Bassmaster Open Results Question

[KSanford33]

I was going through the results for some of the previous Bassmaster Opens, and there's always about a half dozen guys at the bottom of the leaderboard with zeroes. Does that mean for a 3 day tournament, they didn't catch a single bass?

[MN Fisher]

Some of them might have withdrawn or been disqualified. Boat problems are another possible issue.

[TnRiver46]

Or caught bass that were under the local limit. For instance most places on TN river, LMB have to be 15” to go into the livewell 

[gim]

55 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Or caught bass that were under the local limit. For instance most places on TN river, LMB have to be 15” to go into the livewell 

So in that case they would have been disqualified, correct?

[Chris Catignani]

Sometimes people pay to fish and for some reason or another...dont show up.

4 minutes ago, gimruis said:

So in that case they would have been disqualified, correct?

Not if they were just throwing all the short fish back..

[gim]

1 minute ago, Chris Catignani said:

Not if they were just throwing all the short fish back..

I understand that.  @TnRiver46 stated "to go in the livewell."  That's the part I'm wondering about.  Like if they bring a 14 3/4 incher to the weigh in.  I assume that would DQ an angler on the spot since state law prohibits anything under 15 inches.

[Chris Catignani]

27 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I understand that.  @TnRiver46 stated "to go in the livewell."  That's the part I'm wondering about.  Like if they bring a 14 3/4 incher to the weigh in.  I assume that would DQ an angler on the spot since state law prohibits anything under 15 inches.

Oh yeah...DQ for sure.

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

So in that case they would have been disqualified, correct?

No  I just meant they had to let their fish go. So didn’t necessarily “catch zero bass all day,”  but caught maybe a bunch of little bass

 

its typically very easy to catch 14.9” or 13.9” bass depending on which pool you’re on. The shorts are plentiful 

 

 

I fished a tournament once where I caught maybe 30 fish but weighed in 0 . They were all too small, but to read the results you may have thought I didn’t catch a single bass, like @KSanford33 mentioned 

[KSanford33]

It just blows my mind that these guys would pay $1,800 and not catch a single legal fish. Don't get me wrong, they're all 1000% better than I am, and I know conditions play a big factor, but I get mad when I don't put up any fish in a $50 tournament, let alone just south of $2,000.

[scaleface]

16 hours ago, KSanford33 said:

It just blows my mind that these guys would pay $1,800 and not catch a single legal fish. Don't get me wrong, they're all 1000% better than I am, and I know conditions play a big factor, but I get mad when I don't put up any fish in a $50 tournament, let alone just south of $2,000.

Things dont always work out . Show up tp your spots and there are already people there , locals and contestants  , boat problems . Plus they are opens , anyone can fish them .That Clay Dyer guy doesnt have any arms and legs and he will zero at times . If you havent seen a video of him fishing , you need to . Its something else .

[Mike L]

Or all of the above…

 

Or maybe just stuff happens. 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[BassNJake]

19 hours ago, KSanford33 said:

It just blows my mind that these guys would pay $1,800 and not catch a single legal fish. Don't get me wrong, they're all 1000% better than I am, and I know conditions play a big factor, but I get mad when I don't put up any fish in a $50 tournament, let alone just south of $2,000.

Some guys enter and they are fishing for a check

so if they blank day one or have a really small bag 

they wont even weigh them and pack up and head to the house

It's only a 3 day tournament for the top 10

So if you skunk or have a small day one bag, you're probably not making the 10 cut

Saves you gas in the boat and the extra couple nights staying at a hotel, air bnb or camping out

[dickenscpa]

On 7/27/2022 at 7:32 AM, scaleface said:

Things dont always work out . Show up tp your spots and there are already people there , locals and contestants  , boat problems . Plus they are opens , anyone can fish them .That Clay Dyer guy doesnt have any arms and legs and he will zero at times . If you havent seen a video of him fishing , you need to . Its something else .

As I was reading the replies I had planned on posting exactly what you said above in bold. Another thing that happens is if you have a certain strength when you fish, even on a specific lake. If the tournament is on that lake at the wrong time of the year you can struggle.

 

I fish KBF kayak tournaments and I was really looking forward to them having a tournament on my home lake. We did this year and it was mid summer and the temps were triple digit and the water temp was 89-90*. Now this is my home lake and where I have the most confidence but I'm more of a shallow water, laydown, wood cover, crankbait 10' or less guy.

 

When we fished it this year the fish weren't where I'd normally catch them and I'm just not very good out ledge fishing or drop shotting in 30' of water. That's what separates people like me from Elites and MLF'ers. I'm sure they have a super strength but are more than adequate with most other techniques as well.

 

I watched a video with KVD a year or so ago and they asked him about his run when he won everything and asked him to compare it to Wheeler today. He said that most of the pros are capable of doing the same thing he had done. He said there was a lot of luck with everything coming together just right and hitting each lake at the right time for how you fish. He said when he was on his run it just seemed like they hit every lake he knew well and the way he fished it at just the right time.