アメリカBASSトーナメント参戦を目指すアマチュアバサー、KenD(けんでぃ)の奮戦記をお送りします。。。

数釣り合戦の批判を浴び、逆境に立たされたBPT。
早くも2020シーズンの、大胆なレギュレーション改革を断行！
ミニマム1lbのキーパーサイズが、大胆に変更されます！！

※タイトル画像はMLF公式HPより

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BPT、2020レギュレーション改革を断行

皆さんこんにちは、ディープストリームのKenD（けんでぃ）です。
さて年明け早々、アメリカからビッグニュースが飛び込んできました。
何と2020年のバスプロツアー(BPT)では、1lbだったキーパーサイズ（スコアラブルフィッシュ）が変更されるというのです！！

(©MLF)

2019.05.24

:[D] アーロン初優勝！バスプロツアー第6戦に感じた「これで良いのか？」感

バスプロツアー第6戦、"天才"アーロンが初優勝！ 火を噴くディープ・ドロップショットで、何と50尾の大量水揚げ！？ 6戦を終えた新ツアーの、「あるべき形」を振り返ります。。。 ...

カウント尾数無制限ルールにより、「小バスの数釣り合戦」という批判を浴びていたBPT。
わずか一年で多くのスポンサーと共に、パラニュークやスウィンドルといったスター選手の離脱を招いてしまいました。
しかし謙虚にその反省に立ち、すぐにルール変更を打ち出したスピード感には逆に感心させられます。

(©BASSMASTER)

2019.11.28

:[号外] パラニューク＆スウィンドル、エリート電撃復帰！！

FLWを買収し、盤石の体制を整えたかに見えたMLF。 しかしファーストシーズンで、スター選手がまさかの離脱！？ 暗雲立ち込めるバスプロツアー、エリートの逆襲が始まります！！ ※トップ画像はBASSMATER.comより ...

Bass Pro Tour Implements Variable Minimum Weight for 2020
2-pound Minimum Will Be In Play at Season Opener on Lake Eufaula

By Joel Shangle – January 9, 2020

TULSA, Okla. – Some notable rule changes and competition twists will be in play for 2020 on the MLF Bass Pro Tour, including a new minimum weight requirement that raises the standard on the size of bass weighed at national tour-level events.

Under rules approved this week by the Major League Fishing Anglers Association (MLFAA) and drafted into the official league rulebook, MLF will introduce a variable minimum weight system for Bass Pro Tour competition waters in 2020, starting with a 2-pound minimum weight for a scorable bass at the season opener at Lake Eufaula, Alabama (Feb. 7-12).

Minimum weights will be determined individually for each competition water to follow, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery. With quality largemouth and smallmouth factories like Lake Fork, the Kissimmee Chain, the Raleigh-area lakes and the St. Lawrence River on the 2020 schedule, the potential exists for even more robust minimum weights.

“The goal is to offer a minimum that’s a quality bass for that fishery, to set the bar higher at each fishery than has traditionally been set,” said MLFAA Board Director Boyd Duckett. “We’ll start with a 2-pounder as the minimum at Eufaula – that’s a realistic minimum for that fishery – and assess our fisheries almost like you would in golf, where every course has a different par. At certain lakes, a scorable bass would be 2 pounds, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 3-pound minimum at a place like Lake Fork or Toho. These are unprecedented minimum sizes.”

Raising the Bar at Eufaula

The 2-pound minimum for Eufaula significantly raises the average scoring requirement above the 12- to 15-inch minimums mandated by most state fisheries managers (and used for traditional tournament scoring). According to extensive nationwide research compiled by bass biologist Steven Bardin, an average 12-inch largemouth in good health weighs 0.9 pounds (14 ounces); an average 15-inch largemouth weighs 1 pound, 13 ounces.

The Lake Eufaula 14-inch minimum mandated by Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries – the standard used by tournament organizations as the minimum size allowed in a tournament weigh-in on the Alabama/Georgia border lake – translates to a 1-pound, 8-ounce bass (25 percent smaller on average than the 2-pound Bass Pro Tour minimum)

“The fish in Eufaula will weigh the heaviest they weigh all year when we fish there because they’ll be pre-spawn and carrying their weight through the winter, but a 2-pound minimum on any fishery is a game-changer,” said MLF NOW! analyst Marty Stone, who competed in over 230 tour-level events in his 16-year professional career. “These anglers will be competing on the equivalent of an 11-foot hoop in basketball or swinging for a 400-foot fence in baseball.

“We’re going to show up at one of the best fisheries in the country at Eufaula and ask these guys to fish for a minimum weight standard that’s the highest in the history of our sport. We know they’re going to catch big ones, but raising the bar to a 2-pound minimum resets the playing field. I’ll be interested to see how that affects the game.”

The variable minimum weight will not be incorporated into MLF Cup competitions or the World Championship.

Automatic Championship Berths on the Line Early

Another major addition to the Bass Pro Tour competition framework for 2020 is an automatic berth in the 10-man Championship Round for the two anglers with the heaviest combined weights in the newly renamed Qualifying Rounds (formerly the Shotgun and Elimination Rounds).

Days 3 and 4 of the Bass Pro Tour – the second Qualifying Rounds for each 40-angler group – will result in one angler apiece earning a berth in the finals, which gives them a 1-in-10 chance of earning a championship trophy, automatically guarantees a paycheck of $12,000 to $100,000, and secures a minimum of 71 of 80 possible points in Cup standings (which translates into more guaranteed money for every Cup event an angler qualifies for).

It also refocuses pressure on the Top 10 and encourages anglers to fish more aggressively in the early rounds, whereas they may have laid off fish in 2019’s Elimination Round competition structure.

“There were plenty of days (in 2019) where I caught them really good on Day 1, caught them just ‘good enough’ on Day 2 to stay where I needed to stay in that Top 10, then started to shake fish off or stayed completely out of some of my best areas,” admitted Andy Morgan, who, in addition to winning Stage Four on Lake Chickamauga, finished in the Top 10 in five qualifying rounds where he did not eventually advance to the championship. “Being able to come right out of your Qualifying Rounds and go to the championship is a big deal. If we had this rule in place in 2019, I’m pretty sure I could’ve made a run at several more Championship Rounds.”

（©MLF）

Bass Pro Tour Implements Variable Minimum Weight for 2020

MLFの公式アナウンスによれば、

1.カウンタブルサイズは試合ごとに変更する。開幕戦レイク・ユーファウラでは2Lb以上

2.予選1位通過選手（A,B各リーグから1名づつの計2名）には準決勝免除（自動的に決勝進出）

・・・という事のようで、1lb(約30cm前後の個体)が2lb(約40cm前後の個体)に変われば戦略は劇的に変化することでしょう。
キーパー2lb程度への変更は当サイトでも切望していましたが、本当に速攻で改善されたことにはかなり驚きました。
どんどん良いトーナメントへ進化していこうというBPTの前向きな姿勢が、こうしたところからも透けて見える気がします。

(©MLF)

というわけで、このルール刷新でBPTはがぜん面白い試合になるのか？
2/7からの初戦・アラバマ州レイク・ユーファウラ戦を楽しみに待ちたいと思います。

（大森選手＆深江選手の活躍を心待ちにしています！！）

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