I registered right after it opened and still got put on the waiting list. I'm 22 and was wondering what experiences people had being on the list. Like how down the list people are and still get into the tournament.

With the revamp of the opens and reportedly close to 200 anglers already signed up for all 9 I think this year will be different from previous years regarding the waiting list.

You aren’t old enough to be a part of what is the good ‘old boys club to sign up for the opens. There has never really been any way to understand who qualifies or gets priority on the wait. One of the great mysteries of bass is when someone who goes 5 or more years and never cashes a check but always seems to get in. Then the guy who calls 52 seconds after registration starts is somehow already on the wait list. Maybe they like the losers, especially if they have money.

It helps to already have fished a few and be a current member of B.A.S.S. BEFORE you sign up. The current members get access to early registration.

And I believe Life Members have the option to sign up first.

BASS Life Members get priority over genpop. I know there are sponsor invites, previous year competitors, and maybe a few others who get priority registration as well. If you are trying to sign up for a single division without one of those mentioned priority boxes checked, you have little to no chance to get in. Before, you may get into the 2nd or 3rd tournament in a division after a certain number of anglers tank the first tournament and don't fish the second and third. But now with the new qualification method I doubt that situation becomes as prevalent as it used to be.

Life members get that. I've been a member for a long time so they just gave me a date tp check and see if it's open.

The all 9 requirement for the Elites is making there be a few spots for the one division guys. It’s a different ball game with more wanting to leave the MLF. Got to go through the Opens. It’s a boom for the Opens this year. Opens are capped at 225.

https://www.bassmaster.com/opens/news/opens-eq-more-on-the-new-elite-qualification-system/

A lot of people on that waiting list with all the jumpers off the other circuits getting first dibs it seems.

I think they decided to up the cap to 250 with all the demand. Ex MLF guy said on BTL the opens field will be the toughest field of any circuit this year including the tours.

It will be tough but with the off limits a lot of guys wont have a month to search for fish and wont do well. The opens are growing each year in popularity and this year have exploded. We will see if BASS can keep the anglers in and people drawn in thru the year. I figure quite a few drop out once they know they cant make anything and usually interests goes down later in the year until the last event or two

I thought MLF were the only ones who switched things up this much

Yep, Signing all the dibs up. Seems everyone is jumping ship on every trail that isn’t bass. All headed to bass up by the hundreds. The opens field is the same as the Sealy BIg Bass last I saw. Haha.

Just breezing through, it’s possible the I saw the NPFL has more classic winners than the elites or the opens do combined. And now those two trails payout the same. One been around forever, and one been around for about 10 minutes. I might have heard NPFL was looking to seek a hostile takeover of bass, but who knows.

FYI… If they will let Ish, who comes across as a complete and total arrogant prick, in the opens, and frankly hasn’t really been competitive for some time in either league, they will let anybody in. Even the ones that THINK they are somebody got signed up. Nobody going anywhere or you would likely already seen their name.

Ish is a total douche for sure.

Looks like only 2 BPT guys voluntarily jumped from
MLF to the EQ Opens : Ish & Bobby Lane