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Who is MLF?
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Major League Fishing, or MLF,
was founded in 2011 by a group of
professional anglers who wanted
to create a new style of bass fish-
ing tournament that was made for
the TV consumer. The first tourna-
ments aired on the Outdoor
Channel.
Today, the organization is owned
by Outdoor Sportsman Group and
Pro Bass Tour. The organization hosts
MLF Cup and MLF Select events,
which are multiple-round fishing
tournaments with small field sizes
that are filmed exclusively for televi-
sion, as well as the MLF Bass Pro
Tour. The Bass Pro Tour launched in
2019 as the first and only profession-
al bass circuit to operate with zero
entry fees. Its field of 80 includes
many of the world’s best anglers.
They compete in eight stages – each
six days long – to qualify for the MLF
REDCREST championship.
Notable for MLF is a new style of
tournament scoring. Rather than
anglers holding bass in their livewells
to carry to weigh-in, MLF events
score every bass that meets a mini-
mum weight. An official rides in each
competitor’s boat to weigh and
record each fish, assign any neces-
sary penalties and tally the day’s
catch. Bass are immediately released
after they’re weighed.
The need to constantly catch bass
in order to have a shot at winning is
one reason why MLF tournament
shows are among the most popular
in outdoor television, and why
they’re made available to millions of
fans on Outdoor Channel, Discovery,
CBS, CBS Sports Network, World
Fishing Network, Sportsman Channel
and MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Bass Pro
Tour action is also available live via
the MLF Now! Live Stream online or
on MOTV.
For more details on MLF’s unique
format, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.
You can also download the MOTV app
to access live streams, full episodes
and expanded content from both FLW
and MLF.
What’s Changing with FLW
The sale of FLW is good news for
members and anglers who compete
with the organization, as the FLW
brand will continue into the future,
and, for the most part, the hierarchy
of tournaments will remain
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