Really great to see this format being implemented by bassmaster, even if it is only for this tournament. I personally feel that it should be used during all of their tournaments.The old format of keeping bass in the live well for hours just to weigh them in /show them off has killed many a great fisheries.Kudos to bassmaster, btw great tournament bassmaster. Thanks

whatever

Funny........

If everyone caught and released we wouldn't need tpw anymore....

It's a cool format for fork but I hope they never go to it full time. Keeping fish alive should and always be a part of tournaments. The fish are for everyone to enjoy, whether it be a fillet knife, catch and release, or tournament

Oh gawd

That format was created by the PAA. Then they worked with BASS to do that format for one event. MLF came after that.

They had to if they wanted to have max weight. With only 1 over allowed per day Cobb would have been nowhere near his weight if they had to bring in and weigh a 5 fish limit. He had Mid 30 on day 3 I think. Not going to do that with an over and 4 unders . Any special rule lake needs a modified weighing. At least on the professional level. I don�t think the MLF weighing system will work for the small tours and weekend tournies but that�s just an opinion. If there were special rules put in place to weigh 5 overs you would not have seen MLF weigh system this past weekend.

What fisheries has it killed?

evidence is just the opposite of what you are saying....multiple tournaments each week have been going on for over 40 years at some of our best fisheries and fishing is better overall than it ever has been.....
keep in mind that each spawning bass produces thousands more fry than the lake can sustain....

From the beginning whether it be PAA or Toyota Texas Bass Fest or BASS Elite Fest this tournament series, which has been held once a year since 2007, has been put on to benefit TPWD programs.

When the PAA proposed the tournament they asked TPWD for a waiver so they could circumvent the slot at Fork. That answer was NO. So in order to come up with a useable format this was invented (0r copied).

Was it the first. NO again. I was fishing an internet tournament at Fork from the mid-90's using the same format but with paper fish based on fish length converted to pounds.

When they "hired" the first set of judges they were trained to weigh the bass, record them and then call them in to the jumbotron where they were posted for the crowd to see. The hires were all volunteers and still are.

Fast forward to 2019 and that is still the same format. I congratulate the MLF for seeing a method that works on a large scale and copying it to a degree.

I believe that Cobb, with his 114 lb creel may have passed Keith Combs 110 lb. But Combs did it on the old 3 day format. And he also won two of them, one a Fork and one at Conroe.

When BASS moves on because of all of the bellyaching from Saks and others there will still be a Texas Bass Fest. And it will probably come back to Fork from time to time.

It's all about the show. Not much value in watching a slot lake weigh-in where 10#'s wins. BASS has the climax at the end, and the marketing of the lake where fans flock to watch, and can't "weight" for the finally:). MLF keeps it low key and made for TV only. Both are exciting in their own respects, eye of the beholder. From a fan perspective MLF really doesn't appear to be trying to compete with BASS, which was smart. Also incorporated conservation requirements, which in no way takes away from the format, and it has been brilliant and innovative idea. Competition only makes it better for everyone.

I don�t watch MLF but don�t they count all fish, not just the biggest 5?

I just puked a little.