Major League Fishing (MLF) is a professional bass fishing league and sports television show that airs on Outdoor Channel, World Fishing Network and Discovery Channel. The league's headquarters are located in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The MLF was established in partnership between the Professional Bass Tour Anglers' Association (PBTAA) and Outdoor Channel as an answer to other professional fishing tournaments that the anglers compete in.[1][2] It was the top-rated show on Outdoor Channel.[3][4]
Major League Fishing is different from other professional fishing tournaments in that every bass boat has a referee on board to weigh each catch immediately and ensure quick catch and release, and all fisherman have a constant update on how fellow competitors are performing through iPads on their boats.[5] Additionally, anglers do not know where they are going before the day of the competition, as it focuses more on the anglers's personalities and struggles under competition pressure rather than purely on yields and rankings.[6] This new style of tournament fishing[7] was designed with conservation in mind, and anglers are not allowed to land fish, grab them for long, or keeping them in the boat's live well.[8][9] The shows are fished without revealing results instantly, as the results are shown when the television program airs.[10][11]
History
editIn 2010, the anglers of the PBTAA met with the Outdoor Channel to outline the first Major League Fishing competition—the 2012 Challenge Cup was filmed at Amistad Reservoir, Texas, in 2011 and aired on the Outdoor Channel in 2012.[2] Professional Anglers Boyd Duckett[12] and Gary Klein represent the anglers and originally came up with the idea of Major League Fishing.[13] Major League Fishing is sponsored by a number of fishing-related companies and external organizations including Bass Pro Shops, General Tire, Lowrance, SIG Sauer and Geico.[14][15][16] Many other fishing clubs around the country now use the MLF format for their tournaments, including the Brecknell digital scales used in competition and the SCORETRACKER LIVE! scoring system, as MLF continues to grow.[17][18][19][20][21] In 2019 MLF purchased Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) one of the prominent national bass fishing tours. They have maintained most of the FLW tournaments however the FLW Tour was discontinued and anglers given priority entry to the new MLF Invitationals, the qualifying series for the MLF Bass Pro Tour.
Anglers
editProfessional anglers who currently compete in Major League Fishing are B.A.S.S. or Fishing League Worldwide current or retired pros, including Edwin Evers, Kevin VanDam, Mike Iaconelli, Skeet Reese, Casey Ashley, Ott DeFoe and Gabriel Kilgore .[22]
Events
editMajor League Fishing has two independent competitions, the Selects and Cups, which are each fished by a different set of anglers.[22][23] The Cup anglers also compete for a chance to fish the MLF World Championship, which airs on CBS.[24] MLF Cup events feature 3 days of competitions between 10 anglers, with the top 4 advancing from each day of competition into a Sudden Death Round. In the Sudden Death Rounds, the first 3 anglers to hit a designated "cut weight" receive a spot in the Championship Round, which is winner-take-all.[25][26][27]
Cup Champions
- 2012 Challenge Cup - Brent Ehrler[28]
- 2013 Summit Cup - Denny Brauer[28]
- 2013 Challenge Cup - Edwin Evers[28]
- 2014 Summit Cup - Kevin VanDam [28]
- 2014 Challenge Cup - Kelly Jordon[28]
- 2015 Summit Cup - Scott Suggs [28]
- 2015 Challenge Cup - Edwin Evers[28]
- 2016 Summit Cup - Kevin VanDam[28]
- 2016 Challenge Cup - Bobby Lane [28]
- 2017 Summit Cup - Mike Iaconelli[28]
- 2017 Challenge Cup - Jacob Wheeler [28]
- 2018 Summit Cup - Skeet Reese [28]
- 2018 Challenge Cup - Kevin VanDam [28]
- 2019 Summit Cup - Mike Iaconelli
- 2019 Challenge Cup - Jacob Wheeler
- 2020 Summit Cup - Takahiro Omori
- 2020 Challenge Cup - Jeff Sprague
- 2021 Summit Cup - Marty Robinson
- 2021 Challenge Cup - Edwin Evers
World Champions
- 2017 World Championship - Bobby Lane [29]
- 2018 World Championship - Greg Hackney
- 2019 World Championship - Jacob Wheeler
- 2020 World Championship - Jordan Lee
Bass Pro Tour Champions
2019
- Stage One Kissimmee - Jordan Lee
- Stage Two Conroe - Edwin Evers
- Stage Three Raleigh - Jacob Powroznik
- Stage Four Dayton - Andy Morgan
- Stage Five Cullman - Dean Rojas
- Stage Six Branson - Aaron Martens
- Stage Seven Table Rock Lake - Jacob Wheeler
- Stage Eight Neenah - Cliff Pace
- REDCREST La Crosse - Edwin Evers
References
edit- ^ "The Courier - Your Messenger for the River Valley - Major League Fishing major fun". Archived from the original on 2017-08-02. Retrieved 2017-04-19.
- ^ a b "History - Major League Fishing". Archived from the original on 2017-05-02. Retrieved 2017-04-19.
- ^ "Major League Fishing Celebrates 5-Year Anniversary with Top Rating | Fishing Wire". www.thefishingwire.com.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-07-03. Retrieved 2017-04-19.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Media, STEVE ROGERS-For Shaw. "'Major League Fishing' is a good change of pace". www.morrisherald-news.com.
- ^ "Major League Fishing". World Fishing Network. February 5, 2015.
- ^ "BassFan - bass fishing news, tips, tournament coverage". www.bassfan.com.
- ^ "Major League Fishing Strengthens Fish Care Rules". wired2fish.com.
- ^ "Major League Fishing: An Innovative Competition". www.hukgear.com.
- ^ Weiske, Brian (January 29, 2015). "Bexel Lands Championship Events for Major League Fishing™".
- ^ "Want to find out who won this pro fishing tournament? Sorry, we can't help you | the Kansas City Star". Archived from the original on 2016-07-07. Retrieved 2017-04-19.
- ^ Watson, Jimmy. "Boyd Duckett repairs way to millions". shreveporttimes.com.
- ^ "Major League Fishing Adds 5 Pros to MLF Select Events". February 9, 2018.
- ^ "SIG SAUER, Inc. Joins Major League Fishing for 2017 Season". AmmoLand.com. August 29, 2016.
- ^ "Lowrance celebrates 60 years". Boating Industry.
- ^ "MLF - About - Sponsors - Major League Fishing". Archived from the original on 2017-05-05. Retrieved 2017-04-19.
- ^ "About Us | Indy League Fishing". Archived from the original on 2016-11-29. Retrieved 2017-04-19.
- ^ "Major League Fishing Inspires Competition that Raises More Than $25,000 for United Way in Ohio". June 23, 2016.
- ^ "SCORETRACKER LIVE". scoretrackerlive.com.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "BassFan - bass fishing news, tips, tournament coverage". www.bassfan.com.
- ^ a b "MLF - Anglers Profiles - All - Major League Fishing". Archived from the original on 2017-04-21. Retrieved 2017-04-19.
- ^ "TV Growth Is Main Objective Of Angler-Owned MLF". BassFan.
- ^ "Major League Fishing announces World Championship | Bass Angler Magazine". January 10, 2017.
- ^ "The Courier - Your Messenger for the River Valley - Major League Fishing major fun". Archived from the original on 2017-03-12. Retrieved 2017-04-19.
- ^ "MLF - Events - Cup Listing - Major League Fishing". Archived from the original on 2017-04-21. Retrieved 2017-04-19.
- ^ "MLF - Events - Selects - Listing - Major League Fishing". Archived from the original on 2017-04-21. Retrieved 2017-04-19.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Major League Fishing". Major League Fishing.
- ^ Majorleaguefishing.com