Shreveport-Bossier is no stranger to hosting high level bass tournaments, most recently last month the Major League Fishing organization (MLF) brought their Summit Cup Team Series to local area lakes.

Over the last 25 years or so, Major League Fishing has brought several BFL’s, the Toyota Series and Team Series to our region. The B.A.S.S. organization has brought the Bassmaster Classic twice to Shreveport-Bossier’s mighty Red River.

There’s also been the highly prestigious MLF All-American tournament that was held on Cross Lake a few years ago as local angler Nick Lebrun took home first place, and kick started his professional career that he’s still enjoying today.

While all these events have had a huge impact on the economy in our area, these team events are only a handful of guys (24 anglers) fishing in a team format with two anglers in the boat.

In these Team Series events, there are 12 two-man teams. MLF has four different Cup events each year called the Challenge, Heritage, Patriot and Summit where these teams fish in an elimination-style format cutting from 12 teams over a six-day period down to four in the championship round.

While most regular professional tours are huge in terms of the number of anglers (usually over 150), and crowds at weigh-ins, the biggest thing for a Team Series event like the Summit Cup is how the economic impact comes later once this made-for-TV tournament airs nationwide next spring.

Here’s how the team series works. First, anglers are paired up through a draft where one captain of each team picks another angler from a pool of MLF anglers. The fishing format of the Team Series is every fish counts as the fish are weighed, recorded and released immediately.

Once the teams have been established, MLF will select a city where the Team Series will converge not knowing what lake they will be fishing until the morning of the event. Each day of the elimination rounds, anglers are loaded into a truck for a ride to whatever lake MLF has selected for competition.

While anglers have no information or practice time in any of these Team Series events, it’s a true test of figuring out how to locate and catch bass on a new body of water. That’s the premise of the MLF Team Series – no practice, no information and no idea where they are fishing until they arrive at the ramp of the waterway they will be fishing that day.

The anglers themselves absolutely love this format as it brings out the best in their ability to figure a new body of water in a short time. It’s a pride thing for all professional anglers who take more pleasure in finding fish than they do catching them.

If you’re not a fan of Major League Fishing, I highly encourage you to go online at majorleaguefishing.com and follow their entire tournament organization and the many circuits they own. They host tournaments from the grass roots level like the BFL’s up to the highest professional level with the Bass Pro Tour.

Also, when you see any of the Shreveport-Bossier city officials, let them know how much you appreciate them bringing in these high-level tournaments and what it means to our economy. The economic impact is huge for the entire region when any of these top-rated bass organizations come to our area.

Contact Steve at sgraf26@yahoo.com