You would think the way they are carrying on that they retired from BASS. They all made the choice to leave primarily for money. They felt like BASS had them fishing for each others money. I would say they appreciate the opportunity BASS gave them. However they did not respect how they handled the financial portion. They felt like they were not getting their share. BASS did not really listen to them. They felt they were the top game and no one would leave.

You ever quit a job started a new one and thought oh [censored] what have I done? Well these guys are having their exit interviews after the 1st two weeks on the new job.

You think a few really thought BASS would sink when they left only to see that they are flourishing without them and made them question the decision?

I can see some of them returning. There�s no bigger platform then the classic and to many have been to close to winning that want that shot again. There has to be a special feeling rolling in that arena and getting to show a big bag of fish. MLF will continue just like bass but I think they will miss that feeling of live weighins.

I bet a bunch of them are rethinking that decision

I like the little remark that Mercer made when one of the anglers Bass wouldn't chill out on the scales. He said something to the effect of "Yes those livewells still keep them alive". You know that had to be a shot at the BPT guys peddling their weigh in style.

I think BPT was an exit strategy for some who were not preforming on the Elites. They received a 3 year guarantee with BPT. Look at some who left, look up their stats. Now look at and watch their preformence on BPT. Some good sticks left no doubt but there�s a lot of guys who will be fishing the opens trying to requlify in the next 2 years. BPT has already said they are TV driven not fan weigh in driven. This proves BASS is going to be just fine and the new Elite guys are hungry for their chance.

Lee�s and evers� reactions after winning the BPT event says it all. �Did I win?�
Lmao those words have never been said in professional angling.

Let�s be honest, most of these guys don�t need the money they get from fishing at this point in their careers. Their success has allotted them ways to make money in other ways. So for people to see ALL these guys left for the money is fooling themselves.

I truly believe they thought it would feel more than it is. There will be a lot come back to bass.

I think there is a parallel between what tournament bass fishing is going through and what major league baseball went through back in the 70's...baseball's main source of revenue for years was fan attendance at ball parks then televison started televising several games per week...the owners were getting filthy rich and they weren't sharing with the players....for many years major league baseball players were paid so little they had to have a second job in the off season......players realized they were the attraction,not the owners and only way to get their fair share of the revenue was to have a strong players association that would go on strike if necessary...they did several times in the 70's and 80's....professional golfers have controlled their tournaments and revenue I believe since the late 40's....fishermen up until now have had to fish for their own money and outside revenue has gone into the pockets of the BASS and FLW owners....
my take on major league fishing is that boyd duckett and gary klein had the vision to realize that there was a big void out there on the outdoor and sportsman channels for fishing shows and if the fishermen would own and produce the fishing shows,they would also realize the revenue instead of fishing for their own entry fees which has been the situation with both BASS and FLW....also suspect they saw the tremendous growth of high school and college bass fishing and were able to convince the television networks that interest in competitive bass fishing was going experience some serious growth in next few years...

another factor is BASS only has a TV contract with ESPN to show elite series events whereas it appears that MLF will generate more revenue because they will have several times as many events that will be shown both on outdoor channel and CBS sports programming....

Yeah the 2 that started the new tour, did not requalify to fish BASS. I think this is why the new tour was rushed to start this year before it was supposed to be ready.

A bunch of Jason Whitten�s? Human life is full of hindsight.

Tomorrow is championship Sunday and there�s one post on the front page with 3 replies about the classic .the classic is less an event this year after all the happenings IMO. I think they and the new trail will be fine.

Not sure how much y�all watched online today, but Mark Daniels Jr�s 3.5 pounder late in the day sitting on 4 fish grinding it out is why I prefer the 5 fish format vs numbers. That was clutch. I think it�ll be interesting to see how many anglers leave the BPT format to go back to the 5 fish format

I think lack of confidence in the new BASS owners has a lot to do with it, I don't think this Anderson fellow will be in it for the long haul...

They won't especially once MLF start doing live events on TV, $$$, MLF have the network television connections and bassmaster does not.

I saw a lot of regret today. BPT isn�t a viable long term option. You can�t rely on sponsor dollars to pay your winnings and not have an entry fee. It�s not possible in a niche industry. You�ll see some of these guys back in BASS I promise you. Anything the BPT puts on is nothing compared an elite series event or the Classic. MLF was great as a supplement, but the new format is just boring. Fans will get bored.