Major League Fishing

[Ketchup]

For the tourney anglers out there, does the MLF format interest you? If so, which of the following would be more stressfUl?

No Practice, Realtime Scoring, or the Penalties when a fish hits the deck?

I love the format, and the quality of anglers that fish it. With the added difficulty of having a judge in every boat, is there a chance other clubs will change to this format in the future? Looking at it from a fish health aspect, its a great way to go, and really reduces the stress and overall negative affects on the fish.

In our home, we watch it as a family. The 4 of us pick an angler at the beginning of the show, and its almost as good as watching the Superbowl seeing the kids get into it.

[Al Agnew]

I wish all the big tournament organizations would go to that format, other than the ban on practice. In my opinion it's more exciting to watch when you know how all the top anglers are doing compared to each other, and it's certainly better for the resource. And when you can count EVERY legal fish you catch, instead of culling the best five or whatever, it's a truer test of how good the angler is. I've fished tournaments in the past where I caught 20 or 30 legal bass during the day, but got beat by somebody who only caught four or five but happened to luck into one that was big enough to give them a better total weight. I always figured I was the better angler that day.

But I don't expect it to happen with BASS, etc. They have too much invested in their present format.

If I ever fished such a tournament, the lack of practice would be the most stressful thing. It's hard to put together a game plan for a strange lake when you don't have any kind of real clue to what the fish are doing before you start out.

[Ketchup]

I agree Al, but doesnt the lack of prefishing add to the idea of who has the goods?

[Gavin]

Think they still weigh fish after tossing them on a bump board. Figure a measurement is enough, but measure, weigh,and release is better than bouncing fish around in a live well all day long.

[Quillback]

I like the format, and I like watching the show.

I think that the way they fish in MLF is pretty close to the way we "fun" fisherman fish. We're out there to catch fish and have fun and really aren't focused on the best five.

That being said, I also like to watch the traditional tournaments, especially the live coverage that BASS has added.

[Blll]

I love the MLF format too, but it is made for tv. Regular tourneys rely on the "weigh-in" to attract crowds including a glib pitchman for the MC, and an element of suspense building to the winner. Way more hype than I need but would an FLW tourney on day 1 with 150+ boats be able to supply a judge for each boat? Real time scoreboard would be a nightmare to monitor. MLF much better for the fish but may never happen. Will Aaron Martins ever win one?

[moguy1973]

A buddy and I did this a couple years ago, but it was across the whole fishing season March 1-Oct 31. We would weigh any fish over 12" and record them and add them all up to see who had the most weight. Of course the one who won was the one that was able to go fishing the most, but it was still fun to see how much weight we could catch over a season.

[5bites]

I like the MLF format but I think FLW and BASS should stay 5 bass limit. The multi day event eliminates the lucky big fish scenario. I'm glad MLF does it the way they do for a change. It'll never be what BASS is though. At this point it's more of a novelty but I enjoy it.

The weight tracker thing is cool. The only real concern I have with it is more people hole sharing, uninvited lol. If you know what one guy is doing you could run in on his spot or another spot you know he would fish during the day rather than sticking with your own pattern.

I'm more concerned with how they get the show to the viewer. Today on grand with Edwin Evers for example was really cool.

[5bites]

A buddy and I did this a couple years ago, but it was across the whole fishing season March 1-Oct 31. We would weigh any fish over 12" and record them and add them all up to see who had the most weight. Of course the one who won was the one that was able to go fishing the most, but it was still fun to see how much weight we could catch over a season.

That's a pretty cool idea

[Gavin]

Did one a few years ago. Catch, photo, release. Just had to snap a pic on a bump board with that months identifier in the pic. Standings based on biggest fish that month. Could be easily done with a daily identifier and total length format for a bigger event.