Someone please educate me real quick. Why is KVD, Ike, Aaron Martin and all the big name others not fishing this anymore? I know they do the MLF now, but isn't this Elite group still the top dogs in the world? I'm sure money is a factor I guess, but did BASS change some rules or something else the reason the big boys don't fish it anymore? I personally think this sucks big time.

Thanks

Because they aren't in BASS. You answered your own question.

No sir, I didn't answer my own question. This is the biggest bass tournament in the world every year so why in the hell would the big dogs not want to be a part of it??

Because they are in MLF, not in BASS. Can't qualify if you aren't in BASS.

There are 4-5 avenues to qualify for the Classic.

1. Fish the Bass Elite Series & be in the top 40 in points. It usually dips a little lower than that due to double qualifiers.
2. Win a Bass Open event and fish all of the events in that trail's schedule. You could win the 2nd event, but if you did not fish the first event, you will not qualify for the Classic. Last year they had 2 trails, this year it's back to 3 as it's been in years past.
3. Bass Nation. Join a Bass Nation club. Fish the tournaments and make the state team. Top state teams compete at the Nationals. I know the winner makes the Classic, but I also think the top 2-3 also get to be Classic qualifier.
4. Win the Collegiate Bracket Challenge (college anglers)
5. Win the Bassmaster Team Championship. It's a team trail that you qualify for the National Championship. Winner then split up and complete against each other. Winner get the Classic qualifier.

The reason the big names you spoke of are not competing is they didn't do any of the things listed above. Several fished opens but did not win. The Classic is not by invite, only by qualifying.

Hope this helps.

It does help, but why would they not stay on the BASS circuit so they can qualify to fish this tournament? I get most of it, I do, but something had to of changed because all of the big guys just all of a sudden quit BASS and joined MLF? That should of been my original question. Why did they change?

I ask this question in the OT section and this is what I got. Now it makes sense to me...

"No rule changes. Duckett sold them a load of BS that they would squash BASS and get to fish with no entry fees. And their redbreast championship would be the biggest in the world. None of that worked and now most of the anglers are stuck over there wishing they could come back. Slowly the top guys like Palaniuk, Swindle, Christie and Hackney are coming back. And plenty of young hungry anglers have stepped up and took the place of the old guys that left."

The left for MLF, there was a divorce, simple as that.

It was a business decision to leave BASS and go to MLF. The load of BS that that person spoke of is an opinion, which that person is welcome to have but the guys that came back to BASS were not very successful in the MLF format and made the business decision to come back to BASS. Fishing for 5 is a different game than fishing for every fish counts. Not everybody is good at that and it shows.

I'm sure they left for the same reason any of us change jobs. They believe they will receive better pay, better work environment, better work schedule, more influence in the actual job, or anything in between.

Whether it lives up to their individual expectations is anyone's guess.

From the outside looking in, it seems there was group of core anglers who were either unhappy or in a neutral state (meaning they could be persuaded either way) in the direction that BASS was being led. That group of anglers are owners at MLF. They put together a plan to have their own tournament trail. That core group of anglers pitched it to other anglers to fill out their original 80 angler field.

Every one of them went into it knowing that it would/could be their last Classic unless they fished the Opens. Several of the original 80 anglers competed on Opens for a chance at fishing the Classic. Swindle & Palaniuk actually paid the fee to break their contract and return to the Elites. At that point in time, there was a substantial fee to break their contract and not fish BPT. I believe COVID changed several things and voided the first contract they signed. The next contract they signed did not have a fee for breaking and leaving the BPT. Several others fished the Opens specifically to requalify for the Elites. Hackney, Christie & Justin Atkins qualified. Jacob Powroznik missed. He is fishing the Opens again in order to qualify for the Elites. He's currently leading the Open AOY.

Not overly interested in the theatrics of why each left. There’s plenty of room for more than one trail. That said; think about the possibilities of greener pastures that would make a VanDam leave after over $5,000,000 in career earnings from BASS.

the reason they left is why most folks change jobs to make more money it may work for some but some have left to come back to bass some of the big names that left have already made their money some were looking for the check to show up. after all that has happened there is still only one bassmasters classic an the winner will be crowned today.

I believe VanDam is one of the owners of BPT. Next step in the progression of a career

Van dam makes way more on products than ever fishing. I don't blame him one bit. He had a run that'll probably never be duplicated. I still enjoy watching every event he's ever won outside of Pittsburgh classic.