2020 Elite schedule

[OCdockskipper]

For the past 5 years or so, BASS has released the next years schedule in early July.  The main reason I pay attention for when it comes out is to see if there will be any Elite tournaments close to myself (So Cal) or family (Georgia & Texas) that I could sign up to Marshal for.  This year has been different, we are nearly in August & still no 2020 schedule.

 

This got me thinking along conspiracy theory lines as to why.  A few far fetched reasons for the delay I came up with were:
 

1. BASS is changing their format to match the MLF cup events and won't reveal the locations of their tournaments until the morning of the first tournament day.  They will give a 100 mile radius, so the Elite anglers will have to guess at what lakes to practice on and hopefully pick correctly come the start of the tournament;
    
2. BASS is waiting for BPT to release their schedule and then they are going to match it, going to each of the same venues a week prior to the BPT event.  By the time BPT rolls into town, all of the fish will have already been caught and no one in the surrounding areas will want to see even more pros fishing their honey holes.
    
3. Mark Zona had the only copy of the 2020 schedule on his phone, but accidentally dropped it into Lake Michigan.  He got the phone back, however it is currently sitting in a bowl of rice to dry out.

 

Any other potential reasons y'all could come up with?

[buzzbaiter83]

BASS is promising MLF guys who return that they’ll schedule tournaments on their home lakes. They’re just waiting to see who all comes back. 

 

Bass is waiting for MLF to release their schedule first so they can plan around it allowing pros to possibly fish both. 

 

BASS only had one handwritten copy to be sent to HQ for production but Mercer used it as TP during an emergency stop on the way to Birmingham. 

[Troy85]

9 hours ago, buzzbaiter83 said:

 

 

Bass is waiting for MLF to release their schedule first so they can plan around it allowing pros to possibly fish both. 

 

I really think this plays a part.  For the 19 schedule BPT waited till after BASS released their schedule, then scheduled their events to make it where pros could fish both.  At least that is how it looked from an outside perspective. 

 

Only other logical explanation is @OCdockskipper Zona's theory.  Probably dropped it when trying to take a picture of a "slaunch".

[BassNJake]

BASS is waiting on checks from the host cities to clear.

 

BASS is waiting for the BPT schedule to be released, so they can schedule open events at the same time.

The last thing BASS wants is some BPT guy winning their classic

 

[clh121787]

im pretty sure the host municipalities bid for the Tour to stop at their respective lakes. my guess 

[Jleebesaw]

I know they will be here in new york in august for the next 2 years. Not that that helps you.

[fishballer06]

On 7/30/2019 at 10:52 PM, buzzbaiter83 said:

BASS is promising MLF guys who return that they’ll schedule tournaments on their home lakes. They’re just waiting to see who all comes back. 

This. 

 

I have a feeling that there are quite a few guys who switched to MLF that aren't making any money and they are dying to get back into BASS. To quote myself from a post I made on here earlier in the summer:

 

Quote

They went from having to catch the 5 biggest fish they could in 8 hours, to having to catch as many fish as possible in a very short time window. It's a totally different ball game.

 

KVD has made $6k so far this season. 8 guys have made $0...

https://majorleaguefishing.com/standing/2019-bass-pro-tour/

 

For reference, BASS is paying out $2500 to every competitor at every tournament, and $7500 minimum if you make the top 35 out of the 75 boat field.

 

Now, looking over the link posted above now, there are still 5 guys who have made $0 all season. There are also 20 guys who haven't cleared $20k for the year yet.

 

And that KVD fella looks like he's up to $24k on the year. For reference, he made $171k last year in BASS.

[Troy85]

10 minutes ago, fishballer06 said:

This. 

 

I have a feeling that there are quite a few guys who switched to MLF that aren't making any money and they are dying to get back into BASS. To quote myself from a post I made on here earlier in the summer:

 

 

Now, looking over the link posted above now, there are still 5 guys who have made $0 all season. There are also 20 guys who haven't cleared $20k for the year yet.

 

And that KVD fella looks like he's up to $24k on the year. For reference, he made $171k last year in BASS.

I'd be willing to bet that KVD makes most of his yearly income on advertising deals.  Tournament winnings are probably his extra fun money. haha.

 

I did always find it funny, when a lot of the big names were switching to MLF they praising MLF for making it easier for anglers to make money, and saying how hard it was for guys to make it in Bass.  The funny part was, all the guys saying this, were the ones who had already made it big in bass.  

[BassNJake]

On 8/19/2019 at 9:59 AM, Troy85 said:

I'd be willing to bet that KVD makes most of his yearly income on advertising deals.  Tournament winnings are probably his extra fun money. haha.

 

I did always find it funny, when a lot of the big names were switching to MLF they praising MLF for making it easier for anglers to make money, and saying how hard it was for guys to make it in Bass.  The funny part was, all the guys saying this, were the ones who had already made it big in bass.  

The rumor that was going around was that KVD's strike king deal was renegotiated right before his classic win in 2005.

That deal was for a new line of KVD endorsed baits to be produced and his royalties were upwards of a dollar a bait.

Well he won the classic with the 1.5 squarebill and sales were out the roof.

 

The forum where this rumor was at had a link to an interview that Zona gave and he said something to the effect of how many baits you think were sold with KVD's name on it? Well thats how much money he made.

Many took that as the evidence needed to back up the dollar per bait rumor.

 

The pro's never disclose their sponsorship deals so I don't think we'll know for sure.

That's where I think BPT/MLF could potentially out draw BASS, because of all the air time they get.

I see BPT/MLF at the top of the tv/social media game and thats what is driving a lot of sponsorship these days.

 

[BassNJake]

So BASS has released the 2020 schedule

 

Feb. 6-9, St. Johns River, Palatka, Fla.

Feb. 14-17, TBA

March 6-8, Bassmaster Classic, Lake Guntersville, Birmingham, Ala.

April 2-5, Lake Eufaula, Eufaula, Ala.

April 16-19, Santee Cooper Lakes, Manning, S.C.

May 29-June 1, Sabine River, Orange, Texas

June 5-9, Texas Fest, TBA

July 23-26, St. Lawrence River, Waddington, N.Y.

July 30-Aug. 2, Lake Champlain, Plattsburgh, N.Y.

Aug. 13-16, Elite makeup date

Aug. 20-23, Lake St. Clair, Macomb County, Mich.

[OCdockskipper]

Cool, I just saw it on their site.

[BassNJake]

BASS announced that the Feb 14-17 event will be held on Chickamauga

 

 

[GReb]

It’d be nice if they shook things up from time to time. Regurgitating the same waters every year gets boring.