Interesting tweak to the system, but I think the current 9 event EQ promotes the better group of anglers. While not as easy qualifying when you could elite qualify from a single division of just 3 tournaments its going to be easier to qualify through just 7 events rather than 9. So did they kill the the BASS Nation winner qualifying to the Elites?

They upped tge number qualifying for the Elites per season from 9 to 10 now.

So 10 qualify from the elite qualifier series. 100 of the anglers competing in it will be from the opens. All current elite series anglers qualify to fish in the qualifier series. So what if 50 elite series anglers fish the qualifiers? What are the odds that someone from the opens qualifies for the elite series?

In the end, more money for BASS.

This isn't unlike pga q school. Lose your card immediately try and get it back. There are plenty of former elites bouncing around opens now. They aren't winning much

I don't know if a current Elite angler that has already qualified for the next Elite year fishes the EQs and finishes in the top 10 if they go down another spot to fill the open spot? Or if they go down the Elite roster one more spot? I would think (or at least hope) current Elites would know whether or not they've qualified for the next season before the EQ series starts. Then it's just guys maybe trying to qualify for the classic......

I would bet most Elites wouldn't fish it if already qualified for the next season. But not sure, the Classic spots could attract them for sure. Either way, my opinion is that if you want to be on the Elites, you'll have to beat some guys on the lower end of that level.

The more I have thought about it I really like this change. Also saw Bass announced that Randy Howell and Cliff Pace are back with the Legend exemption.

Pace is 42 in eq qualifier this year.....

Top 20% ......not bad if you look at the big picture. People will give Ish grief too but both years he has been just outside the points cut to qualify. It's not like they suck.

FFS gonna make it harder for the older guys that have trouble with it.

He kinda bombed the last Open, he was pretty up there in points until that. You can have a stupid good year and still not Elite qualify, look at Kyle Austins open average finish last year.

Valid point, you’d think some of these guys would have stayed at MLF, since they changed their rules to less FFS.

Look what not catching a limit one day in the MN event did to Ebare. Just a small limit and he would essentially be a lock for an Elite invitation same as Fothergill and Meyer right now going into the last event. Instead he is fighting for one of the last of the 9 spots with a real chance of missing out.

That being said I hope he locks up his invite and gets to the Elites. He was killing it on the BPT and took a huge chance to leave there.

One of the best decisions I've seen a bass tournament organization make in a long time.