MLF Stage 3 Harris Chains

[InfantryMP]

Well we are off on another stop of the BPT MLF Stage 3, on the Harris Chains. 

 

This should be an exciting event being in Florida post spawn. BHite already ripped in a 8 1/2lber, and has been in the lead all day so far!

 

MDJ is keeping up with the pack, and I believe he is overdue for a win on the BPT. Who do you have for the W on Stage 3?

[jbsoonerfan]

I didn't get to watch any of it but it looks like Hite whacked them pretty good, all on a jackhammer?

[SC53]

Watched a lot of it today. With the wind howling most of the week (still is) it set up well for the chatter bait guys. Winds supposed to subside in the next couple days so my guess is that will die off and flipping/pitching will ramp up. 

[Captain Phil]

The Harris Chain water level has dropped some in the past month.  This puts more big fish near the edge of the grass.  The flipping bite this time of year is awesome.   Look for big weights.  I recently discovered the MLF.   It's great that they release fish at the boat.  All bass tournaments should adopt that format.

[roadwarrior]

5 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

 It's great that they release fish at the boat.  All bass tournaments should adopt that format.

 

[Captain Phil]

It's interesting how this tournament format changes the fishing strategy.  With a five fish bag limit, kicker fish have traditionally been a big part of any Harris Chain win giving flippers an advantage.  With no bag limit, you need to get more bites than your competition by covering more water.  It's good to see the Harris Chain put on a good show for TV viewers. 

[BassNJake]

Justin Lucas is entertaining

If he aint winning, he's close to having a melt down

[Captain Phil]

The wind is dropping and it's getting hot.  Good for the Lake Griffin flipping bite.  No one is going to catch Bobby Lane. 

[Alpster]

I watched them launch this morning. It looked to be a good day.

 

 

[The fishmaster]

Dang I can never catch fish on the harris chain. How do the pros do it so well? I have caught three bass out there and two were on a gambler swimbait. The other one was on a rattle trap.

[Captain Phil]

10 hours ago, The fishmaster said:

Dang I can never catch fish on the harris chain. How do the pros do it so well? I have caught three bass out there and two were on a gambler swimbait. The other one was on a rattle trap.

 

The Harris Chain can be a very humbling place to fish.  The bass in these lakes don't chase, they react.  Their strike zone is very small.  To be successful you have put something in their face that gets their attention.  This is why vibrating baits work so well.   Spinnerbaits, blade baits and swim baits are what they are using.  The biggest fish are being caught flipping heavy cover.  

 

Hydrilla has been allowed to regrow in some areas.  It topped out Little Lake Harris a few years back.  Thankfully, local officials are managing the hydrilla instead of the previous policy of zero tolerance.  Due to this, the numbers of bass per acre has been increasing.  It's no where near the numbers in the Kissimmee Chain or Okeechobee.  The average bass caught in the Harris Chain is bigger.  These are residential lakes, not weedy swamps.  Most anglers have a hard time adapting.

[InfantryMP]

This lake is going to take a beating here this week and next week. I think there is a NPFL event or a Toyota Series event on the Harris Chain next week or so. 

 

The MLF format is the future for pro level tournaments where there can be marshals etc. I like it, but at the same time it took me a few tournaments to figure out the days and how to advance etc. It was a bit tricky at first...I think they need to reduce the 80 anglers to like 60 pro anglers who are normally there, and then open it up more to folks to try out and work their way up to it. 

 

I know they already do that, but they need to make it so more than 5 new guys are there this year. 

[Captain Phil]

19 minutes ago, InfantryMP said:

The MLF format is the future for pro level tournaments where there can be marshals etc. I like it, but at the same time it took me a few tournaments to figure out the days and how to advance etc.

 

Can someone please explain their format for me?  I can't figure out how it works and their website doesn't explain much.

[InfantryMP]

Day 1- Group A fishes 40 anglers (weights carry over)

Day 2- Group B Fishes 40 anglers (weights carry over)

Day 3- Group A Round 2 Must be in top 20 to move on (Winner of Day 3 moves on to Championship round automatically)

Day 4- Group B Round 2 Must be in top 20 to move on (Winner Day 4 moves on to Championship round automatically

 

Day 5 Knock out round. Top 20 from Group A, and Top 20 from Group B fish to get down to the top 8. The top 8 will move on to championship round plus the two who won their respective groups A&B

Day 6- 10 anglers. Championship round $100K payout for winner. Everyone in Championship round will cash a check. 

[Captain Phil]

Thanks for the help.  So far, so good.  How do the hourly sessions work?  How long are the hourly sessions and how many are there?   Do all anglers start and stop fishing at the same time?   How about travel time?  Must an angler return to the ramp between sessions? 

[galyonj]

I get the feeling that the specific rules are determined by the circuit being fished (because MLF has five professional circuits and two school circuits), but I don't have time right now to dig that far into it and do a comparison.

 

Like this one on Harris Chain is the Bass Pro Tour. You can peruse the rules in their entirety here, but to attempt to answer your specific question, BPT competition days consist of three 2.5 hour sessions with a 15 minute break between them. As far as I can see in the rules, competitors don't have to do anything but not fish during those 15 minute break periods. 

[InfantryMP]

3 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

Thanks for the help.  So far, so good.  How do the hourly sessions work?  How long are the hourly sessions and how many are there?   Do all anglers start and stop fishing at the same time?   How about travel time?  Must an angler return to the ramp between sessions? 

 

There are three periods. Each angler will start and finish at the same time as far as breaks in between periods go. That is what they call "lines out".

 

The boat numbers are decided before the event, and they take off in that order. It is not a shotgun send off. The anglers take their breaks in place in between rounds. They do not have to move anywhere specific. 

[Captain Phil]

Thanks for the explanation.  The run from Leesburg to Lake Griffin takes about an hour assuming you don't have trouble at the lock.  If you decide to make the run, you would lose one hour in the first period and another hour in the third?  

[jbsoonerfan]

1 hour ago, Captain Phil said:

Thanks for the explanation.  The run from Leesburg to Lake Griffin takes about an hour assuming you don't have trouble at the lock.  If you decide to make the run, you would lose one hour in the first period and another hour in the third?  

I don't think so, well I know it doesn't work that way at the end. When they say lines out in the last period, the tournament is over. They don't have to be back at a certain time or anything, they fish till the time runs out. I don't know exactly how long they give them to make their run in the morning, but most of the time when I have watched at the beginning they are already at their spot ready for lines in.

[InfantryMP]

Yea they may launch like 30 min or so before lines in but must wait to fish. 
 

the run back doesn’t matter since they do not have weigh ins. The interviews are conducted on the water.

[Captain Phil]

15 hours ago, InfantryMP said:

Yea they may launch like 30 min or so before lines in but must wait to fish. 
 

the run back doesn’t matter since they do not have weigh ins. The interviews are conducted on the water.

 

That makes a big difference in where you choose to fish.  What is the reason for the mid day rest periods?

[InfantryMP]

4 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

 

That makes a big difference in where you choose to fish.  What is the reason for the mid day rest periods?

To be honest I think it is more for advertisements and commercial break stuff then actually giving the anglers a break from fishing. 
 

However it is nice to be able to grab a quick bite and not worry about losing fishing time.

[Captain Phil]

19 minutes ago, InfantryMP said:

However it is nice to be able to grab a quick bite and not worry about losing fishing time.

 Or if nature calls...   ?

[jtharris3]

Just got to see the live stream of the Championship day. Pretty good day of fishing! Ott really put on a show! Never say die, Bobby Lane made a nice couple of catches at the end to take second! 
Good stuff!