Are the Western MLF Toyota Series FINISHED?!

Post by **WB Staff** » Mon May 20, 2024 6:10 am

Are the Western MLF Toyota Series FINISHED?! (Ken Mah & Alan Gray)

birdman920 · Post by **birdman920** » Mon May 20, 2024 8:22 pm

I can’t see MLF Western series lasting much longer ! low participation is killing them ! tournament fishing out west has become a rich man’s sport !

ILW · Post by **ILW** » Tue May 21, 2024 5:54 am

But whats really the difference between the west and anywhere else? Why is there so much support for the tournaments other places and the west there isn't?
I know prices are higher here for gas and boat licensing and taxes etc, but so are wagers so relatviely that equals out and I don't know this answer but are new boat prices different here than everywhere else or are the fisherman trying to pay new boat prices in states where wages are less? Is Tackle Warehouse pricing different for different states or is everyone paying the same for tackle and gear, but everyone that is every place else is doing on non-west coast wages?
I dont know. I am just asking what is really the difference here for this circuit as opposed to other places where the circuit draws so many boats?

bustemup · Post by **bustemup** » Tue May 21, 2024 11:49 am

It seems like all of the larger tournament orgs have struggled out west since the Opens left, back in 05 or 06.
Back then you were able to qualify for a national tour by fishing the series and finishing in the top 5 in points. If you only cashed checks, but got enough points to qualify for the tour, you still felt like a winner, and possibly made a good future for yourself.

This is also when the rookie orgs came out, FPT and BBT. IMO this ruined team tournaments, and probably hurt numbers for the pro-ams as well, as it split things up. And, a majority of guys decided they would rather resort to fishing those, as they felt like they can cash a check easier.

I'd bet about 5% of anglers are actually positive for the year fishing the MLF out west, and those guys aren't positive by much. A lot of guys are just well off and do it for fun, and to pound their chest if they actually pull one off. Most guys get home to a wife yelling at them and asking them WTF they are doing donating to these orgs and never bringing home the bacon. So, they go back to FPT or BBT, or sell their boat.

Mcjenson · Post by **Mcjenson** » Tue May 21, 2024 3:05 pm

At the end of the day, I think it is also a straight up numbers issue. In the west we maybe have a few hundred guys willing to fish pro side of bigger tournaments. Between MLF, WON, BAM and all the other trails you just can't spread guys this thin.

In states like Texas or Alabama where you have thousands of guys fishing pro sides, it doesn't take such a big percentage of guys turning out for every tournament. Not to mention those guys can fish a complete Toyota series within a few hours of their house, where the distance from Clear Lake to Havasu is a 12 hour drive.

birdman920 · Post by **birdman920** » Wed May 22, 2024 7:37 pm

speaking from personal experience, I fished teams and pro/ams for the last 30 years ! the cost has skyrocketed to fish ! and personal income hasn’t increased enough on average for a lot of people to continue ! California is not the state to fish tournaments !

Chad Sweitzer · Post by **Chad Sweitzer** » Wed May 22, 2024 11:43 pm

Unless you’re trying to go back east and fish the championship and fish the Tour, the MLF doesn’t seem like a smart financial decision. If you’ve got money to burn or sponsors to cover some of the costs then I could see the reasoning behind competing. An MLF win is probably the most prestigious win available on the west coast other than the US Open. I’ll probably fish the full WON season and cherry pick the Clear Lake MLF next year, even though the WON format is not my preferred way to fish.

Phoenix1 · Post by **Phoenix1** » Sat May 25, 2024 7:17 am

Well MLF is a great nationally ran circuit, but the $1800 dollar price tag is just to much for me and I'm sure many other fisherman. So then why does it work back East?? Well ask yourself this question if the TOC was that say at Clearlake!! Do you think there numbers would go down? everything is right in there back yard for us its a huge expense. I remember when the Elites came here all they did was complain and they have huge sponsors to help them out, a nationally ran circuit has to not work for somebody and that would be us. Answer!! lower the entry fee and have a TOC in California where most of the fisherman can afford it... if that's not possible then I don't know what to tell you??

Post by **WB Staff** » Tue May 28, 2024 12:33 am

For those that do or have considered fishing MLF Western Series, if you qualified would you go back to the championship? Is there value to that if you're ultimately staying on the west coast and not trying to qualify for a further professional as an angler?

Mcjenson · Post by **Mcjenson** » Wed May 29, 2024 6:20 am

WB Staff wrote: ↑Tue May 28, 2024 12:33 am For those that do or have considered fishing MLF Western Series, if you qualified would you go back to the championship? Is there value to that if you're ultimately staying on the west coast and not trying to qualify for a further professional as an angler?

Fishing that series only makes any kind of sense if you fish enough events to qualify for and plan to fish the championship. For west coast anglers, the travel alone for fishing the western divison is insane. Adding the expenses to traveling to the championship makes it even harder.

If you want to be a pro angler, the west coast just really isn't a great place to be. You are just dumping more costs into a career path that is already brutally hard. Simply moving to northern Alabama or Tennessee makes things way, way easier.

I think WON bass has it figured out, where each event works as a stand-alone. You simply aren't going to find enough guys willing to travel enough to fish a whole series.