesn't mean they are going to live. MLF should do their best to encourage the anglers to harm the fish  as little as possible. IMO, If a fish jumps off, that's a minor offense. 2 minutes. If they are intentionally flipped in, 5 minutes.  Incidental contact, 2 minutes. Every time a guy says "i don't care, it's worth the penalty" on national TV it encourages the same behavior on a recreational level. It will agree though that it's step in the right direction.

 

to each their own. 

[Team9nine]

1 hour ago, 1simplemann said:

Have you seen MLF's recent commercial? They are promoting better fish care. I don't think it's side benefit at all. True it might make for better TV but I think they truly trying to help the species.  As for this recent research, can you provide it? I'd like to read it. From what I've read, the opposite is true. I also like the idea of fish not bouncing around in a livewell all day. I've witnessed this 1st hand as a marshal and let me tell you they don't look pretty! My guy came in early just to have them weighed before they died because there was no way they were going to make it. It was business decision, not a fish care decision. MLF takes that decision away from the angler and helps the survival rate. I also like the penalty but IMO varying degrees of bad fish care should carry varying degrees of a  penalty. Other sports do the same. Major and minor penalties in hockey. Football has varying degrees penalties for the same infraction. If the MLF anglers set a good example on TV then there will be a trickle down effect to anglers in general. Ray Scott helped start it when he changed to rules years ago. MLF can do the same.

I say that because you need to keep in mind that when MLF started, there were no penalties for fish handling violations. TV growth was the main objective, and Duckett even stated, "We're trying to build a sports product...This isn't about bass, and it isn't about a crankbait."  Fish handling violations came later (2013) and have been tweaked and added over the years.

 

As for the study, visit my website (link is in my profile). It's on the first page still, but I've also covered livewell damage recently and other stuff. Click the 'science' category link to see only science related posts.

 

 

[1simplemann]

5 hours ago, Team9nine said:

I say that because you need to keep in mind that when MLF started, there were no penalties for fish handling violations. TV growth was the main objective, and Duckett even stated, "We're trying to build a sports product...This isn't about bass, and it isn't about a crankbait."  Fish handling violations came later (2013) and have been tweaked and added over the years.

 

As for the study, visit my website (link is in my profile). It's on the first page still, but I've also covered livewell damage recently and other stuff. Click the 'science' category link to see only science related posts.

 

 

Interesting read. Last year I read a much more in depth study on fish care and post release mortality. I wish I could find it and share it on here. Anyway, I came way surprised by the actual number of fish survival %.  It was much lower than I expected. Improper fish care was one of the leading causes of post release fish mortality. I'm going to look around and see if I can find it. Anyway, getting way off coarse here and kinda hijacked the thread. My apologies to the OP. My original post was to "MLF's weird rules". I don't think their rules are that weird at all and hopefully proper fish will encouraged or rather improper fish care will be discouraged. Peace out fellas! 

[OCdockskipper]

12 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

What about when you set the hook and the hook pierces their mouth or when all three treble hooks pierce their body? 

Hooks that penetrate the mouth (not gills) are fine.  Bass eat plenty of creatures that stick them in the mouth with pinchers & dorsal fins and they probably even get the inside of their mouth bit & scratched when the grab small birds or mammals.  The inside of the mouth of most predator fish (bass, catfish, etc) was designed to hold up to that kind of wear & tear.

 

Foul hooking has the potential for damage, whether it blinds the fish or causes cuts that get infected.  The slime coat helps prevent infection, but can not regenerate an eye. 

 

That said, I caught a 6lb bass last year that was blind in one eye.  Other than that, she was healthy and strong, so that handicap was not completely debilitating.  I named her Sami, short for Sammy Davis Jr.

[OCdockskipper]

Here is a negative that I just accidentally found out.  I was moving around the MLF page and looked at the current angler bio's, where they have wins & money earned listed.  They also have a separate category for MLF wins.  Well I happened to look at an angler who fished MLF last year for the 1st time and they have him with one MLF win.  That win had to have come from one of the episodes that hasn't been shown yet, that we will see in the coming months. 

 

That is the tough part about trying to mix taped for future viewing events and live events.  I won't name him here so as to not spoil future episodes for others.

[MSWV]

Heres another aspect I just thought of..  Group A fishes on tuesday and (for example) Ott Defoe kills them on a bladed jig out of the muddiest part of the lake.  Group B watches on MLF Live and on Wednesday all the group is throwing a bladed jig in that area..  Maybe theyre not allowed to watch? but theyre gonna be working the expo.  Im sure someone will be telling them whats happening whether they want to know or not..  

[Team9nine]

21 minutes ago, MSWV said:

Heres another aspect I just thought of..  Group A fishes on tuesday and (for example) Ott Defoe kills them on a bladed jig out of the muddiest part of the lake.  Group B watches on MLF Live and on Wednesday all the group is throwing a bladed jig in that area..  Maybe theyre not allowed to watch? but theyre gonna be working the expo.  Im sure someone will be telling them whats happening whether they want to know or not..  

A lot of new info restrictions have been put into place. They were covered on another popular bass fishing news site last week. Short answer - Anglers not fishing on a certain day won't be watching live coverage.

[OCdockskipper]

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

...Short answer - Anglers not fishing on a certain day won't be watching live coverage.

But how about their wives/girlfriends?  I know what the rules are, but how do you monitor pillow talk?

 

At least when everyone is fishing together, if information gets out about where & how you are catching them, you can protect an area.  If another pro hasn't been in that area for practice or day 1, it is less likely he will show up with you there on day 2 (except for Ike, he will barge in on anyone, anywhere, anytime).  With you gone, the angler with the least integrity will be the first to take advantage.

[Team9nine]

14 minutes ago, OCdockskipper said:

But how about their wives/girlfriends?  I know what the rules are, but how do you monitor pillow talk?

 

At least when everyone is fishing together, if information gets out about where & how you are catching them, you can protect an area.  If another pro hasn't been in that area for practice or day 1, it is less likely he will show up with you there on day 2 (except for Ike, he will barge in on anyone, anywhere, anytime).  With you gone, the angler with the least integrity will be the first to take advantage.

They're all subject to polygraph and their no info rules are pretty straightforward. Not sure any of them would risk their professional careers on trying to get through a single round in any one event...but, you never know. Nothing is 100% enforceable with a no info rule. I'm not too worried about it, though.

[Logan S]

The bigger 'issue' to me with the off days is the fact that when it gets down to the cut-day, one group will have been on the water the previous day and the other group will have been off.  I'd much prefer to be on the water every day...I think it's advantageous to those anglers that were on the water the previous day.  Yes, I know how things change and it may or may not be advantageous in every single circumstance...All I know is that if you gave me the general choice (like at start of season) of fishing the day before or not, I'm choosing to fish every time.  

 

The live shows are heavily discussed on forums like this one in pretty high detail...So even BASS/FLW guys could surf them in the evening to see what their competitors did that day.  It would probably be easier in MLF/BPT just due to the fact they won't be on the water all day, but if the anglers on any tour want to see that info they won't have a hard time finding it.  

[OCdockskipper]

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

...Not sure any of them would risk their professional careers...

I agree, for 99% of the anglers.  There is no way an Edwin Evers or Jason Christie, to randomly name a few, do anything like this.  The 1% is the problem, either the guy struggling to stay in the BPT, who somehow rationalizes that it is okay to bend the rules this one time (which leads to a next time & next time) or someone who looks at the world the same way it appears Nate Wellman does.

 

I would expect the anglers will do a bit of policing themselves.  There will be sharing of information between anglers and that can be used to keep poaching at a minimum.  On tournaments were they go to a different location after day 4, it doesn't hurt for a day 1/3 fisherman to tell his roommate (who is fishing days 2/4) about a spot in order to help the latter angler make the cut.

[12poundbass]

1 minute ago, OCdockskipper said:

The 1% is the problem

It wouldn't take long for that 1% to surface. Just like pillow talk, I'm guessing they know who to trust and who not to trust, and I'm guessing the heads of the BPT know as well. 

[BassNJake]

13 minutes ago, OCdockskipper said:

I agree, for 99% of the anglers.  There is no way an Edwin Evers or Jason Christie, to randomly name a few, do anything like this.  The 1% is the problem, either the guy struggling to stay in the BPT, who somehow rationalizes that it is okay to bend the rules this one time (which leads to a next time & next time) or someone who looks at the world the same way it appears Nate Wellman does.

 

I would expect the anglers will do a bit of policing themselves.  There will be sharing of information between anglers and that can be used to keep poaching at a minimum.  On tournaments were they go to a different location after day 4, it doesn't hurt for a day 1/3 fisherman to tell his roommate (who is fishing days 2/4) about a spot in order to help the latter angler make the cut.

The sharing of information stops on the first official practice day.

There is no sharing of information between competitors during the tournament.

Gary Klein addressed this on a different site. Bass Fan

 

Under the “Tackle and Equipment” section, Rule 9.D states that “MLF Anglers can receive lures and other equipment from other MLF anglers up until 12:01 a.m. of the first official day of practice.” Additionally, under the No-Information Rule section, Rule 23.I states that “MLF Anglers are allowed to talk to other MLF Anglers about MLF event waters up until the first day of official practice.”

The latter rule has prompted some anglers who’ve traveled and stayed together in the past to opt to arrange separate accommodations so as to avoid running afoul of the new rules.

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

They're all subject to polygraph and their no info rules are pretty straightforward. Not sure any of them would risk their professional careers on trying to get through a single round in any one event...but, you never know. Nothing is 100% enforceable with a no info rule. I'm not too worried about it, though.

The polygraph is the ticket to keep the anglers honest. It's something that hangs over their heads

 

Just ask Luke Clausen about his failed test with BASS that led to his disqualification from an event.

The polygraph caught a discrepancy on one of Luke's answers.

More questioning led to a Oh, I forgot about that one time...  type of moment.

[OCdockskipper]

13 hours ago, BassNJake said:

The sharing of information stops on the first official practice day.

There is no sharing of information between competitors during the tournament...

I stand corrected.  Thanks for catching that, I missed it the first time through until I read that other site interview you mentioned.

[Hawkeye21]

That was a pretty awesome first day.  Lots of fish caught and some quality fish caught.  Will be interesting to see how tomorrow compares to today.