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kissimmee chain by the numbers
Three Bass Pro Tour events have provided a wealth of information
By Steven Bardin and Gary Klein
When the MLF Bass Pro Tour diverted from an “ every-fishcounts ” scoring structure to a format that counts the anglers ’ heaviest five fish , there was a lot of speculation about the impact it would have on competition and strategy .
We had similar questions in the MLF Fisheries Management Division ( FMD ), the biggest of which being if and how a change to the scoring rules would affect the amount of data we were able to collect and provide to state fisheries biologists . Those of us who work in FMD have taken pride in the fact that each Bass Pro Tour competition has resulted in thousands of fish catches recorded ( down to the GPS location , which is time-stamped and confirmed by the angler and the official ). This data was scientifically significant – and , more importantly , the data set was large enough to make population level assumptions for the fisheries .
We theorized that changing the scoring rules could impact the number of fish caught , and we were anxious to see how the data from 2023 would stack up to past seasons .
Luckily for us , the first event of the 2023 season took place on a group of fisheries where the Bass Pro Tour has quite a bit of history . The Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in Florida is defined by lakes Tohopekaliga , Russell , Cypress , Hatchineha , Kissimmee , Tiger and their attached canals . It was the home of the inaugural Bass Pro Tour event in 2019 , has hosted a summertime General Tire Heavy Hitters event and now is the home for the first BPT event using a five-fish cumulative weight . Immediately after the last event , FMD got to work analyzing the data and trying to understand exactly what impact ( if any ) the scoring rule had on data collection . scoring rules foR eaCH EVENT
Before we compare results , we must recognize that each of the three events mentioned above had slightly different rules , numbers of anglers and minimum weights . For this story , I ’ ll break down the events based on the number of angler days and angler hours , so we ’ re able to make direct comparisons . We ’ ll assume that each Bass Pro Tour angler has the potential to fish for a maximum of 7 1 / 2 hours – three 2 1 / 2- hour periods – with no running time from morning launch or returning to weigh-in to shorten their fishing time .
2019 bass pro tour stage one
( Jan . 29 – feb . 2 )
• The 80 anglers were divided into two 40-angler groups , and each group had two days of competition for their Qualifying Rounds .
2019 — Bass Pro Tour Stage One 2020 — General Tire Heavy Hitters
2023 — Bass Pro Tour Stage One
10 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | APRIL-MAY 2023