Mark Davis on BPT

https://majorleaguefishing.com/angl...rs-view-of-the-mlf-bass-pro-tour-format/

Pretty good opinion piece by one of the "old" guys.

Not so subtle shot at Jason Lambert and FLW.

Excellent article, always had much respect for Mark Davis.

How so?

+1

No offense but mlf isnt going to let one of the owners put a negative opinion piece on their web site much like any other organization wouldn't. While I do respect Mark, the article seems like a target piece for some of the negatives theyve been hearing

just read the article... wheres the subtle shot??

If you remember back last year at Kentucky Lake Jason had a huge lead that

Knowing that he'd already secured victory at the Kentucky Lake FLW Tour and that his total weight for the event would exceed 100 pounds, Jason Lambert spent Sunday afternoon lounging on the deck of his boat at the launch, eating pizza and interacting with fans.


Read more: http://www.bassfan.com/news_article...silly-numbers#.XRznzPZFyUk#ixzz5sdZT9c3O

His point on Table Rock is just stupid. FLW was won for about 45 lbs over 3 days. A 3 lbs. average. Like Davis stated. Wheeler won BLT with a 2 lbs. big bass. I don't care if he caught 100 I lbers. He would've lost in FLW. Im sure who ever won FLW caught a bunch of rats as well but those don't count in a 5 fish.
2 completely different tournaments and the way they are scored. You cant even compare them.

Gotcha. He's not the first pro to do that and probably won't be the last. It's been done on the Elite Series, too.

I don't think that was his point, Chris. The point was you target the fishery for what it has (i.e. Conroe) where lots of big fish but poorer overall numbers of fish dictated they target the bigger fish. At Table Rock, where a 3lber. is a big fish, if that's what you tried to target there, you'd get killed by all the guys targeting numbers. At least that's they way I read it.

You target five unders in tournaments all the time, hoping to luck into an over. But you know if you focus solely on bigger bites at Fork, you're not going to cash a check in those dinkfests.

Timmy Horton was the first to do it.

I'm not a huge fan of MLF but I do watch it from time to time. He makes some really good points but it doesn't change much for me as a spectator

I I don't get how you could take a shot at someone for having such a big lead they could relax. I'm sure Lambert won't mind one bit.

I am also starting to question if the conservation side really that much better. Yes, the instant release is better, but most of the time they are sticking 2-3 times more fish. Once the 5 fish guys get 5, they are targeting larger fish generally resulting in fewer fish catches. Also you are only carrying 5 fish in your livewell at a time, so all the culls and smaller fish are instant release anyway. I think it was a cool selling point that isn’t as conservation friendly as they make it sound. Format is cool sometimes, but the only rounds I find interesting are the last period of the 2nd knockout day.

Huh? Not much of shot when he was just obliterating the competition (with the exception of Randy Haynes who quit). Good read. I respect Mark's take on the format's upside as far as conservation goes. The rest seemed reactionary.

I was hoping for a something new in that article.

They aren’t going to sway any ones opinion either way, you either like it or you don’t.

You make an excellent point. I kinda agree. The only real downside is the 5 fish riding in the box are usually better brood stock fish. So, POTENTIALLY hurting a spawn. Not an absolute.

When I fish the Bassmaster stuff, they always have some very strict fish care guidelines and they also take reasonable actions to protect the fish during the weigh in process to the release tanks, to the release boat.

I started with a little interest in the BPT. Over the season that’s dropped. Too much of a dink fest for me, Probably enough out there that like BPT, BASS and FLW to sustain them all.

Knowledgeable guy and has seemed like a good ambassador to his sport for many years. But I don’t get the idea of(quote): “in MLF competition you never, ever relax. You can never go to the marina store and get a pizza”. So in the other formats the pros catch 5 and quit? Pretty sure you have to continue fishing(and catching) to cull and compete. Ever see a pro go “to the marina store for a pizza” or “go in early” at the Classic because he caught a limit? I’m sure he feels one format is more intense than the other but his examples are poor.

What did we expect but a pro MLF article. They just keep beating there chest trying to convince us that they now have the best circuit. Fiffem and feed’ em fish heads

Maybe he’s saying that old fat guys can’t compete in the BPT.

I think if I could pick 10 pro’s I’d like to spend a weekend fishing with, Davis would be on my list. Just seems like a great guy. However, MLF isn’t as entertaining to me. Just my $.02.

Davis was one of the men I enjoyed watching and listening to. But not in this format .

I love the format myself. Love it!

MLF has to protect certain core things that they stand for. So they will always say conservation because it was built on that idea, even if the 5 fish is probably just as conservation savy. I am a fan of both formats but would agree when I see a guy get 40 catches for 58 pounds it gets boring after awhile. It in essence becomes crappie fishing. I think it speaks volumes that online they took off the column for average fish that was on the scoretracker early on. Again they have to protect a core marketing principle. It is what it is. It will be hard to get certain people to believe in one format over another, or in my case enjoy both.

It has been done a few times in BASS. The 1st i remember was Timmy Horton. He was back at the dock by lunch and ordrered pizza. A few others have done it

I haven't read the article, but if he's saying they can't relax at all in that format then thats not true. I've watched a few times where someone has such a huge lead and going to make the cut easily they go looking for new fish. They know the weights zero so they don't worry about falling down in the standings as long as they make the cut line. In BASS they have to fish hard the whole tournament and if by some rare occurance they have a huge lead on the final day, then you have seen someone grab a pizza a couple hours before weigh in.