There's an old saying in tournament bass fishing that the anglers compete against the fish, not the other fishermen. That one's easy enough to buy under the traditional set-up, in which an angler has little or no idea how the vast majority of the other competitors are faring and often doesn't find out until the weigh-in.
Now along comes Major League Fishing, with its no-limits,
weigh-'em-and-toss-'em-back format and a real-time standings board on every boat. The 24 pros who took part in the inaugural event last week at Lake Amistad, dubbed the MLF Challenge Cup, are claiming that direct competition between fishermen has arrived.
"I think everybody who was there would tell you that it was unlike any event they'd ever fished and I don't think anybody was disappointed with the way things ran," said 2007 Bassmaster Classic champion Boyd Duckett, who hatched the concept for the made-for-TV product a couple of years ago. "I'd say we're halfway there – we've created exactly the content we'd dreamed of. Now the next big step is going to be taking that content and putting it on the TV screen
"I don't know how to do that, but I know what I want to see. Now it's up to the editors to bring all that emotion that was taking place out there to the viewers. That's going to be the big key."
MLF competitors are allowed no pre-tournament practice and have no waypoints stored in their on-board electronics. All the competitors on a given day (there are never more than eight on the water at once) are sent to a section of the lake that's 4 or 5 miles long and must quickly figure out where the bass are located within that zone. Then they must determine how to catch as many keepers as they can in a 2 1/2-hour period.
There are three such periods in a day, with a half-hour break in between. The Top 4 out of the eight competitors on each of the first 3 days advance to the semifinals, which consist of 2 days featuring six anglers each. The Top 3 from each of those days move on to the final day.
Results of the Challenge Cup won't be made public until January, when it will be offered online on a pay-per-view basis for $2.99. The show will air on the Outdoor Channel, which has partnered with the anglers in the venture, during the second quarter of 2012.
A Different Type of Game
MLF competitors said that knowing where their score stood at all times in relation to the other anglers on the water forced a huge alteration of the way in which they went about their business. Duckett said that aspect was made possible through the genius of Outdoor Channel engineer Mike Williams, who waterproofed some Apple iPads and changed their mode of operation from cellular to satellite to create about a dozen portable real-time standings boards that worked without a hitch.
"When I first got out there I had no idea where a bass was, so I started out throwing a topwater," Duckett said. "Then the scoreboard starts ringing (as other competitors logged catches), so I figured I'd better get off that. I started running the bank throwing all kinds of things, and all of a sudden I was down 6 1/2 pounds.
"I started scrambling in the second period and kind of got my act together finally, but I totally wasted the first period running around like a chicken with its head cut off. You have to catch them quick or you're going to get left in the dust."
Boyd Duckett, who developed the concept behind MLF, said everything went off almost without a hitch at Amistad.
He divulged a couple of notable occurrences from the event:
> Tommy Biffle broke off an 8-pounder, for which he had to endure a 1-minute penalty. "You can't re-tie, you can't eat, you can't do anything for that minute, and it goes by like an eternity," Duckett said. "You have to just sit there and anguish over that horrible moment."
> Mike Iaconelli hooked a 4 1/2-pounder with less than 10 seconds left in a period and failed to get it into the boat before time ran out. "The (onboard) official counts down those final seconds and the rule is that the fish has to be within the perimeter of the gunnels for it to score. Ike tried to heave it in, but it was 20 yards out. That fish didn't score and he had a complete meltdown, but that's the game – you either beat the clock or you don't."
Angler Reaction
Following are the impressions of some of the anglers who competed at Amistad (it should be noted that some of them have invested money in the venture and thus are part-owners).
Denny Brauer
"It's a totally different format that brings a totally different mindset to tournament fishing. It really created a sense of urgency, knowing what you had and what everybody else had. There were a lot more emotional peaks and valleys – you'd see yourself move up and you'd be feeling good, and then a few minutes later you'd been passed up and you're trying to catch up again.
"If it comes across to the viewer in a way that's as exciting as it felt, it's really going to be a neat deal."
Kevin VanDam
"I enjoyed it from the standpoint of having the whole different element – knowing exactly what other guys had almost instantaneously. As the leaderboard changed, I changed the way I fished. It made it more competitive to me and more intense.
"You knew exactly what you had to do and depending on what end (of the standings) you were on, you were either feeling really good or really bad. A lot of guys went full-circle a few times."
Shaw Grigsby
"I can't say enough about it. It was probably the most awesome experience I've been involved with in sports since I've been alive. It was very stressful with a lot of twists and turns. It was almost more like a NASCAR race than a fishing tournament – somebody would be leading on lap whatever, then the next lap somebody else takes the lead, and then somebody spins out in turn 3.
Mike McClelland said the Challenge Cup made him realize that he might need to jack up his intensity level for Bassmaster Elite Series events.
"It was the most intense fishing competition I've ever seen and it was an amazing adventure to have been a part of it."
Skeet Reese
"It was one of the most intense tournaments I've ever fished. The mental battles I went through because of the real-time leaderboard were sick. It was truly a game of strategy on the water."
Mike McClelland
"It was mostly fun, but it was also the most intense competitive event I've been involved with in a long time. It really opened my eyes up that maybe I'm not going at it as hard as I need to be on the Elite Series.
"My adrenalin was so high that I felt like I'd been through a workout. If you're on (fish) you don't want the period to end, and if you're not you can't wait to get back to the dock to see what everybody else has tied on and which way they go to start the next period. It was a blast."
Ish Monroe
"It was amazing. It was everything I could expect and more. I felt every emotion possible. It's a feeling I want over and over again – it's almost like a drug.
"The adrenalin rushes were incredible with all the ups and downs and highs and lows. If every angler who was there didn't feel that way, they must be dead."
Greg Hackney
"This has to be one of the funnest formats ever. It was stressful, but it was even more fun. I loved the down time between periods – it was like having a halftime and it gave you a chance to critique the last period and figure out what changes you needed to make. During a regular tournament day I'm always in a hurry, but having it this way let you think about what you might do differently.
"The other deal that's great is the no-limits – you just catch them as fast as you can, then throw them back and try to catch another one. You don't have to fool with fish in your livewell and you don't have to cull. You just keep catching them."
