MLF formatyour for club events?

fishbonz412 · Post by **fishbonz412** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 7:35 am

Hello WB,

Has anyone out there tried to emulate the model of MLF weight format, at the club level? I envision using your mobile phone to shoot a video of your calibrated scale (ideally same for all members) then weighing the fish using some standard format to minimize risk of cheating, show the weight on scale then release of the fish so that fish cannot be weighed more than once. Videos on phones are typically date/time stamped, I think. I envision the TD having a time consuming task of verifying each video, weight, then adding it all up to get a total weight.

Any thoughts?

ash · Post by **ash** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 7:42 am

I think if one did it like the Kayak tournaments - With a Golden Rule measuring board that has hte length and weight. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Gator_G ... zwQAvD_BwE

Take a picture of the fish on the Golden Rule and submit to the TD. Of course that would mean the TD isnt fishing. The truth is the MLF format is a great to see on TV format, but on a club level i dont see many clubs changing formats unless MLF comes out with a guideline etc.... its too complicated and takes away from the guys standing around and sharing their experiences and lets face it thats why most people fish in Clubs is for the Comeraderi.

JoeLanghans · Post by **JoeLanghans** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 7:58 am

This would never work on a smaller scale. Too time consuming and tedious. You’d be on your phone more than fishing. Then, not knowing the results of the tournament for weeks after due to the hours upon hours of video review and documentation. The MLF format is designed for the tv audience not for the amateur tournament fishermen. MLF and the BPT had to raise millions of dollars from investors along with the investments of major sponsors to start this new venture. If it doesn’t make money or make sense for the sponsors to be invested, the temporary excitement/funds will run out. BASS will always be around due to it’s popularity and the normal tournament format has been the most exciting factor to this sport. If anything, localized bass fishing clubs will die out, being replaced by tournament circuits like BBT, WWBT, Future Pro and many more.

WRB · Post by **WRB** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 10:48 am

Any derby that offers prizes or prize money, including local bass tournaments, must have a method to prevent cheating. The blind draw format that Ray Scott based B.A.S.S. tournaments on usually works, 1 angler with a independant marshal has worked and MLF format with a TV cameraman and marshal is working. Local team events with fixed partners are problematic with prize money purse and cheaters are caught* from time to time.
So how does a local tournament police their events is always the question.
Tom
*Remember Mike Hart and many others caught cheating.

R. Duzac · Post by **R. Duzac** » Tue Oct 30, 2018 8:36 am

I think it could work. Bass Classics of Santa Clara when they were around used the Card System.

For MLF style.
Everyone purchase matching scales.
Prior to every tournament all scales are verified with 5 lb weight.
All boats carry 2 calibrated scales.
Club carries extra in case a boaters scale falls out of calibration, bad batteries, etc.

All tournaments I think would have to be Draw Tournament.
You create some type of weigh sheet that every boater would use to tally their weights.
Pretty simple if you ask me.

I really like the idea especially during spring where so much sight fishing is done. You then would be releasing the female close to the bed. Now hopefully she doesn't want to bite anything for the rest of the day

, otherwise you might see a boat following right behind you.

Interesting idea.

ttb31183 · Post by **ttb31183** » Tue Oct 30, 2018 11:38 am

We have done it once and it worked out pretty well. How we did it was boater and co-angler format and random draw. Boaters weighed and entered co's fish on their phone and vise versa. It's not perfect but the draw format eliminated some people's fears that anyone would exaggerate weights instead of weighing your own or your buddy's fish. We did require everyone to purchase the exact scales for the event and tested them to make sure they were close.

The biggest issues we found was making sure the body of water has cell service everywhere or it won't be accurate. Also, some guys had older phones or weren't too tech savvy to use it correctly.

It was definitely pretty fun!

kopper_bass · Post by **kopper_bass** » Thu Nov 01, 2018 11:43 am

our club did the golden ruler system, and while it worked, it wasnt perfect. guys were easily avoiding to get the lip fully up against the board, and gained another 1/2 in. the other issue with the golden ruler method is that after 20inches (i think thats it?) the fish is just too big to calculate, and becomes a lunker that is given a fixed weight/points. also if your fishing spotted bass, its easy to get those long, lean fish that dont weigh nearly the weight they project for the largemouth at the same length.

I would NEVER want to do that for a money tournament, but, at the end of the day, if its just a fun tournament and just bragging rights, it worked.

Kopper_bass

Ring King · Post by **Ring King** » Thu Nov 01, 2018 12:44 pm

Kayak tournaments do length only. We all use the same model or models (approved in advance by the tournament director) of measuring boards and then upload our pics to a tourney hosting site such as TourneyX.com, IAngler, or ICatch. Each photo must have a unique identifier in the pic, the fish facing left with dorsal fin up, and mouth closed. Everyone’s phones must have their GPS enabled for their phone app. The tourney hosting site has an auto cull feature so that only the top five fish for each Angler show on the real time leader board. Anyone can check the standings at any time throughout the day unless the tourney director opts to turn the standings off. Only the person selected as the tournament judge can log in and see the photo submission location which ensures all fish were caught on tournament eligible waters. For our events the judge is usually someone on the other side of the country so there are no issues with them knowing where our fish are caught. Fish are measured to the closest 1/4” and any ties are broken by the competitor with the largest single fish.

The format works very well and is in use at all levels of competitive kayak fishing across the country. I know that may sound strange to some of the boaters on here but kayak tournaments these days tend to have payouts that equal and many times exceed what bass boat tournaments payout.

The 100 kayak field that just finished the KBF Trail Series Championship tournament at Toledo Bend was competing for $20,000 if you were signed up for the bonus money and that was with a $100 entry fee. Our KBF National Championship that was held at Kentucky Lake last March paid $100,000 to the winner and 2cd place was almost $50,000 with the Bonus Bucks payout. That one had a $350 entry fee and the field was made up of almost 800 kayakers from around the country.