After two MLF BPT events there’s 3 things that really stand out to me.
- The scope period is the most dominating period for several anglers.
- You still have to practice both traditional and scoping fish to be relevant at the end for the win.
- 20 anglers are getting cut again this season and that’s definitely on a lot of guys radar.
Knowing that a cold winter and low water temps was still lingering around at our first event in Texas had everyone focused on which period to scope. I chose the first period for the fact that the first day of competition would still have all the fresh fish that really weren’t educated yet. Some guys made other periods work but for the most part, the decision to scope first was a great one because the majority of the field scope the first period and the weights showed.
Trying to say we were in Florida and scope was not necessary to compete was probably a mistake myself/others made. There were still a lot of guys that made the knockout round making great use of their scope and targeting bass. That will become a decision as the year goes on that will probably dictate some outcomes on places like Saginaw Bay and the Potomac River where anglers say that possibly scope won’t be needed, but I bet it will! Finally, the inevitable angler cuts coming based off each anglers career % avg. which is a different way of ranking everyone compared to last year. Fishing to keep your career is a lot different than fishing to win the event when it all comes down to it that has to be affecting some anglers performances but only time will tell! Both B.A.S.S. and Major league fishing are trying different angles with FFS in different circuits. B.A.S.S. with transducer limitations and the BPT has it in use one period per day where the Invitationals have it in use every other day of the event. I got the opportunity to try both styles in both circuits over the last couple weeks in Florida and here’s my thoughts. Just like the domination it has in just a single period at the BPT level, the weights on the days it was in play during the invitational seemed to definitely show out better. Maybe it was from targeting a fish directly or targeting offshore cover to make better casts it definitely showed out in the day end weights from what I could tell! So which is correct? With everyone’s entitled opinion not being wrong and the leagues trying to make the correct adjustments moving forward only time will tell. Although, from an angler that just fished both angles the past two weeks here’s my opinion. The only way to fairly approach practice and the event without being forced to utilize it one period/day is to go “every other event”! Shuffling the cards once again and taking it completely off the table for a single event may be the only way to truly see how dominant FFS is at the highest level of the sport. Now, I love utilizing Garmin Livescope and obviously there’s the rabbit hole of discussions for days on end but to be completely honest and unbiased in my opinion this is just what I’ve observed the last couple weeks competing in both circuits! |
