Major League Fishing's new Pro Tour

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The new circuit will not employ a land-based weigh-in. Instead, the emphasis will shift away from the heaviest five-bass limit an angler can catch during a given day to the cumulative weight of all legal-sized bass caught, a hallmark of MLF competition.

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The new circuit will not employ a land-based weigh-in. Instead, the emphasis will shift away from the heaviest five-bass limit an angler can catch during a given day to the cumulative weight of all legal-sized bass caught, a hallmark of MLF competition.

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I'm not sure how I feel about that part. Certainly fun watching them catch a lot of fish but it changes the strategy going from fishing for big bites to any bite. Both are entertaining I just don't want to see the former die out.

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I'm not sure how I feel about that part.

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It makes for such better TV which is all I care about.

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It makes for such better TV which is all I care about.

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That’s the part I’m on the fence about. It makes for better live TV, but even with a 5 limit over the course of several days there’s more catch footage than they can edit. FLW still does a 5 fish format and they are entertaining. Those big bites that can change the whole board are what make it interesting for me.

BASS is behind the times with media. Glad they’re feeling the heat in that regard. Really wish they would all offer fully produced tournament episodes on YouTube like FLW does. There’s no reason any of them should be limiting exposure to the sport being exclusive with this or that network.

I’d love to see Swindel on MLF. Surprised he was one of the original guys in there

Different but I like it. Will it be the same with unknown water and no practice. That’s more realistic to the challenges a normal guys faces fishing once or twice a week. Big fish will still be at a premium for the guys that can get on em quick. Hackney won with 10 for 30, that’s a jam up average for going in cold

Here's the format for the MLF Bass Pro Tour.

[quote]Each BPT tournament will be structured as follows: > Following two days of practice, the 80-angler field will be split into two groups of 40.

Group A will compete on days 1 and 3 with Group B competing on days 2 and 4. >

The top 20 anglers from each group (based on cumulative two-day weight) will advance to the Sudden Death Round on day 5.

> Weights will be zeroed and the first 10 anglers to reach a pre-determined cut weight that day will advance to the Championship Round. If 10 anglers do not reach the cut weight prior to the end of the competition, the top 10 anglers when the buzzer sounds will move on.

> The weights will be zeroed again for the final day and the winner will be determined by highest weight that day. Not only is the six-day BPT format, a stark contrast to the traditional four-day, cumulative weight format used in Elite Series and FLW Tour events, the payouts set it apart as well.

Here’s what the top 10 finishers stand to earn at each BPT:
1. $100,000
2. $70,000
3. $50,000
4. $40,000
5. $30,000
6. $28,000
7. $26,000
8. $24,000
9. $22,000
10. $20,000
11-40. $10,000 ea.

At BPT events, anglers will compete out of their own boats and jerseys. A uniformed official, who will have gone through in-person and online training regarding the MLF format and rules, will be in each boat with provided scales and a cellular-enabled tablet for scoring. MLF penalties (fish handling miscues, encroachment, break offs, etc.) will only be assessed on the final day of BPT tournaments. A cumulative points tally will be kept across all BPT events and the top 30 at season’s end will qualify for the BPT Championship, a five-day event where all anglers will compete on day 1 before being split up into three groups of 10 with each group competing separately over the next three days. The championship round will feature a nine- or 10-angler field (to be determined) and the champion will be determined based on the heaviest weight caught that day. Read more: LINK ]

I like the format of not knowing where they will fish makes MLF fun.
The first Bass event they put the guys on the plane and flew them to a location the participants did not get to practice on.

The other thing I like is it goes by total weight.
Watched one show where one guy scored a lot of points on small bass. All of a sudden Hackney flipped for a few hog bass that put him in the lead. Then another guy game close mixing volume of small bass and a few hogs together.

One show KVD just blew everyone out of the water by volume. He has that event won in the first round.

BASS, has great shows when you go to the classic. Free for the family and they try to have a lot of events for the kids. I also like seeing latest and greatest tackle, boats, etc.

MLF, has a great show that keeps your attention.

Biggest nugget from all of this is. All PFT tourneys will be basically spawn timed all around the country. Done by June .. All shallow water power fishing for the most part. The old guard who’s running the show at MLF fit that category to a T. Check out who’s winning the Elites summmer events. All young guns using the electronics to “ video game” drop shots and Ned rigs . The invitees will have a tougher decision now that B.A.S.S. has countered . BASS just cancelled their recently announced tournaments out west. The anglers spoke up about expenses and purse distribution costing half the field major bucks just to fish two days and bolt. Crazy days ahead for the bass fishing geeks like myself.

Outdoor Channel is a big money contributor to this new endeavor. It will continue to have exclusive rights to all content .