I'm sure it was because of an angler survey. Not necessarily about them not wanting to make the trip more so that they won't have enough anglers fishing the elites for BASS to make any money off the trip.

This is all shocking to me, someone who admittedly isn't intimately in-tune with the pro-level, to see how fragile the tier-one circuit of our sport really is and how quickly a relative upstart circuit eroded it away. I agree, it's a huge middle finger to the western anglers from pro to amateur. Why not just reduce it to one western event?

No west coast swing most seasons and the tour keeps growing. And I don't see the evidence of an apocalypse coming for BASS either. Sorry guys, a lot of you are overreacting to the MLF expansion.

I think MLF is moving the sport in the right direction. Yes, five fish limits is what the sport was founded on (actually 15 fish limits), but MLF gave us a new perspective to tournament fishing.... who day in and day out can catch them size and numbers! The sport of bass fishing is no longer about getting information on a brush pile or two that replenish over a four day event and catching one or two kickers over the course of said event. It is now who can break down a lake and catch them day in and day out. To me that is more interesting to watch. You learn more that way! My opinion...

They would still have to make the haul across the country. That's the reason they canceled it.

Yeah it has nothing to do with a middle finger and everything to do with math. It�s simply has very little upside for anyone.

Fake news.

The Elite series will replenish their numbers with more anglers from the opens as those leave to fish MLF. Show me ANY angler that could afford it that wouldnt jump at the chance to fish that tour?!

No western swing is disappointing to me, but maybe MLF will go there as I enjoy their coverage more anyways!

No, it's not.

I don�t agree that it will be an easy replenish and here�s why. Let�s say for argument sake there�s 50 new open spots. Some of those will be filled by FLW Pros making the switch but that�s likely a low number. So from there you move to the Opens.

Here�s where it gets interesting. Say there�s 30 Open invites. How are they going to cover their entry fees and travel? Sponsorship? Not likely, there are countless numbers of anglers who�ve had the opportunity to get the call up to the Elites and they couldn�t find cash paying sponsors to total $75k-$100k in cost.

This MLF news further diluted the sponsor coffers and leaves very little room for new money to virtually unknown anglers with no platforms.

this is exactly why. It has zero to do with MLF trying to start up a new league.

But did the angler survey come out due to the MLF annoucement? Did they think, "hey we need to check the temperature of our anglers now and see what they have to say" maybe we can do to keep some around? Or is this a normal operations to have angler surveys late in the summer to solidify next years rules/tournaments and listen to their anglers requests?

No. BASS does an angler survey every year.

Is it always at the first of September or did the MLF announcement have them on their heals knowing they needed some input from their guys?

Seems coincidental that the same week a new tour is announced, they cancel 2 events to please their anglers.

This is going to hurt Bass in the long run. Kind of a joke if you ask me.