Tournament fishing has always been the perfect ground for innovations. Fishing enthusiasts from all over the world turn to fishing competitions media channels for fresh info on the latest techniques and tackle. We’re all avid learners, so we like to stay informed.

USA is, for quite a long time now, the perfect environment to aim for a professional fishing career. Bassmaster and FLW Outdoors are the two magnates when it comes to cash prized fishing tournaments. They took fishing to a whole new level, designing the biggest competing environment for pro anglers.

Even though I’m a European angler, I couldn’t stay away from fishing tournaments. It just felt like the perfect place to learn a lot, make friends that share your “disease” and test your limits.
Even though Europe fishing tournaments are still far from what’s happening in the US, they are gaining ground day by day. The technology hype makes it easy for avid anglers all over the world to stay in the loop and fishing tackle ships worldwide in just a couple of days.

Now, there’s a new player out there, waiting to gain ground in professional bass fishing tournaments. It’s called Major League Fishing.

What I like most about it is that it comes packed with a new set of tournament rules. Rules that will change the way you see tournament fishing. All putting a lot of pressure on the angler and getting them out of their comfort zone. They will need to adapt, think and react fast. Otherwise they will face disaster. It will be quite a show, to watch the best of the best competing in these totally new conditions.

The best part about it is that I pictured something extremely similar as the “close to perfection fishing tournament”. I thought about most of these rules before MLF was invented and said to myself…what if?

Well, gladly they’re here now, so let’s see what Major League Fishing adds to the table:

1. No practice days, no way-points

The anglers aren’t allowed any practice days, nor to use their GPS waypoints. This basically eliminates their start strategy and leaves them blind before entering the water. Besides, they are limited to fish on designated sections of the lake that will be disclosed to them 12 hours before the competition rounds begin.
I’m dying to see how the pros react without any practice conclusions.

2. Real time leader board in each bass boat

Now this is a real stress element. Imagine you will know instantly when someone else catches a fish. There are iPads that show a leaderboard with instant catches in every boat. You will know how you rank in any given moment of time.
It will be really hard to focus on your fishing under this circumstances.

3. No limits on the number of fish weighed

Remember the biggest 5 fish rule from FLW or Bassmaster? There’s no place for it here. Why have limits? I always thought that the 5 fish limit increases the percent of luck in this sport. That’s why this is my favorite rule. This comes as a real physical challenge. It will take speed and hard work to climb to the top of the leaderboard.

4. Smaller field of 24 competitors
What this rule does is increase the quality of fishing. Fewer anglers means better fishing and more catches, which is what the audience wants. They will put together 24 of the top pro anglers to compete in this tournament.

Major League Fishing will be available online through pay-per-view broadcast, beginning February 13. I see it as the first tournament fishing “soap opera”, so make sure you don’t miss it!

About Adrian

Professional angler, web enthusiast and tackle fanatic. Always in search for new things that can improve his fishing.

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