MLF Format 2024
FryDog62 reply :
I enjoy watching the competition and various personalities, but after watching a couple seasons now I am growing a little tired of the "catch everything" format. I know they want something different than the typical BASS/FLW tournament of 5 best fish, but when the average size is 14 ounces to a pound and a half, I get a little bored with it.
I especially noticed this watching the Summit Cup Championship in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. These are home waters for me and to watch the finals and probably over 100 fish caught - and the largest was 3 1/2 pounds. These are waters where 4, 5 and and even a few 6 pound fish are not common, but are in relative good supply. To catch that many fish between 6 great anglers and not even a 4 pounder, I think its more of an issue of the format not the quality of fish in the lake.
I don't know how many times I heard "Oh, its a GIANT" and they weigh it at 2 1/2 pounds... really? I think the fisherman are getting conditioned...
Maybe reality is somewhere in between - it doesn't have to be the 5 biggest, but maybe only count fish over an acceptable size (12 inches is way too small IMO). I've always been a fan of quality over quantity and I would rather see the Pros figure out how to catch premium fish in waters where the average/amateur fisherman like me goes.
Just my 2 cents worth ~
WRB reply :
It's a good format IMO.
You would think KVD would have an advantage fishing northern natural lakes like around Grand Rapids MN...he finish last in the finals and is a numbers bass angler. I can't stand to watch Ike's antics, he was last angler I thought would win the MLF title but he did win.
The format is intense and gives the Elite or or top tournament pro's from various trails a chance to go fishing for numbers head to head and very entertaining and educational.
Tom
A-Jay reply :
On 3/22/2017 at 2:57 AM, FryDog62 said:I enjoy watching the competition and various personalities, but after watching a couple seasons now I am growing a little tired of the "catch everything" format. I know they want something different than the typical BASS/FLW tournament of 5 best fish, but when the average size is 14 ounces to a pound and a half, I get a little bored with it.
I especially noticed this watching the Summit Cup Championship in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. These are home waters for me and to watch the finals and probably over 100 fish caught - and the largest was 3 1/2 pounds. These are waters where 4, 5 and and even a few 6 pound fish are not common, but are in relative good supply. To catch that many fish between 6 great anglers and not even a 4 pounder, I think its more of an issue of the format not the quality of fish in the lake.
I don't know how many times I heard "Oh, its a GIANT" and they weigh it at 2 1/2 pounds... really? I think the fisherman are getting conditioned...
Maybe reality is somewhere in between - it doesn't have to be the 5 biggest, but maybe only count fish over an acceptable size (12 inches is way too small IMO). I've always been a fan of quality over quantity and I would rather see the Pros figure out how to catch premium fish in waters where the average/amateur fisherman like me goes.
Just my 2 cents worth ~
I really like the show and the format quite a bit. I make a concerted effort to watch every show. (DVR)
The one exception being that although I actually have talked to the guy at shows and do genuinely like him in person, I do not like Ike's over the top foolishness on camera, it's irritating and seriously detracts from what is other wise an entertaining 60 minutes of TV.
As for the size of a score able bass, I see why they do it and I don't totally disagree with the premise. However, having 6 guys beat docks for 12 inch bass gets old fast. I'd like them to impose a rule change where at the start of each period there is a "target size bass" that has to be caught before any of the other score able bass can be placed on the score tracker. Maybe like a 2lb fish in the first period and then a 3lb fish for the 2nd & third periods. Just something that would make guys get off the deliberate dink fest they routinely seem to get on just to keep up. They obviously have the skill.
A-Jay
RichF reply :
I think there is another thread where this topic was discussed at length. I agree with you a 100%. I don't get overly excited watching the biggest names in pro bass fishing catching a bunch of 12-14 inchers on drop shots, finesse worms, and wacky rigged senkos. I like a lot of things about the format but I'd also like to see a few things changed.
It's still, by far, the most entertaining bass fishing show on TV though and I'll keep watching it.
38 Super Fan reply :
Quote
I like the format, but I agree that it can be boring watching them catch little fish one right after another. Fishing to me is all about trying to catch the biggest fish.
wdp reply :
On 3/22/2017 at 3:37 AM, A-Jay said:The one exception being that although I actually have talked to the guy at shows and do genuinely like him in person, I do not like Ike's over the top foolishness on camera, it's irritating and seriously detracts from what is other wise an entertaining 60 minutes of TV.
A-Jay
Exactly. He seems great in interviews and very polite & informative during instructional videos. But when I watch him during competitions, I immediately hit either the mute or FF button.
To me the big difference is the live score tracker & how a lot of the episodes go down to the wire. I think it makes it more exciting and intense. The format I think reflects how most people fish. Don't we all like to catch more fish but still manage to catch a few good ones in the mix?
FryDog62 reply :
"To me the big difference is the live score tracker & how a lot of the episodes go down to the wire. I think it makes it more exciting and intense. The format I think reflects how most people fish. Don't we all like to catch more fish but still manage to catch a few good ones in the mix?"
I agree, but wonder if you could capture the same excitement but with a minimum 15 inch or 2 lbs...
RichF reply :
I think there's some editing going on that actually makes it seem more "wire to wire" than it probably is.
12poundbass reply :
The dink fest does get boring at times. With that said I look at it as informative. I probably not on the level of experience as most of you so if I can look at what they're doing and do it on my lake and catch more fish in going to do it. Of course I want to catch bigger fish but if I can go out and catch more fish I'm going to do it. So I'm mixed on my feelings. I like seeing monsters caught but I also like how they have to figure the lake out as fast as possible and it helps me out.
FryDog62 reply :
Yes but figuring it out to win a dink fest is different than figuring out a lake's patterns to catch both quantity and quality are two different things --
WRB reply :
Dink fest...Aaron Martens caught 88 lbs of bass in 6 hrs from one of those Grand Rapids MN lakes he had never even heard of before fishing it and very few were under 2 lbs.
Tom
OCdockskipper reply :
AJ hit the nail on the head, you can tweak the scoring as needed if you want to have larger bass targeted. You could reward bonus points for target or largest fish, change the minimum size, or a bunch of other creative things.
As boring as some think it is to watch smaller fish caught, it is more boring to watch someone go an hour without a bite.
A-Jay reply :
On 3/22/2017 at 8:25 AM, WRB said:Dink fest...Aaron Martens caught 88 lbs of bass in 6 hrs from one of those Grand Rapids MN lakes he had never even heard of before fishing it and very few were under 2 lbs.
Tom
That was an impressive school of Smallies he got on. And they that were serious about choking that jerkbait he was throwing.
I did particularly enjoy the "Crazy Laugh" he was doing after like the 30th or 40th fat bass.
That's the kind of crazy I can relate to.
A-Jay
12poundbass reply :
On 3/22/2017 at 8:23 AM, FryDog62 said:Yes but figuring it out to win a dink fest is different than figuring out a lake's patterns to catch both quantity and quality are two different things --
I do agree with you, I'd much rather see bigger fish caught. The problem though is if they were to target bigger fish the show it might not be as popular. Like OCdockskipper said watching someone go an hour or more without a bite is pretty boring. I watch Bassmaster live from time to time and it can get boring and they're chasing after a hand full of big bites. Maybe for the elimination and championship rounds they could head to big bass lakes like Falcon, Fork, Okeechobee, Mille Lacs lakes.
RichF reply :
On 3/22/2017 at 8:25 AM, WRB said:Dink fest...Aaron Martens caught 88 lbs of bass in 6 hrs from one of those Grand Rapids MN lakes he had never even heard of before fishing it and very few were under 2 lbs.
Tom
That's like the only time that has ever happened in the MLF. He happened to stumble across a massive school of good fish. To me, that's not figuring anything out. That's pure luck. But, this is the kind of thing that could happen more often if there was some kind of new size restrictions imposed. It would force guys to do what Aaron did and we'd likely see more occurrences like his.
WRB reply :
Remember the MLF happens after the regular tournament series are completed and they try to find lakes that the tournament trails don't fish to even the field somewhat. Shaw Grigsby, Bobby Lane, Greg Hackney have all caught big bass during MLF contest when fishing Florida lakes in the fall when these event occur. MLF is a numbers game where 3 or 4 bass out weigh 1 larger bass, the anglers are always trying to find biger bass and that drama is what makes this interesting IMO. Live FLW and Elite events is like watching corn grow...boring unless edited into 1 hour.
Tom
On 3/22/2017 at 10:06 PM, RichF said:
That's like the only time that has ever happened in the MLF. He happened to stumble across a massive school of good fish. To me, that's not figuring anything out. That's pure luck. But, this is the kind of thing that could happen more often if there was some kind of new size restrictions imposed. It would force guys to do what Aaron did and we'd likely see more occurrences like his.
KVD did the same thing when he caught 86 lbs of smallies, you get lucky when you at the top of your game. These anglers are skilled at locating bass quickly, they can't control the time or weather. Aaron gave up on smallies during the final because it was cloud covered and targeted LMB in the reeds with a buzz bait, broke off a big bass that may have won it, he placed 2nd behind Ike. KVD blanked the 1st period trying to make smallies bite and never recovered.
Tom
Bass Turd reply :
I think it would make it very interesting if a bonus were awarded for larger bass. Double points over 5... hmmmm think of the possibilities...
Team9nine reply :
I like the format just the way it is. Still plenty of decent sized fish caught in most events along with a few big ones. They start making it more like every other event out there and I'll stop watching.
FryDog62 reply :
I still think a 15 inch limit wouldn't be so bad and again maybe a happy medium. Maybe instead of catching 100 fish total they catch 60. That's still filming of a fish caught every minute on an hour long show. Would hold my attention better anyway.
Personally, when I'm fishing with a bunch of guys and someone catches a 12 inch 14 ounce fish we're kind of embarrassed and slip it back into the water hopefully before anyone else notices ... and we're strictly amateurs at best...
RichF reply :
On 3/22/2017 at 10:08 PM, WRB said:These anglers are skilled at locating bass quickly
MLF does a good job making the audience think this but I just don't really see it. 99% of the events play out the same way. Each angler finds the most obvious shoreline structure and goes to work. To me, that's not locating bass quickly, it's just doing what the majority of bass anglers do. The only difference is, these guys are better than most at actually fishing. Some guys pick the right point first, the right pad field first, or the right set of docks first. Then they all rotate. I think Marty Stone and the anglers themselves do a great job of making it seem like their decisions are made by this in-depth, analytical thought when really, they're just doing what was stated above (99% of the time).
On 3/22/2017 at 11:31 PM, Team9nine said:They start making it more like every other event out there and I'll stop watching.
I wouldn't necessarily stop watching but I totally get where you're coming from. MLF is so good because it's so different from traditional tournaments. I think there could be some improvements but it's so popular right now, I don't see anything changing in a good while.
On 3/22/2017 at 11:58 PM, FryDog62 said:Personally, when I'm fishing with a bunch of guys and someone catches a 12 inch 14 ounce fish we're kind of embarrassed and slip it back into the water hopefully before anyone else notices ... and we're strictly amateurs at best...
Haha. I can relate. Maybe because I'm also from the great white north (way Upstate NY). I would like to see bigger fish caught (or attempted to be caught) on the show because that's what I relate more to. I fish for big ones every time I go out. I may only catch 10 - 15 a day but 7 - 10 of those will be over 2 and a quarter.
OCdockskipper reply :
On 3/22/2017 at 11:58 PM, FryDog62 said:Personally, when I'm fishing with a bunch of guys and someone catches a 12 inch 14 ounce fish we're kind of embarrassed and slip it back into the water hopefully before anyone else notices...
Apparently Ike isn't part of your fishing group...
FryDog62 reply :
On 3/23/2017 at 12:43 AM, OCdockskipper said:
Apparently Ike isn't part of your fishing group...
No, but we do have one 'screamer' in the group. If he weren't a relative of one of the guys he'd probably get voted off the island 
WRB reply :
If you gave me a detailed lake map the first thing I do is locate high potential structure areas that should hold baitfish and bass because that is one of my skill sets. 90% of bass anglers always fish shore cover becuase that is where a higher % of number of bass live in most lakes. I only fish shore cover if forced to do that, usually during the spawn, because larger size adult bass spend more time in deeper structure. The last 5 years more bass anglers have become aware of deeper structure bass fishing. The MLF format awards total weight is the goal and 5 bass out weigh 2 bass a high percentage of the events, numbers dominate the total weight. If I was to fish a MLF event my target size bass would be 2 to 3 lbs, the size most tournament bass anglers fish for, something I rarely do.
If anyone thinks the elite professional bass anglers don't know how to quickly locate bass they are kidding themselves, these guys make a living catching fish.
Tom
Team9nine reply :
On 3/22/2017 at 11:58 PM, FryDog62 said:
Personally, when I'm fishing with a bunch of guys and someone catches a 12 inch 14 ounce fish we're kind of embarrassed and slip it back into the water hopefully before anyone else notices ... and we're strictly amateurs at best...
No offense meant, but it's a sad reflection on the sport, and the current media/tournament mentality when you feel embarrassed by catching a bass. They can't get big by not being small, first. I love catching them all, big or small ?
-T9
RichF reply :
I don't see how your hypothetical approach to fishing an MLF event addresses the point. I'm not saying the Elite guys can't find fish. But to say they are so skilled at finding them quickly based off MLF events isn't accurate. They are simply looking for and fishing the most obvious stuff. That's not finding bass quickly, that's just fishing for bass in spots most anglers would deem high percentage spots (and would also likely fish).
And I definitely disagree that the highest % of bass live around shoreline cover in most lakes. It may seem that way because those are the easiest fish to actually target, so 90% of anglers do just that.
WRB reply :
In natural lakes the majority of prey is shore oriented called dermasel, where in man made reserviors that have both dermasel and pelagic fish outside deep structure can have a good population of prey and bass. Perch and crappie can be pelagic and natural lakes with those fish prey can also have decent number of bass off shore. Obviously the Great Lakes and large natural have both pelagic and dermasel prey fish.
I have been bass fishing for over 60 years and know first hand 90% of bass anglers fish the bank areas, it was close to 99% a few years ago. Having bass fished all over the country it doesn't take me long to locate bass anywhere, if I can do this so can any pro. Finding active feeding bass takes time on water you never been on unless your timing is right.
Tom
RichF reply :
While I only have a third of your bass fishing experience, I too know that 90% of bass anglers target the banks, that's why I agreed with you. I guess it just comes down to a matter of interpretation. If I went to any lake and immediately went straight to the obvious shoreline structure and caught some bass, does this mean I am highly skilled at finding bass quickly? I would say no, but if that's all it takes...shoot, I'll take the compliment!
Turkey sandwich reply :
.02
I like the format a lot. It's a dramatic change from the 5 fish limit structure and it forces anglers to fish differently in places where they may have little to no familiarity.
As as for figuring out fish and finds patterns... Most tournaments encourage pre-fishing, scouting, etc.. With more information available, a skilled angler is going to have a much easier time putting together effective patterns and targeting larger fish. When dumped at a lake with a boat and topo map and virtually no notice, that's a much different story. It forces the angler to come up with a few game plans on the fly. Sometimes that means the most efficient plan is beating exposed cover and obvious structure. Now, if guys are still able to pull 40+lbs of fish from the obvious suff most guys hit - that's a pretty impressive achievement! Guys on here complain about water being beat fishing from the back of the boat or during recreational boating seasons. These guys are doing it under the gun. That, to me, is impressive. It also shows that sometimes the most effective strategy is the obvious and that paying attention to details like wind, birds, cloud cover, etc can make or break a day, especially when you can't rely on finding pelagic fish offshore.
As for Ike... I am nothing like him on the water and the style isn't me, but... I'm a huge fan. He's one of the best on the water and he brings an energy to bass fishing that's huge. For those of us who are already deep in the sport, we may get drawn to quieter guys, but for someone looking from the outside in, this isn't the most exciting sport. Ike brings that. He brings outside attention and notoriety to fishing and the outdoors and that, to me, is huge. A kid watching a tournament isn't going to get pumped watching Denny Brauer stroke a jig. That same kid is going to be pumped watching Ike dance, scream, hug people, and do back flips after winning a tournament.
12poundbass reply :
On 3/23/2017 at 2:47 AM, Turkey sandwich said:.02
I like the format a lot. It's a dramatic change from the 5 fish limit structure and it forces anglers to fish differently in places where they may have little to no familiarity.
As as for figuring out fish and finds patterns... Most tournaments encourage pre-fishing, scouting, etc.. With more information available, a skilled angler is going to have a much easier time putting together effective patterns and targeting larger fish. When dumped at a lake with a boat and topo map and virtually no notice, that's a much different story. It forces the angler to come up with a few game plans on the fly. Sometimes that means the most efficient plan is beating exposed cover and obvious structure. Now, if guys are still able to pull 40+lbs of fish from the obvious suff most guys hit - that's a pretty impressive achievement! Guys on here complain about water being beat fishing from the back of the boat or during recreational boating seasons. These guys are doing it under the gun. That, to me, is impressive. It also shows that sometimes the most effective strategy is the obvious and that paying attention to details like wind, birds, cloud cover, etc can make or break a day, especially when you can't rely on finding pelagic fish offshore.
As for Ike... I am nothing like him on the water and the style isn't me, but... I'm a huge fan. He's one of the best on the water and he brings an energy to bass fishing that's huge. For those of us who are already deep in the sport, we may get drawn to quieter guys, but for someone looking from the outside in, this isn't the most exciting sport. Ike brings that. He brings outside attention and notoriety to fishing and the outdoors and that, to me, is huge. A kid watching a tournament isn't going to get pumped watching Denny Brauer stroke a jig. That same kid is going to be pumped watching Ike dance, scream, hug people, and do back flips after winning a tournament.
You're spot on with Ike! Love him or hate him he can fish and he's extremely smart! He has a degree in marketing and after reading his book you get an inside look at who he really is. He's absolutely passionate about fishing there's no question about that. Part of his "allergic reaction" to catching a fish as Zona likes to call it is from his passion for fishing the other part is pure marketing. In the cut throat business that pro bass fishing is you not only have to win but you have to stand out. He already has the resume he the only angler to ever win the Bass Nation title, Classic title, and AOY plus his other wins. Take those away we'd still know who he is. Look at Gerald Swindle, he's won 2 AOY's which is a big feat but he's never won an elite event. I think his biggest win is an Open. Don't get me wrong the guy can fish and he's one of my favorites on tour, but how long was it in between his AOY titles? Yet he's remains a household name and one of the highest paid anglers as far as sponsorship goes for a decade or more despite zero elite wins. Why? Because he's loud vocally and clothing wise, and we all tune in to see what's going to come out of his mouth at the weigh in. I personally wouldn't do what Mike does but you have to respect his out of the box thinking. It's paid his bills when tournaments haven't.
OCdockskipper reply :
On 3/23/2017 at 2:08 AM, RichF said:... If I went to any lake and immediately went straight to the obvious shoreline structure and caught some bass, does this mean I am highly skilled at finding bass quickly?...
I would say that makes you skilled (maybe not highly skilled). I say that because we have all seen novices fish obvious structure & cover and catch nothing or next to nothing. Their lack of skill prevented them from "finding" the bass that were there.
I think we sometimes take for granted how much knowledge & skill we aquire over the years. To paraphrase the line from "Caddyshack", you may consider yourself no slouch, but don't sell yourself short - you are a tremendous slouch .
WRB reply :
I will add read the MLF finals thread on this page, positive feedback.
MLF has limited the size of area on larger lakes the contestants can fish and in this MN series the lakes were small so they could fish the entire lakes and the lakes were isolated from heavy bass fishing pressure making obvious areas still under fished verses high pressured lakes where obvious areas get pounded. The keys to these tournaments are locating active feeding bass under whatever conditions that prevail during 6 hours of fishing time.
Skilled tournament bass anglers face this at every event, stay or move when the bass stop biting, pro's tend to move to develop patterns.
Tom
RoLo reply :
When you're viewing a traditional Bassmaster tournament on TV, did you ever wonder why
the pro angler always makes bass-contact soon after the camera-boat arrives?
No problem, every camera boat is running all the time, but 99.5% of the tapes are scrapped.
Back in the 80s or 90s, Roland Martin came clean when he told the viewing audience
that the 30-minute fishing video you watch has probably taken months to televise (you can believe it).
Before MLF was in vogue, Chris & Bobby Lane had a one-on-one brotherly shootout
on lightly fished Lake Jackson, just east of Lake Kissimmee. WELL, two of the most feared sticks
in Florida produced a TV show that was no more exciting than watching grass grow.
In fact, it was beginning to look like a Double-Skunk, but a dink or two finally saved the day.
After all is said and done, that was real world fishing and there was no hero worship.
To be sure, the anglers competing in the MLF format must tune their game plan to numbers
rather than quality. That is plainly seen by their lack of locational management,
by electric motors that run constantly and in my opinion, randomly. There are no riflemen,
they are all shotgunners striving for maximal area coverage. I have fished Lake Istokpoga, FL
a great number of times, and I've never seen so many runt bass from those waters.
However, most of what we see in Major League Fishing is the stuff that would ordinarily be deleted,
real-world stuff. Best of all, the MLF format favors the leading characters...the bass.
Roger
WRB reply :
I am sure MLF does a lot of editing to fill 40 minutes of TV time, ads take the rest.
You hear the anglers talking about the short bass they catch and only see them if a penalty for miss handling dinks occurs.
Bobby Lane has a temper, broken a few rods in half, the stress is real!
Tom
EmersonFish reply :
I'm not saying MLF should change their format, because I know it's been very successful, and I know I'm in the minority, but I'm not really a huge fan. I'd love to see a tournament where they used the same catch/release, live scoring system, yet used a five fish limit. It would be just like a regular tournament except we would get a running bag total, and the other competitors would know what their opponents had. This would also make for the possibility of some pretty dramatic finishes, as someone who was trailing could catch a couple big ones and vault into the top (you know, like in an actual tournament except no one knows it just happened), whereas in the MLF format, half the guys are often totally out of it by the third period. You could even continue to use the 12 inch limit since you are releasing the fish. As for the potential for guys going an hour without catching a fish, that's why these shows are edited. And even if they were focusing on catching bigger fish and there was more time between catches, would that be the end of the world? Maybe we could actually watch a guy's fish catch from beginning to end and get an idea of what he was doing instead of just seeing guys land fish over and over again? And in my format, you'd have slightly larger field fishing lakes where you know they are likely to catch them.
There are probably guys on the outside looking in of MLF who would love to get involved and there is a market out there for this kind of programming, so I might just start this thing myself (What's to stop me beside a bunch of high priced lawyers?). I just need some significant financial backing and a team of people who know how to do stuff.
Luckily, with Bass Live and FLW Live, we get a taste of this, but we don't get to see it come to it's dramatic conclusion and it is not tightly packaged like MLF. Here's hoping that BASS and FLW are able to expand of their live coverage as money and technology allow.
12poundbass reply :
On 3/29/2017 at 11:27 PM, EmersonFish said:I'm not saying MLF should change their format, because I know it's been very successful, and I know I'm in the minority, but I'm not really a huge fan. I'd love to see a tournament where they used the same catch/release, live scoring system, yet used a five fish limit. It would be just like a regular tournament except we would get a running bag total, and the other competitors would know what their opponents had. This would also make for the possibility of some pretty dramatic finishes, as someone who was trailing could catch a couple big ones and vault into the top (you know, like in an actual tournament except no one knows it just happened), whereas in the MLF format, half the guys are often totally out of it by the third period. You could even continue to use the 12 inch limit since you are releasing the fish. As for the potential for guys going an hour without catching a fish, that's why these shows are edited. And even if they were focusing on catching bigger fish and there was more time between catches, would that be the end of the world? Maybe we could actually watch a guy's fish catch from beginning to end and get an idea of what he was doing instead of just seeing guys land fish over and over again? And in my format, you'd have slightly larger field fishing lakes where you know they are likely to catch them.
There are probably guys on the outside looking in of MLF who would love to get involved and there is a market out there for this kind of programming, so I might just start this thing myself (What's to stop me beside a bunch of high priced lawyers?). I just need some significant financial backing and a team of people who know how to do stuff.
Luckily, with Bass Live and FLW Live, we get a taste of this, but we don't get to see it come to it's dramatic conclusion and it is not tightly packaged like MLF. Here's hoping that BASS and FLW are able to expand of their live coverage as money and technology allow.
Everything you just explained is the MLF to a tee with the exception of a 5 fish limit. If you are given a five fish limit there's the potential for the leader board to sit idle for quite some time. With the MLF that possibility isn't as great.
I agree there are times where someone gets out in from and you know by the end of the first period who's most likely going to win. Then like the final Edwin Evers was way behind I think well into the third period and made one hell of a final push to make it interesting. Some days it'll be a blow out others it'll be a nail biter...that's fishing for ya!
wdp reply :
On 3/23/2017 at 1:36 AM, Team9nine said:
No offense meant, but it's a sad reflection on the sport, and the current media/tournament mentality when you feel embarrassed by catching a bass. They can't get big by not being small, first. I love catching them all, big or small ?
-T9
I agree. I still thoroughly enjoy days where we go to a lake that's all about catching numbers. Still fun to tie a mini rattle trap on an ultra light & try to catch 40 dinks in 2 hours. ?
EmersonFish reply :
On 3/30/2017 at 1:04 AM, 12poundbass said:Everything you just explained is the MLF to a tee with the exception of a 5 fish limit. If you are given a five fish limit there's the potential for the leader board to sit idle for quite some time. With the MLF that possibility isn't as great.
I agree there are times where someone gets out in from and you know by the end of the first period who's most likely going to win. Then like the final Edwin Evers was way behind I think well into the third period and made one hell of a final push to make it interesting. Some days it'll be a blow out others it'll be a nail biter...that's fishing for ya!
That's why I said something to the effect of use same system, yet use the 5 fish limit, which is a significant difference. I'm glad people are so passionate about MLF. It's good for the sport. I just believe there is room for an alternative. And as for the leader board sitting idle; the 5 fish system will not compete with guys catching similar fish over and over, but a full day of fishing edited down to a 1 or 2 hour show will generally keep people interested, unless they just generally dislike fishing in the first place.
Again, based on the reaction I get when this topic comes up, I accept that I am in the minority, and will be happy to support MLF as it is. It is certainly better programming than 99% of anything else on TV.
hoosierbass07 reply :
I know when MLF is on TV - every Saturday (and Fridays and Sundays) once the new year starts (January 1st) on the Outdoor Channel. I have no idea when the Bassmaster shows will be shown on ESPN2 because they are months after the Bassmaster events. In the time I've watched MLF, I've gotten to know the fishermen and their personalities (or TV personalities they put on). I don't get that when watching the Bassmaster shows. I give MLF credit - they push the individual competitor personalities.
And I've said this before - I catch a lot of dinks. So to see them catch dinks like me - I like that! It's fun to watch who gets crushed in the MLF competitions. lol.
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