my prediction is this format isn't gonna be successful.....big difference between this and MLF is that MLF is able to edit all the boring "no fish" parts and condense the days action for 6 guys into a 2 hour segment...
unless they are catching fish pretty regular,watching somebody fish is boring to me....and.....not many people are able or willing to watch people fish all day especially during the week.....

I love watching the Elites fish. There is a huge difference in skill level between me and any of those guys, so its great for me to see them struggle.. Seriously, its a great learning experience for me to watch guys fish using techniques that I have never used, and also to use techniques that I do use in a different way than I would ever do it. The format really doesn't matter so much to me as a viewer.. I do like that they weigh and release the fish right after the catch.. I think that is better for the fishery than taking the fish in to be weighed and released in a different place than where they were caught.. just my opinion. Weigh Ins are good theater, but catch and release is better. Probably a pretty big technical challenge for 103 boats, but I would like to see BASS go to that.

The Classic berth would be more important by having this tournament earlier in the tournament year. It would also protect the integrity of the tournament.
I say this knowing there are a lot of favors & help happening late in the tournament year by anglers that have their Classic spot locked up.

This particular tournament has just been hurt by poor catching.

It needs a lot of work.

How about you do something like this at the end of the year for the first 8 guys out of the classic cut off to compete for the last spot?

Terrible venue. Every angler drop shotting barge tie ups does not make a good transition to TV..

And keeping those guys up there for 5 days to fish for $10k!? Not exactly a high stakes purse....

Most of the guys there could skip the last two events and still get a classic bid, so I don't blame Jacob for wanting to go home.

As a fan I am not real crazy about how Kreiger advanced. I think Brandon nailed some great points as well.

Not a fan of how the field was selected. There is a Classic berth in the line, but Swindle (leading AOY which shows continued success over 1 tournament) isn't fishing and Keith Combs (#2 AOY) gets the 6 seed. Under this format it is completely possible for a guy to fish 2 tournaments well all season and get into the Classic. Also, if I was Morizo or G I'd be more than a little miffed at how J Pow played his cards.

I like the idea of it. Random(sorta) tourney based off of finishes from previous event.

Now that being said it SUCKS for Morizo Shimizu who finished 4oz back of 8th place and is 74th in the overall standings and has to sit and watch someone NOT fish just to help a friend! I would have thought once BASS caught wind of this happening they would have changed who was allowed to fish... Krieger may be the coolest guy of all(I dunno, first I've ever really heard his name) but he's not likely to beat KVD today(over 20lbs for 2 days and mostly practiced yesterday) BUT wouldn't a Classic berth contest/fight between the guy in 72nd(Krieger) and 74th(Shimizu) make for way better drama/interest?!?! I spent a decent amount yesterday following the blog and come on now even with J Pow NOT FISHING Kreiger still couldn't catch one 1lber until the final like 5 mins...

Not living up to the hype at all.

I like Brandon's idea the best. 1st 8 out of the Classic cut at the end of the year would be much better storyline and they guys would actually be fishing for something.

Based on weights so far today,looks like it will be a VanDam/B.Hite showdown for the championship, which is about as good as it could get.

I agree with Brandon as well, and I think the Powroznik move was bs. If the guy can't catch them, he goes home.

Future tournament director here....solid ideas, Brandon...they will definitely be tweaking this event, so u would think. ...maybe a last minute-type of event in Dec/Jan on a hot water/power plant lake among the tip handful just out of the cut...

Kreiger would be beating van dam if he landed those two he lost.

Kreiger making for good TV losing 2 2+ fish at the boat trying to finesse them in while KVD is boat flipping them.

But he didn't. And I'd imagine KVD is watching the live scoring, catching just enough to advance. He needs to save fish for the finals.

Well he is putting pressure on KVD, and KVD is now having to do something he didn't plan on doing. If he wastes the fish he was saving, it will play into Hites advantage.