FLW Pros going to Elites

[smbass77]

Good article on Bassfan, and some interesting comments by the FLW anglers who qualified for the Elites. http://bassfan.com/news_article/9758...s#.Xab7ahgpD3A

[dartag1829]

Shows Cox is a Money fishermen if he is willing to let 5k go down the drain to fish another tour. Going to be fun to watch. Wonder if Ish will try it. He did 2 tours when you could.

[D.O.C. 989]

Shows Cox is a Money fishermen if he is willing to let 5k go down the drain to fish another tour. Going to be fun to watch. Wonder if Ish will try it. He did 2 tours when you could.

Cox would be fishing the Elites and FLW side. Sounds like he already knows the Schedule. Doesn't Ish fish the BPT side and would the FLW schedule line up as well for him as far as dates go? I think Cox is making the smartest move of all them and we might see more follow that line of thought. Don't think we will be seeing any major number of exodus from anywhere this year. Just my opinion.

[smbass77]

Interesting Austin Felic said his sponsors are pushing him towards the elites

[D.O.C. 989]

Gotta go where the boss tells you to go for sure.

[218_fishing]

Would be neat as hell to see Austin on the Tour with Seth! Nothing like local northern guys fishing!

[grout-scout]

Good article on Bassfan, and some interesting comments by the FLW anglers who qualified for the Elites. http://bassfan.com/news_article/9758...s#.Xab7ahgpD3A

Have you heard through the grapevine if BASS is going to expand the field or drop the lower ranking guys?

[TritonJT]

Have you heard through the grapevine if BASS is going to expand the field or drop the lower ranking guys?

Can't drop until end of next year.

[chaseerry]

Great article. Really hope Cox goes to the Elites!

[grout-scout]

Can't drop until end of next year.

[fishballer06]

Have you heard through the grapevine if BASS is going to expand the field or drop the lower ranking guys?

I wouldn't be surprised to see them expand the field a little. My guess though is that they're going to wait and see how many of the FLW guys are trying to make the jump over first. There's a few big name guys in the FLW that I'm sure BASS would love to show off as one of their own moving forward.

[TritonJT]

The field is going to increase by 10 this year from Opens.

[bschwoep]

I thought I read an article saying BASS would like the to get the elite field back to around 100 eventually but I could be wrong.

[BassCatKev]

Austin Felix's comments about his sponsors pushing him Elite direction could be interpreted a lot of different ways to justify his personal decision. Most endemic brands don't want to alienate either tour. The bass fishing industry is too small to do that. There will be pros switching back and forth all the time. I can't imagine being able to fish both without missing some days of one event sometime. The 6 competition days thing still blows my mind.
I admired his honesty on how he was ticked off last year when he wasn't invited. So he fished the Opens and got it anyway. Pretty impressive.
Sounds like Bryan Schmitt was confident in his decision as well.

Can someone explain the comment above about Cox letting 5K go down the drain to fish another tour? What's that all about?

I truly believe the best fishermen adapt to whatever format comes their way. Look at all the formats BASS has tried to some extent or another through the years. Many of the same hammers are right there being a threat every year. But I will acknowledge that getting away from the standard 5 fish limit is a new thing altogether. I remember years ago (well before MLF) KVD was asked his opinion on whatever it was that BASS was going to do that particular year regarding AOY scoring and the tour schedule details. He basically said whatever they decide on he'll just adapt and go fishing. It wasn't a profound statement but I could tell it came from having seen all types of ideas through the years to spice things up. He had already experienced the cycle multiple times and it really wasn't a big deal to him because it was going to be the same for all participants. All this is more of the same to the old guard. But for the younger guys it is probably very stressful being that they have many first time relationships in the industry.

[grandbassslayer]

It would be neat to see Cox do both if he can.

[RazorShine]

Can someone explain the comment above about Cox letting 5K go down the drain to fish another tour? What's that all about?.

He said that if he fished the Elites and FLW next year as both current 2020 schedules stand, that he would only miss one FLW event. Meaning, paying the 5k entry, and not fishing it.

[Mark Perry]

I hope Cox does fish the Elites. Very curious to see if any MLF/BPT anglers return to BASS as well.

[PsuHntr]

I hope that Cox is able to fish both tours it would be interesting to see how he does

[ST8Bugging]

Question. It was just touched on a bit by BassCatKev.

Do sponsors have much say in where an angler fishes? Are their contracts set up that in depth?

[CDN Bass]

I had a hard enough time trying to get my head around the Cup/Summit format, which title tx I was watching, and trying to follow the dragged out competition, that I simply stopped watching it. I tried to follow FLW, but I lost almost all interest after the Canucks left. The loss of the FLW Cup, which I watched, seels the exodus for me this coming year. The six day format in the new FLW/BPT is just too much. I simply don't have time to watch 6 days of competition, especially when they will force the MLF format down my throat for the last 3 days. Someone mentioned that it was like resetting the score to 0-0 at half time. That's just retarded, unless there is a decent payout for the first three days, and another for the Minnow League Fishing division. I started watching BASS on TNN many moons ago, and loved it. I'm not averse to change, but I like the 5 big fish format, simply because I fish for big fish. I can go out and catch dinks all day long. There is no challenge in that.

Now that WFN has disappeared in Canada and the Sportsman's Channel is an extra subscription, I can only watch streamed tx's. Having said that, most of the streams buffer and lock up, so being retired, I simply go out fishing instead... for big fish.

... Can someone explain the comment above about Cox letting 5K go down the drain to fish another tour? What's that all about? ...

Cox:
“The new format is not something I feel like I’d do well at, but I would like to try it out,” Cox said. “It would be so cool to do the Elites and do the FLW ones, even without practice. I don’t want to hate on it because I haven’t fished it, but I’m just glad to have both opportunities. I’m excited about both schedules and if the schedules stay the same, I would only miss one (FLW) tournament. If you’re willing to pay an entry and not show up for one, who cares. You’re not stranding a co-angler or anything like that. For me, that would be ideal. That way, I can try the new format and see if it works for me and still be able to do what I love to do.”

Read more: http://bassfan.com/news_article/9758...#ixzz62WVR3u4w