The Smith lake event is scheduled on top of the Classic, I thought the two organizations agreed at least not to schedule on top of their championship events. 2022 has 5 BPT and 1 TWPC events that clash with Elite series, SMH can't these two get on a zoom call and work the schedules out a little better than that?

Angler sponsors may push back on this one since it will.prevent any BPT angler from working the Classic Expo.

They need to, that's ridiculous.

I don't know if there will he pushback or not but if I had to guess I would think there will be.

So does Scott Martin get in the Classic if John Cox doesn't fish it?

Fork BPT, Bass Champs, and a Highschool event the same week or so. I'm sure there are others during that time. Keep growing the sport, who else can the industry target to get fishing?

Don't thinks so, Cox would just be given a zero but I don't see him not fishing it, the Classic pays way more than a BPT regular season win and thats not including the press and endorsements you would get.

I kinda wonder if BPT will even allow him to fish both again. They scheduled on top of the Classic and had to know they were. I think there are 3 total schedule conflicts between Elites and BPT next year.

I like the schedule but as everyone else, I don't like that they can't get together on a schedule that doesn't conflict each other. I completely understand that there are only so many weeks in a year but feel strongly both would come out better if they didn't schedule on top of each other. But in reality, you're trying to schedule ~14 top tier events, ~21 triple A events.

I think one of the few people that would tell both organizations to get on the same page is Johnny Morris. If he wanted them to do it, I'm sure he could be very influential.

BPT being a max of 40 boats per day has a lot more flexibility on locations and dates. At some point they are making fans bass fishing choose and it might come back and bite them.

Most hardcore fans watch bass fishing online streaming anyway. Most folks going to the Classic go to the Expo and don’t know who fished what.
Will Berkley & Lews Strike King be pissed? I don’t know. I predict the endemics will still sell and rep well at the Classic. They all have a corral of college aged patch pirates to play pro for a weekend and at a cheaper rate to do so.

Hardcore fans watch streaming AND attend the Classic. I have worked enough Classics to know that its a pretty big deal for casual and hardcore fishing fans alike. Casual fishing fans do not schedule their vacations to coincide with the Classic nor travel from all over the US and other countries to attend the Classic. Walk around the Expo floor and strike upo conversations and you will be surprised at how far these fans travel to attend. I am talking fans and not vendors. They know who is who and they follow it closely.

I completely agree. My watching is usually dictated on whether it's a lake that I want to watch or not. That might change this year.