I saw an interesting YouTube video about this.. Should an Elite Series pro, who isn’t trying to requalify for the Elites, be allowed to fish the Opens? He wasn’t griping about the competition btw. His gripe was that it poaches a spot in the classic from someone who’s only avenue there is thru the opens (elite guys can qualify from the Elite trail itself). His other gripe, which I agree with is, if said Elite guy finishes in the top 3 of the open division AOY and is already qualified for the Elites, they don’t go down the list to the next open guy who qualified. They give that spot to the next Elite guy who didn’t qualify. Personally, I would be real peesed if I did all that work and spent all that money to get bumped out by a guy who was already qualified. It takes a career season to finish top 3 and you may not ever duplicated! Anyway, just wondering if anyone had seen this video or had thoughts here

Ya don’t need to quilify for the elites to have a good time. With 9 opens, you can make a career out of it.

Sounds like a Randy Blaukat video

Looking at the payout schedule, unless you win one, the payout doesn’t seem to really outweigh the expense. I would assume most guys fishing all 9 are trying to qualify for the Elites. Or have too much money and can afford to play professional angler….

Why worry about it. If your goal is to fish against those guys then you better be able to beat them. It wouldn't bother me one bit because if I was on that path it would be to beat anybody on the water, whoever they are . If I can't do that then I better get better

Maybe the YouTube guy should answer as to why an angler fishing the Opens and isn’t in the Elites, should even be allowed to qualify for the BM Classic. Why should the BM Classic let scrubs fish their top promoted tournament in the first place. Now I know why they do, it’s the carrot in front of the donkey, used to be used to get guys to fish the Opens. This is no longer needed with the current mess of guys trying to become professional anglers.

Thats interesting they don't work down the list I thought they did, I guys thats only with opens double qualifiers. Like it or not the definition of an Open is anyone can fish.

Not a tourney guy but I thought it was bad form for Elites to fish opens. Guys from MLF and other circuits.....are just another Joe Blow to BASS, you just so happen to know their name. Plus for all the drama....these guys are doing whats best for them and trying to keep their options open. Cant fault a man for taking care of himself or his family 🤷‍♂️

Yes, I think they need to stop that aspect of the Opens. The Elites already have a trail that is dedicated to them, and the Opens should be for those trying to move and/or win the lottery.

Yall take a fun thing and make it not fun...

Opens are open to everyone. As was pointed out if you are fishing them to get to the next level then you better figure out how to beat the handful of Elite anglers in them or you will have a very short stay on the Elites.

So take the ‘Open’ format out and go back to the old invitational format? Blaukat makes the point in the video that many of these guys enter because it gives them the opportunity to fish against their heroes so they might lose quite a bit of participation

They ABSOLUTELY work down the opens list to qualify for the Elites when others double qualify. Scott Martin finished 5th last year and made the Elites bc Patrick Walters was already an Elite and Pat Schlapper qualified through Bass Nation, so he moved into the top 3. They don’t when it comes to Classic Qualification.

If you can’t beat a few Elite pro’s don’t even waste your money trying to qualify for a tour where you compete against 80+ Elites. The opens aren’t designed for Amateurs, it’s a professional tour.

Randy whines like he is on a 24/7 period. Always a complaint from him. That said it's called OPEN for a reason. If you want to qualify for the Elites then you shouldn't have a single issue fishing against a handful of the Elite guys to try and do it. Hell guys if you have fished TTT or Champs you have fished against old Elite/Invitational/Tour pros.

You do realize; this ain't T-Ball. No participation awards.