MLF has become a dink fest

[Pantera61]

On 9/16/2019 at 9:29 PM, MN Fisher said:

I don't watch MLF precisely because it's a dink fest. I think if it was either a threshold or 5 biggest I'd watch it...but this 'count everything you catch' is for the birds as the guys are going for quantity over quality.

If you don't watch it, how do you know whether or not it's a "dink fest"?  Berkley Big Bass was over 8 pounds.  There were a lot of fish over 4 lbs.

[MN Fisher]

6 minutes ago, Pantera61 said:

If you don't watch it, how do you know whether or not it's a "dink fest"?  Berkley Big Bass was over 8 pounds.  There were a lot of fish over 4 lbs.

From MLF's own rules - https://majorleaguefishing.com/about/select-rules/

"18. THE WEIGHING OF BASS

• • All MLF Events shall utilize the MLF term “scorable bass”. A scorable bass is any bass caught that weighs one (1) pound or greater. Any bass caught that weighs less than one (1) pound shall be deemed “un-scorable.”

So any bass weighing at least one pound scores for their points. A person catching 30 one-pound bass gets the same score as someone catching 5 six-pound bass. Total weight is what matters...doesn't matter how you get there.

[NittyGrittyBoy]

Still talking about dink city tournaments? Hahaha

[Pantera61]

19 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

From MLF's own rules - https://majorleaguefishing.com/about/select-rules/

"18. THE WEIGHING OF BASS

• • All MLF Events shall utilize the MLF term “scorable bass”. A scorable bass is any bass caught that weighs one (1) pound or greater. Any bass caught that weighs less than one (1) pound shall be deemed “un-scorable.”

So any bass weighing at least one pound scores for their points. A person catching 30 one-pound bass gets the same score as someone catching 5 six-pound bass. Total weight is what matters...doesn't matter how you get there.

Your point being?

[jbsoonerfan]

2 minutes ago, Pantera61 said:

Your point being?

LOL, I don't think he even knows. I was wondering the same thing when I read it.

[MN Fisher]

My point is that I'd rather watch a Pro go out and hunt down the big girls than watch a bunch of yahoos catch as many dinks as they can. I have much more respect for the guy who comes in with five that are 4#+ than the guy who catches twenty 1#-2#ers. We have people here (amateurs) who've logged 30-40-50 fish days...so the 'dink fest' that MLF is doesn't impress me at all.

 

I'm gone.

[Brayberry]

The way MLF is, with just going for as many 1 lbs as you can get. I truly think I could complete with anyone of those guys out there. Could I go to a BASS event and catch 30 lbs a day, nope. Could I go out and catch piles of barely legal fish, definitely. 

[jbsoonerfan]

On 10/31/2019 at 12:00 AM, Brayberry said:

The way MLF is, with just going for as many 1 lbs as you can get. I truly think I could complete with anyone of those guys out there. Could I go to a BASS event and catch 30 lbs a day, nope. Could I go out and catch piles of barely legal fish, definitely. 

That's funny!!!!! The same guys who could fish you under a table have a tough time winning in MLF/BPT. But sure, you can tell yourself that all you want.

 

I know a lot of guys who could have made it to the majors if it wasn't for that pesky elbow or shoulder injury. LOL

[OCdockskipper]

2 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

That's funny!!!!! The same guys who could fish you under a table have a tough time winning in MLF/BPT...

Without commenting on whether or not anyone on this thread could make it as a pro, I think that was the point of Brayberry's post.  The skills needed to win an Elite event are different than those needed to win a BPT event and some pros have not been able to make that transition.  Most everyone on this board has had 50 fish days, so there is a bit of understanding what is needed to do that.  Very few of us have had a 30 lb bag, how to do that is a complete mystery to most.

 

Obviously, Edwin Evers, Jordan Lee, Jacob Wheeler are examples of guys who can flourish in either format.  However, guys like Ish Monroe & Dean Rojas have really struggled.  I don't think it is a coincidence that those same guys in the latter category have won in big fish shootouts were it took over 100lbs to win a 4 day tournament.

 

Rick Clunn talked about how he grew up catching 10 fish limits of 2 lb bass and how hard it was to transition to catching 5 fish limits of 4 lb bass.  He has done it to a point, as seen by his victories on the St. johns river, but he said he would have had to undo everything he had been trying to learn over the past 10 years if he had been part of the BPT.

[jbsoonerfan]

I keep hearing 30lb bags, that was never the norm in BASS and only happened on bodies of water where everyone was bringing in big sacks. Look at this years BASS results and see how many times 30 lb bags were weighed in. Someone did the math and the average fish for BASS and BPT was pretty close (I will try to find the thread it was in). Take into account the number of BASS events where guys didn't even bring 5 to the scales and you would think 5 2 lbers would be better than 1 four lber.

 

 

This is just the first BASS results I looked at from this season. Day 1 of the first event. 51 guys just right here that didn't bring 5 to the scales (there were more). Why can't they catch 5 fish if every person on here can? Better yet, why are they professional anglers and the ones who claim they can do it, aren't?

 

174	Stan Gunter	4 / 4 - 13	4	4 - 13	$0
175	Douglas Dulin	4 / 4 - 12	4	4 - 12	$0
176	Randy Elliott	3 / 4 - 11	3	4 - 11	$0
177	Steven Foster Jr	2 / 4 - 10	2	4 - 10	$0
178	Chris Hart	3 / 4 - 9	3	4 - 9	$0
179	Bill Weidler	1 / 4 - 9	1	4 - 9	$0
180	Jordan Osborne	2 / 4 - 8	2	4 - 8	$0
181	Bob Behrle	4 / 4 - 7	4	4 - 7	$0
182	James Cassaday	4 / 4 - 7	4	4 - 7	$0
183	Denny Fiedler	3 / 4 - 4	3	4 - 4	$0
184	Jason Ashe	4 / 4 - 4	4	4 - 4	$0
185	Tom Huynh	2 / 4 - 3	2	4 - 3	$0
186	Ray Rupp	4 / 4 - 3	4	4 - 3	$0
187	Wil Hardy II	3 / 4 - 2	3	4 - 2	$0
188	Hunter Eubanks	2 / 4 - 2	2	4 - 2	$0
189	Frank Ramsey	2 / 3 - 15	2	3 - 15	$0
190	Trait Zaldain	2 / 3 - 13	2	3 - 13	$0
191	Marty Brown	2 / 3 - 12	2	3 - 12	$0
192	Ryan Claypool	3 / 3 - 11	3	3 - 11	$0
193	Kyle Fox	3 / 3 - 7	3	3 - 7	$0
194	Rick Corn Sr	2 / 3 - 5	2	3 - 5	$0
195	Lynn Nickeson	1 / 3 - 0	1	3 - 0	$0
196	Ronnie Green	1 / 2 - 13	1	2 - 13	$0
197	Dwayne Stevens	2 / 2 - 13	2	2 - 13	$0
198	Corey Smith	3 / 2 - 11	3	2 - 11	$0
199	Andrew Heivly	2 / 2 - 9	2	2 - 9	$0
200	Gabriel Keen	3 / 2 - 8	3	2 - 8	$0
201	Wayne Hauser Jr	1 / 2 - 5	1	2 - 5	$0
202	Randy Futch	2 / 2 - 4	2	2 - 4	$0
203	Keith Pace	1 / 2 - 3	1	2 - 3	$0
204	Russell Nixon	2 / 1 - 12	2	1 - 12	$0
205	Ray Hashimoto	1 / 1 - 11	1	1 - 11	$0
206	Ronnie Getz	1 / 1 - 10	1	1 - 10	$0
207	Kameron Harbin	2 / 1 - 10	2	1 - 10	$0
208	Colby Robertson	1 / 1 - 8	1	1 - 8	$0
209	Teb Jones	1 / 1 - 6	1	1 - 6	$0
210	John Pollard	1 / 1 - 4	1	1 - 4	$0
211	Jerome Baird	1 / 1 - 1	1	1 - 1	$0
212	Gunnar Meger	1 / 0 - 13	1	0 - 13	$0
213	Jerod Hawkes	1 / 0 - 10	1	0 - 10	$0
214	Ben Quisno	0 / 0	0	0	$0
215	John Kremer	0 / 0	0	0	$0
216	Don Eady	0 / 0	0	0	$0
217	Jason Williamson	0 / 0	0	0	$0
218	John Parker	0 / 0	0	0	$0
219	Kenny Johnson	0 / 0	0	0	$0
220	Clayton Dyer	0 / 0	0	0	$0
221	James Taylor Jr	0 / 0	0	0	$0
222	Nathan Martin	0 / 0	0	0	$0
223	Warren Forsythe	0 / 0	0	0	$0
224	David Cornelius Jr.	0 / 0	0	0	$0

 

[jbsoonerfan]

Here's more food for thought.

 

40

Scott Wilbanks

24 - 10

$3,000

$0

$0

$3,000

 

3 days, 24-10 and cashed a check for $3,000. If someone could catch 5 fish a day at 1.6 oz each they could have cashed a check in this event. From what I hear, there are a ton of guys here that could do it. 

[RichF]

5 minutes ago, jbsoonerfan said:

From what I hear, there are a ton of guys here that could do it. 

There probably are. Just because you fish in a Pro Tournament doesn't mean you're a great angler.  All you need is time and money to enter.  

[jbsoonerfan]

4 minutes ago, RichF said:

There probably are. Just because you fish in a Pro Tournament doesn't mean you're a great angler.  All you need is time and money to enter.  

I guess that's true, as long as you can pay the entry and fish, you can be a "pro".

[Team9nine]

MLF is still evolving and they’re trying to find that right mix of size and numbers. Believe you’ll see a few changes next year catering to quality fish a little more, starting with the just released schedule that should have most of the tournies hitting big fish lakes/windows. Other stuff in the works. 

[12poundbass]

1 hour ago, RichF said:

There probably are. Just because you fish in a Pro Tournament doesn't mean you're a great angler.  All you need is time and money to enter.  

True for the FLW. You had to earn your way into the Elites. 

[OCdockskipper]

2 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

...This is just the first BASS results I looked at from this season. Day 1 of the first event. 51 guys just right here that didn't bring 5 to the scales (there were more). Why can't they catch 5 fish if every person on here can? Better yet, why are they professional anglers and the ones who claim they can do it, aren't?...

 

First off, comparing results between the two won't always work.  If your goal is to catch the 5 biggest, how you attack the lake will be different than if you are just trying to catch the most poundage.  Getting skunked in a 5 biggest tournament is not unusual, especially in places where a big limit the following day is very possible.  However, getting skunked in a BPT tourney, after multiple days of practice, would be a bit humiliating.

 

The Opens is a bit more of a proving ground and there are plenty of guys who fish them who call themselves "pros", but really make a living in another manner.  Kind of like the waiter who considers himself an "actor" and just works at the restaurant until his big break comes, or the guy who shows up at the casino in the evenings and calls himself a "professional poker player".  There are plenty of people who fish the Opens religiously who are really just average bass fishermen.  If it wasn't rude to do so, I'd be happy to list some of their names or even Traits that they have.

 

Finally, as far as size of the fish, you are comparing the BPT to the Opens, I don't think that is the correct comparison.  BPT to the Elites is more apples to apples, both have the top anglers who had to qualify in some sense in order to participate.  

 

 

[WRB]

One of the big factors for the MLF format was having contest venues coast to coast.

The 2020 schedule doesn't include any venues west of Lake Fork Texas, everything else is east of the Mississippi River.

Tom

[jbsoonerfan]

2 minutes ago, WRB said:

One of the big factors for the MLF format was having contest venues coast to coast.

The 2020 schedule doesn't include any venues west of Texas.

Tom

I never heard them say that.

[WRB]

3 minutes ago, jbsoonerfan said:

I never heard them say that.

One reason western pro's who fish the MLF changed from B.A.S.S. they didin't need to relocate. 

Nothing scheduled for Oklahoma.

Tom

[jbsoonerfan]

4 minutes ago, WRB said:

One reason western pro's who fish the MLF changed from B.A.S.S. they didin't need to relocate. 

Nothing scheduled for Oklahoma.

Tom

Did they actually say that, or is that what you heard from somewhere other than MLF?

[WRB]

4 minutes ago, jbsoonerfan said:

Did they actually say that, or is that what you heard from somewhere other than MLF?

Aaron Martens moved back to SoCal, Westhills from Leeds Al after joining MLF.

Tom

[jbsoonerfan]

1 minute ago, WRB said:

Aaron Martens moved back to SoCal, Westhills from Leeds Al after joining MLF.

Tom

Okay, so again, where did MLF or BPT claim they were having contests coast to coast? Not trying to argue, I just never heard them claim that.

[Team9nine]

4 hours ago, OCdockskipper said:

 

First off, comparing results between the two won't always work.  If your goal is to catch the 5 biggest, how you attack the lake will be different than if you are just trying to catch the most poundage.  Getting skunked in a 5 biggest tournament is not unusual, especially in places where a big limit the following day is very possible.  However, getting skunked in a BPT tourney, after multiple days of practice, would be a bit humiliating.

 

The Opens is a bit more of a proving ground and there are plenty of guys who fish them who call themselves "pros", but really make a living in another manner.  Kind of like the waiter who considers himself an "actor" and just works at the restaurant until his big break comes, or the guy who shows up at the casino in the evenings and calls himself a "professional poker player".  There are plenty of people who fish the Opens religiously who are really just average bass fishermen.  If it wasn't rude to do so, I'd be happy to list some of their names or even Traits that they have.

 

Finally, as far as size of the fish, you are comparing the BPT to the Opens, I don't think that is the correct comparison.  BPT to the Elites is more apples to apples, both have the top anglers who had to qualify in some sense in order to participate.  

 

 

I saw what you did there -  

[WRB]

2 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

Okay, so again, where did MLF or BPT claim they were having contests coast to coast? Not trying to argue, I just never heard them claim that.

The reason B.A.S.S. didn't come to the west coast was because west coast anglers didn't support their venues, live weigh ins or sponsors booths plus local towns didn't pay to have them. MLF on the other hand doesn't rely on live audience participation it's all about TV revenue for the sponsors. MLF can hold events anywhere coast to coast making it fair wherever the contestant reside.

Is it a rule or agreement? evidently not. The west has a lot of bass anglers that will turn off MLF if all the events stay east.

Tom

[Brayberry]

I just believe a large number of guys on this forum could go out on a new lake and catch 20-30 bass that average a pound much easier then they could go out and catch even a 20 lb sack (5 fish limit). This is consistently over the course of a tournament season.  I personally fish for quantity over quality so I get a lot of 30-50 bass days, most average about a pound to pound and a half fish. I do have giants mixed in but they aren't a consistent catch. I feel like if you find shallow cover and throw smaller baits, senkos, etc you'll get great numbers. A lot of the guys that blank on the big tours are because they are going for that big sack of fish and not a limit. Sometimes it works out sometimes it doesnt. Basically if you fish a Elite event you need a limit of 3-4 lb fish consistently. On MLF you just need to find a school of 1 lbers and stay on them all day.