MLF on Dale Hollow 2024
Crestliner2008 reply :
This is the 4th. Select series of the MLF at Dale Hollow. Not sure if any of you saw it today. Nothing great. The top spot was a mere 13 pounds with the big fish at just over 4 lbs.. All were largemouths.
I'm wondering, why would anyone be fishing shallow for 1 - 2 lb. largemouths (majority were of this size group) on a lake considered to be the Smallmouth Bass Capital of the World!? No one fished deep with the drop shot (one guys fished down to 20' and picked up another 2 lb. LM). Most were flipping docks, cover and shallow points with frogs or buzzbaits. Amazing to me. What am I missing?
Tim Kelly reply :
It takes time to find bass deep. That's the drawback of the MLF format. The percentage most of the time is to fish shallow visible cover.
MFBAB reply :
I agree. Dale Hollow in summer with no practice would be tough sledding. If they had some practice days they would all scan every inch of structure and the deep bite would probably play pretty strong.
It's a clear highland reservoir, they are deep and not really too active most of the day. Night or even super early in the morning might be a little different story, but during normal tourney hours they've got it tough.
I think most of them have just been targeting max shade (Marinas and backs of creeks), bream beds, a couple of guys have found a few on structure but nothing to brag about.
The thing about a clear lake like Dale, I think even that shallow bite takes a little time to refine-you're not going to just go crush them on a lot of moving baits that allow you to cover water in that clarity-not in the summer at least, you have to slow down and downsize a little and that is a huge killer in a 1 day no practice tourney!!
There have been 4 heats so far (6 guys per round), and each one has played out pretty much the same way so far. I'm pretty sure each round has been won shallow to this point, right?
Team9nine reply :
On 1/25/2016 at 12:13 AM, Crestliner2008 said:This is the 4th. Select series of the MLF at Dale Hollow. Not sure if any of you saw it today. Nothing great. The top spot was a mere 13 pounds with the big fish at just over 4 lbs.. All were largemouths.
I'm wondering, why would anyone be fishing shallow for 1 - 2 lb. largemouths (majority were of this size group) on a lake considered to be the Smallmouth Bass Capital of the World!? No one fished deep with the drop shot (one guys fished down to 20' and picked up another 2 lb. LM). Most were flipping docks, cover and shallow points with frogs or buzzbaits. Amazing to me. What am I missing?
Several key points to keep in mind.
- Technically, none of the guys knew exactly where they were going until the night before they went. They are all huddled down to meet at a location, but then where they actually fish is at the discretion of the tourney directors. Any lake within a reasonable drive is fair game.
- They chose to fish Dale Hollow at a particularly tough time of the year for a highland event where smallmouth might be involved.
- They are not allowed to practice or pre-fish, and it is against the rules to solicit information from anybody, including other competitors to try and get an advantage. They can and are polygraphed in this regard. The only "practice" they get is the 15 minute "drive around" right before the start of competition that morning. Nobody has any waypoints stored in their unit. No one has spent 3 days of practice idling around with side imaging marking schools. They are going in as "cold" as they can possibly make it.
- In the case of Dale Hollow, competitors were broken up and then sent to fish different sections of the lake. In other words, they were restricted to where they could fish. Wheeler mentioned this in his Q&A after he won the 3rd Select event. They were launched and restricted to fishing a section of Dale Hollow well upriver which he stated wasn't conducive to catching or preferentially targeting smallmouth. Others were likely in better smallmouth waters during other days of competition. But the trade-off is that given no time to pre-fish and being against the rules to gather information (even looking at your hi-def map chips, I believe), it is a huge gamble to blindly start idling around and trying to find something deep when most guys are going to go straight to the visible stuff to try and start picking off fish. Since anything over 12" counts, a bank beater can get you down in a hurry. In hindsight to how tough the fishing was, I'm guessing some of the guys wish they would have taken the gamble, but that is not an easy decision to make when it has to be decided in the 15 minutes before take-off after looking around. The guys are even restricted from finding out who won and how much weight it took in any of the previous days event (s).
This format is about as fair as you can get in a modern day professional event. You should enjoy watching them struggle from time to time. When a pro can't get help or insight in any way before an event, and they aren't there fishing during a time of year when a major shallow water slugfest was going down because of planning by the event coordinator, and they didn't have several days of practice going in, they end up winging it to a large degree just like us regular folks 
Kind of refreshing to see IMO. With a couple tweaks, this could/should be the future of professional bass fishing.
-T9
MFBAB reply :
I really like this format. I think it's pretty tough for anyone to fake it under these circumstances. I also like the fact that they try to show the fish a little respect, no contact with the boat (no slinging them) and no throwing them back in the water either. The fish handling on BASS is pretty horrible. At least most of the FLW fish are netted, not slung, but they could both do with some adjustments like what MLF is doing. It sets a bad example IMO. Having said that, I'm just a fun fisherman, I'm not against tourneys but I don't really love what tourneys do to fish either. I'd rather see a marshall and scale system implemented for all of the national stuff. It would help the coverage too, you would have real-time real weights as you watched it. That would be a HUGE improvement to me. Just look at how much more suspenseful MLF is than Bass or FLW, a lot of that is because you are seeing the actual fish weights in real time. You would lose the weigh-in, but this is a lot better format for TV.
Also, T9 I think you are right about the mapping stuff, I'm pretty sure Ike got a penalty one time for looking at the map b/w two periods, just during a break. I think they can only use the maps during actual fishing time.
teamnine, are you saying that this is actually all filmed on the same day but on different sections of the lake? I always just assumed that they were going on separate days, I never really thought about it.
ward131 reply :
I think they did great! A Smallmouth lake without time to find em...might as well go get small Largemouth. More then one said they will take 1 pounders all day
Team9nine reply :
On 1/25/2016 at 5:27 AM, MFBAB said:
teamnine, are you saying that this is actually all filmed on the same day but on different sections of the lake? I always just assumed that they were going on separate days, I never really thought about it.
No, you're right, one group of anglers per day over a period of 4 days. Separate filming and marshaling each day. Guys not fishing that day just sit around and hang out. They send each group of 6 to a different lake, or a different section of the lake so that no information by competitors on later days could be utilized to an advantage (against the rules anyway, but a nice practice/precaution regardless).
-T9
Dwight Hottle reply :
There was a 2lb-14oz smallie caught. It is surprising they didn't try deeper water.
Ohio Archer reply :
With limited time and the number/size restrictions on smallmouth, why wouldn't the competitors go for largemouth first? It would really suck to setup on a group of smallies that were in 16"-21" that you couldn't keep. Get a limit of 5 then go for the larger fish. Having size restrictions with a slot can make it a bit difficult with no prior practice or scouting.
Bluebasser86 reply :
On 1/25/2016 at 8:05 PM, Ohio Archer said:With limited time and the number/size restrictions on smallmouth, why wouldn't the competitors go for largemouth first? It would really suck to setup on a group of smallies that were in 16"-21" that you couldn't keep. Get a limit of 5 then go for the larger fish. Having size restrictions with a slot can make it a bit difficult with no prior practice or scouting.
They don't keep them in MLF, they weigh any bass over 12" regardless if it's a legal fish to keep or not, then it's released on the spot.
In stressful situations, people resort to something familiar or comfortable. Almost all of us learned to fish for bass in the shallows, beating the banks. It's easy to say that I would have targeted the deep smallmouth and feel I would have found them and and caught enough quality fish to make the cut, but when that clock is ticking away and I'm not getting bites, I'd be up there looking for those bankrunners with everyone else because at least I would feel like I knew what I was doing.
herbu reply :
This question is exactly why I like to watch the show. It's not to watch them catch fish. Rather, to hear them talk about their thought processes. They are all much better fishermen than I, and it's interesting to hear the different ways they analyze their strategy.
I've always thought it would be great to spend a day or days fishing w/ a pro on my lake. Not to watch them catch fish, but to understand their thinking about where, how and why. That's what this show does for me. Rather than challenge their thinking, I would try to learn from it.
Oregon Native reply :
Just found out I can get the MLF on my TV for very reasonable according to wife. I now have it and am looking forward to watching them all. Got a sample of a couple a few months ago and they were awesome.
stkbassn reply :
I think Shryock fished deep with his spinning gear quite a bit and didn't get bit until he went shallow. I can't remember the other guy who also fished deep on the bridge but he really didn't do much either. Just seems like it was a very off day at that lake for whatever reason and the other part is how much water they were limited to. No doubt not the most productive areas in the lake or at least not that day. It was kind of cool to see them struggle to be honest, makes me feel a lot better about my struggles ! LOL.
Bluebasser86 reply :
On 1/26/2016 at 11:06 PM, stkbassn said:I think Shryock fished deep with his spinning gear quite a bit and didn't get bit until he went shallow. I can't remember the other guy who also fished deep on the bridge but he really didn't do much either. Just seems like it was a very off day at that lake for whatever reason and the other part is how much water they were limited to. No doubt not the most productive areas in the lake or at least not that day. It was kind of cool to see them struggle to be honest, makes me feel a lot better about my struggles ! LOL.
Casey Scanlon squeaked into the last spot fishing deep and actually left the shallows even after he found the leaders fishing there. I think that was a good move because he wasn't going to beat them, barring a miracle, so he went back to what had sort of been working for him and it paid off. Scott Suggs is the only one that has fished deep and seemed to sort of be putting something together. He looked like he might have been able to catch Montgomery if he hadn't run out of time. That might be a big a big factor, there may not be enough of those shallow fish to make it through to the end if someone figures them out deep. That could especially be true with as many seem to be heading to the backs of those creeks. Those are small areas that probably have a limited amount of fish to give.
stkbassn reply :
On 1/26/2016 at 11:39 PM, Bluebasser86 said:Casey Scanlon squeaked into the last spot fishing deep and actually left the shallows even after he found the leaders fishing there. I think that was a good move because he wasn't going to beat them, barring a miracle, so he went back to what had sort of been working for him and it paid off. Scott Suggs is the only one that has fished deep and seemed to sort of be putting something together. He looked like he might have been able to catch Montgomery if he hadn't run out of time. That might be a big a big factor, there may not be enough of those shallow fish to make it through to the end if someone figures them out deep. That could especially be true with as many seem to be heading to the backs of those creeks. Those are small areas that probably have a limited amount of fish to give.
That's right. I forgot about Suggs. And Scanlon was the name I wasn't as familiar with and forgot. They both did catch some deep fish but it was slow for sure. With more time that could have been a winning pattern. I think everyone there had a shot being that Montgomery had a slim lead. It did appear that Montgomery was giving them something they liked because he definitely got the bites. I really like Suggs. I felt bad for Roumbanis but he was a good sport about it !
MFBAB reply :
In the first qualifier Pauliniak (sp) got into a deep school and wore them out on topwater of all things (brown and green fish). He got a big lead early, but almost got run down by a couple of guys fishing shallow and/or marinas. He did hold on though, and turned in the best weight of the 4 qualifiers so far - close to 30 lbs., but 2nd that day was mid 20's too (Brent Chapman), both by far the best weights of the tourney so far.
Bluebasser86 reply :
On 1/27/2016 at 2:06 AM, MFBAB said:In the first qualifier Pauliniak (sp) got into a deep school and wore them out on topwater of all things (brown and green fish). He got a big lead early, but almost got run down by a couple of guys fishing shallow and/or marinas. He did hold on though, and turned in the best weight of the 4 qualifiers so far - close to 30 lbs., but 2nd that day was mid 20's too (Brent Chapman), both by far the best weights of the tourney so far.
Brent lives on a clear lake that is loaded with docks (Lake Quivira,KS), so I wasn't real surprised to see him fishing the docks. I was surprised that he has been the only one so far that has been able (or stuck with it long enough), to power fish and catch fish off those docks. Maybe they were just in a feeding mode that day, or maybe he really figured something out. If BP hadn't hit that school early, it would have been a much different outcome I believe.
Fishes in trees reply :
Next time you post a topic to your post, spell it out - please. Let me explain. The title to your post was MLF on Dale Hollow. I read it as MILF on Dale Hollow. Not the same thing. I was all at once disappointed about the content of the posts and deeply shamed when I realized what I expected the content to be about. My mind is in a gutter. I just got home from work. I'm going to get another beer now.
Ohio Archer reply :
^^^ Something smells fishy about your post...
buzzed bait reply :
i watched 3 of them so far and enjoyed them all, i love watching them struggle...
i laughed until i cried the other night while watching the one with Andy Montgomery... i think it was around the end of the first period when he says "boys i think it would be just as easy for me to get pregnant right now as to catch a bass"
i about lost it
FrogFreak reply :
MLF is the future of bass fishing on TV. I love watching how the guys figure out how to catch them. I think I would have went shallow as well, finding them deep takes time, something they really don't have. Much like most of us fun fisherman on a weekend, time is a precious commodity.
Just a side note, if you like multi-species fishing shows, check out 39 hours on YouTube. It's a hoot!!
WRB reply :
Haven't watched the 4 round, will later today.
What I noticed during the first round was a good bite on outside major points,the problem is the contestants were not allowed to fish outside of the creek arm, restricting that bite.
The main lake outside structure zones is exactly where you would expect a mid summer deep structured bite to occur. When the anglers get to fish main lake areas, the deep bite should prevail. The Dale Hollow bass may be feeding at night in mid summer.
Tom
herbu reply :
On 1/26/2016 at 9:53 PM, Oregon Native said:Just found out I can get the MLF on my TV for very reasonable according to wife.
Be afraid... be very afraid! "Very reasonable" may not mean the same thing to your wife as it means to you. She may think "very reasonable" is a kitchen remodel, new paint, new carpet, and having her mother come live with you. Suggest you get some specifics quickly.
Paul Roberts reply :
I like the MLF format. Intuitive, intimate, and fun to watch. The immediate release and mindful fish-handling regulations set a great precedent as well -one most of us non-tournament anglers apply already.
Oregon Native reply :
On 1/29/2016 at 10:35 PM, herbu said:Be afraid... be very afraid! "Very reasonable" may not mean the same thing to your wife as it means to you. She may think "very reasonable" is a kitchen remodel, new paint, new carpet, and having her mother come live with you. Suggest you get some specifics quickly.
Thanks.....after 43 years its all good.
Tight Lines
chadmack282 reply :
Where are u watching MLF?
XzyluM reply :
On 1/31/2016 at 9:07 AM, chadmack282 said:Where are u watching MLF?
The Outdoor Channel.
drew4779 reply :
Be aware that dale hollow, despite having record size smallies, can be a very difficult lake to fish for most of the year. My old man has a buddy who lives on the lake and he says it's nothing like the great lakes where i've literally exhausted myself due the amount of fish i bring in. I know 2 guides on dale hollow that consider 6 good smallmouth a good day. In that format, I feel targeting shallows for largemouth isn't necessarily a bad plan. Not saying some haven't figured this lake out, but it's kinda cool to see the pros struggle initially like many others I know on dale hollow.
toni63 reply :
Do they get paid to show up? I wonder how enthusiastic the competitors are about this format when all the stuff that makes the best the best is taken away. Maybe this is really interesting because its new and different, but I can see guys dropping out in later events when they find out that most of their choices are not their choices at all, but down to the discretion of the tournament director.
Like which part of the lake you get to fish versus what parts someone else gets to go to, etc.
I've just found, when being a competition director in other sports, that when you start dictating that kind of stuff, guys will always say it was those restrictions that cost them the win, not their own ability. And since they feel like the outcome is not within their control, they will choose to go compete somewhere else.
Hence my comment, do they get paid to show up? Because under this format, I think MLF is going to have to make it worth everyone's time to compete regardless if they win or place last.
Team9nine reply :
On 2/2/2016 at 12:00 AM, toni63 said:Do they get paid to show up? I wonder how enthusiastic the competitors are about this format when all the stuff that makes the best the best is taken away. Maybe this is really interesting because its new and different, but I can see guys dropping out in later events when they find out that most of their choices are not their choices at all, but down to the discretion of the tournament director.
Hence my comment, do they get paid to show up? Because under this format, I think MLF is going to have to make it worth everyone's time to compete regardless if they win or place last.
Actually, just the opposite. As I understand it, MLF is co-owned by the 24 elite anglers who founded it, along with the Outdoor Channel. It is a "made for television" tournament show. The anglers are all basically part owners in the final product, as is the cable TV company (Outdoor Channel). Basically a 50/50 split, I believe. No entry fees and no tournament winning payouts. Instead, it is some form of a revenue sharing arrangement with the Outdoor Channel. Consider them all stockholders if you will. Each of the 24 put up their own money to help initially fund and create the venture. As such, no one is ever "eliminated" unless they choose to sell out their ownership stake in the company.
The newest anglers (MLF Select) is their first attempt at bringing in some "new blood" to the group and slowly expanding. These guys were by invite only, and all had to pay a "buy-in" fee to accept the invite.
-T9
toni63 reply :
Interesting. Kind of confirms what i figured though, they get paid whether they win or lose. Can't see them competing with these restrictions without a check.
Steveo-1969 reply :
On 2/2/2016 at 1:19 AM, Team9nine said:Actually, just the opposite. As I understand it, MLF is co-owned by the 24 elite anglers who founded it, along with the Outdoor Channel. It is a "made for television" tournament show. The anglers are all basically part owners in the final product, as is the cable TV company (Outdoor Channel). Basically a 50/50 split, I believe. No entry fees and no tournament winning payouts. Instead, it is some form of a revenue sharing arrangement with the Outdoor Channel. Consider them all stockholders if you will. Each of the 24 put up their own money to help initially fund and create the venture. As such, no one is ever "eliminated" unless they choose to sell out their ownership stake in the company.
The newest anglers (MLF Select) is their first attempt at bringing in some "new blood" to the group and slowly expanding. These guys were by invite only, and all had to pay a "buy-in" fee to accept the invite.
-T9
Thanks T9, that explains a lot. I could never understand why the original 24 anglers were automatically in the Cup but the Select anglers had to qualify for it. So what's the buy-in for the Select anglers? Do they share the revenue if they win in the Selects and qualify for the Cup?
gulfcaptain reply :
On 2/2/2016 at 3:12 AM, Steveo-1969 said:Thanks T9, that explains a lot. I could never understand why the original 24 anglers were automatically in the Cup but the Select anglers had to qualify for it. So what's the buy-in for the Select anglers? Do they share the revenue if they win in the Selects and qualify for the Cup?
Sucks for Randy Howell and Brent Chapman, both were in the original group of anglers back in 2012. Guess they decided to bail out after the first season but now want back in after the success of the series.
Team9nine reply :
On 2/2/2016 at 3:12 AM, Steveo-1969 said:Thanks T9, that explains a lot. I could never understand why the original 24 anglers were automatically in the Cup but the Select anglers had to qualify for it. So what's the buy-in for the Select anglers? Do they share the revenue if they win in the Selects and qualify for the Cup?
I'm not certain how "confidential" they make the buy in amount, so let's just say it is a 5 figure amount for each angler to fish the Selects for a year (min. 2 events).
Select winners do get a paycheck if they win an event, but I honestly don't know how much.
-T9
Steveo-1969 reply :
On 2/2/2016 at 10:42 PM, Team9nine said:I'm not certain how "confidential" they make the buy in amount, so let's just say it is a 5 figure amount for each angler to fish the Selects for a year (min. 2 events).
Select winners do get a paycheck if they win an event, but I honestly don't know how much.
-T9
Thanks T9!
RichF reply :
MLF is a neat idea and pretty entertaining. I can't get over a few things though... The real time catch update is a terrible idea. It just promotes spot stealing by guys who don't find fish. The cumulative weight deal is kinda lame too. What does catching 20, 1 pounders prove? Any one of those guys can stumble across a school of 12 inchers, catch a bunch, win, and it would be blind luck not skill. This "even playing field" format (no prior info, no practice, etc.) is such a great idea because the viewers could actually see who has the most skill at actually catching bass. Unfortunately, counting every 12 incher doesn't reflect that in my eyes. Just count the five biggest like any other tournament and only let the anglers know what place they're in, not who catches what, and MLF would be exponentially better.
Bluebasser86 reply :
It's all part of the strategy. Just because you know a guy is catching fish at a spot doesn't mean you can run over and catch them too. How many times have you been in the same boat with someone and one of you was catching fish while the other wasn't? Knowing someone else is catching them is fun to watch how each competitor handles it and it's funny to listen to them thinking out loud. Since they know each other and know their strengths, they often feel like they know how the other guy is catching fish, and they're wrong a lot. You can tell it really gets to some of the guys.
I really like the cumulative weight thing too. Again, it's another decision they have to make. A lot of numbers baits don't account for many bigger fish and vice versa. So they have to make the decision to target lots of fish, or better quality. A guy could spend the whole tournament catching those 20 1 pound fish, just to have a guy that spent the whole time fishing a big jig get on a good spot, catch 3 5 pounders and a 5lb 1oz fish and get beat. I've seen both strategies work but normally it's the guys catching the better quality that end up winning the thing.
As for catching a 12" bass not taking any skill, ask Fred Roumbanis how he feels about that sentiment after only catching 1 bass over that mark in 3 periods of fishing. There's been plenty of times when guys struggled to catch any bass at all.
Overall, I really enjoy it and I think the catch and immediate release and emphasis on fish care is an excellent idea.
gardnerjigman reply :
I love the style and with is was more realistic to do in jackpot tournaments.
RichF reply :
I completely agree that its entertaining and fun to see how the anglers react when they hear so and so is catching them. However, I think you would still see guys react the same way if they were told they are in 4th place with xxlbs and the 3rd place competitor has xxlbs (without mentioning names). I think that would eliminate the temptation of wanting to run over to the same area the guy in 1st is fishing.
As far as the skill thing goes...I just like seeing guys with better fishing skills do better in competition. I think it's awesome to see a guy like Andy Montgomery, who is insanely talented at skipping a jig (a very advanced technique in my opinion), do his thing and win. It's not exciting (for me) to see a guy throwing a senko along the shore, cast a spinnerbait in open water, or drop shot straight down in front of his boat and catch a bass (big or small). There aren't many anglers that can do what Andy does with that jig. That's plain skill and that's what I'd like to see more of from MLF.
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