It's 100% clear to me that those of you who have an axe to grind believe every single thing you hear and read and take it as gospel even when you weren't there. That I can't resolve and that is the fundamental problem I've tried to address time and time again. I'll leave you to your doomsday theories and armchair quarterbacking but the sky isn't falling and MLF isn't the devil. This will all sort itself out and be fine for all of the leagues and for the sport. If you guys need a villain in the interim then have at it.

Shortly everyone will be back on the water fishing and there will hopefully be less of this to debate on the boards. Carry on gents. Enjoyed the discussion.

criglizzard - I dont recall anyone on the forum saying BASS has 'clean hands' in all of this... i think most understand BASS absolutely had issues and were unwilling to make changes until their hand was forced by MLF.. with that said, most on this forum still prefer the 5 fish format and the product BASS offers..

I absolutely prefer BASS but I also like the insight that Mark Jones provides - I want to see his prospective and he generally provides a response in a very respectful manner even though 90% of the board is against him.

I don't think they are hurting at all considering they just bought FLW. Typically failing companies don't buy out massive organizations on their way out. But, I'm sure everyone here has a copy of MLF's financial report and have applied it accordingly before saying that they are loosing money and fans and will be gone in 5 years. Just a thought.

Mr. Jones, I think they’d do very well if they never let Duckett talk again and let you be their PR man. That’s a compliment to how you handle everything.

Lol it may be closer to 99%...

I don’t want that job.

You should be careful with your slander, shotgunwilly. It could just come back to bite you in the arse!

This is true, Duckett sued Ike for some podcast comments. One would think us commoners were safe, but there is no safe anymore.

Not slander, but thanks anyways.

Grown men arguing about how other grown men choose to fish. I think this is called a man-opera. I've always just preferred to catch them myself. If there is an issue here, capitalism will take care of it.

That was a nice picture criglizzard provided as context. History shows time will change traditions, customs and behavior. They used to have good old southern fish fries after those events too. Now, we have to use fish farms to get fish for food as political correctness frowns on consumption of game coming from sport. Back in those days everyone of the anglers had a cigarette hanging out of their mouth all day too; you won’t see that in the media anymore either. And he was further correct to point out BASS doesn’t have a history of being known to be in it for what’s in the best interest of the anglers either; that’s very true and it has hurt them and their organization exponentially over the years as the revolving door of majority owners and stakeholders have come and gone. FLW was always the steady as they go alternative and it thrived because of the flaws at BASS. That said, I think fans, anglers, (both recreational and pro) and sponsors have come to recognize the flaws and now see much of the same in MLF as they did with BASS despite what the talking points are. When MLF was formed and they were just doing cup tournaments that wasn’t the issue that started things, it was only after that when a majority ownership stake in MLF was transacted and it became widely known who the new majority owner of MLF was and his history of creating train wrecks in all the sporting ventures he got involved with. Those who may have a little insight also recognized that FLW was becoming an acquisition target when Walmart pulled its title sponsorship, especially considering the relationship between the new majority owner of MLF and same. Then, when BPT was created, and FLW was weakened significantly, compounded by the aggressive courting of all the big names from BASS became public, that’s when the lines in the sand by the fans were drawn. The sponsors did what they thought was best for their brands, but some are now realizing they may need to take sides as well, due to what’s becoming seen as a series of deliberate and calculated underhanded business moves that short changed Innocent anglers and it’s being seen as driven by greed and unethical culture at MLF.

I don’t ever mean disrespect to Mark, but I and others do know when they see PR talking points that deliberately omit or avoid addressing key events or facts. Case in point, this recent situation with bass federation and the kid who was getting the short end of the stick. None of it would have transpired if someone with decision making authority didn’t tell the kid and the bass federation to go pound sand when trying to claim the FLW portion of what he thought he had honestly earned and was promised by the partnership FLW had with the federation. That’s not a simple blunder, it’s a calculated plan of action, just like removing all the monies that was slated to be awarded to all the guys who will now miss out on the FW cup. MLF’s reversal is being viewed as reactive, and rightfully so... and here is the kicker, despite the talking points I have heard and read about FLW being dissolved and going away, the partnership with the federation, it’s rewards, etc... were all announced in the FLW LLC name with their logo and letterhead. For a company that has been portrayed by MLF talking points as being broke and dissolved, that’s stranger than strange.

When did the public perception of Duckett sour? I came across a thread on here from a decade ago about an altercation between Duckett and another angler at a Guntersville tournament, and a lot of guys on here were standing up for Duckett. Did people's opinion of him start to change while he was still at BASS or was it specifically the BPT inception that made him despised by many on here?

Duckett is a minority (by a wide margin) shareholder and nothing but a talking head in the grand scheme of things at MLF... I would even venture to say he has limited authority to make decisions too. He is just good at reciting the talking points and blowing smoke up people’s arse, including other anglers.

Unfortunately some of us were just a little slow figuring things out. MLF could really make an improvement by getting BD out of the public eye but it just another example of things they do not want to admit to that need to change. MLFs messaging is getting screwed up by just a couple guys. Paid forum posters are not doing them any good either whether it is Mark, BD's brother or redfish99 on bbc.

There are a lot of really good guys (anglers) at MLF and only a few not so much.

And on another post earlier - MLF management or "friends of MLF anglers" threatening" people is all too common and a really bad look.

Man, I just can't help but experience a huge case of deja vu after seeing how this young man's situation was handled. It has that same identical stench of treatment that the BASS Federation received back in 2006 by a certain "tough guy" ESPN exec.