Automatic berth.
That’s a popular phrase this week at the Bass Pro Tour event on Watts Bar lake. Unique to the BPT format, the auto berth allows winners of each qualifying round (groups A and B) a direct pass to the championship, bypassing the Knockout Round and an otherwise tense day of fishing.
The free pass seems like the greatest thing that can happen to a competitor. But is it? Here, we’re going to dive in to the technical side of the game, as only a superfan can appreciate.
First off, I was surprised to learn that auto qualifiers have won six of the 19 regular-season BPT events to date. That sounds like an impressive stat, considering 38 others qualify for the Knockout Round. But the figure is a bit misleading. Consider that the two auto-qualifiers at each event are facing only eight others in the Championship Round, and we see that 20 percent of the field is actually winning 31 percent of the events. Good, but far from a blowout.
In any case, “auto” is the trending word, as Kevin VanDam took down Group A in deciding fashion, topping his closest competitor by 11 pounds in an otherwise close tournament. It was VanDam’s first auto-qualify. Strange as that may seem, the GOAT has never dominated the early rounds of BPT competition, instead having to duke it out the hard way.
Group B saw a repeat, when David Walker earned his first free pass for taking the top spot amongst those competitors.
So at press time, KVD waltzed his way into the finals after having two days off to think about things. He himself stated that the Knockout Round format produces the most intense day of fishing he’d seen in his long career. Avoiding it would be welcomed. Walker agreed.
But, I wonder. Surely, there’s something to be said about keeping up with the bite. Here, consider that the rest of the field likely did just that.
While auto-qualifiers sleep in and finally score on a continental breakfast, the rest of the field is out there living it. The Bass Pro Tour format rewards quick decisions and fishing on the fly. Gut instincts. Anglers use the ScoreTracker to gauge their place in relation the field, forcing themselves to move out of their comfort zone and swing for the fences. Oftentimes, it works.
Even more notable is the way the format produces an ever-changing competition. Rarely does an angler have a gameplan in the morning that pays off all day. It’s the competitor who continues to change who often comes out on top.
In fact, in nearly every BPT competition I’ve viewed recently, the winner (whether an auto-qualifier or not) fished a new group of fish the final day. Often that winning school of bass had been found prior to the finals, and the winner was bold enough to save them for the Championship Round. Other times, the winner hit gold during the Knockout Round and capitalized on the winning school the following day.
The best chance for a competitor to find such good fortune is to be on the lake as much as possible. But is it worth the risk to forego the auto-qualify?
That’s a real possibility. It will surprise even the diehard fan to know that the BPT has a rule where auto-qualifiers can turn down their free pass. If they so desire, a group winner can still fish the Knockout Round, and would be forced to qualify for the championship the same as as the rest of the field.
Why would they do that, you ask? Well, for starters, it could really pay off. Remember, the Heavy Hitters event features big-bass bonuses that surpass all but the winner’s payout. Is it worth the gamble? Fifty-grand versus, say, 15 grand? I bet it enters the head of a few competitors.
Even more so is the aspect of time on the water. Practicing, as it’s termed. During his second-day charge this week, Ott Defoe (who would not win group B, after all) commented on the need to practice while on the water. With his spot in the Knockout Round secured, Defoe set his sights on winning the round, but not without hesitation.
“I’d like to stay here and practice. I don’t know if there’s enough here to make it to the finals,” he’d say.
Thanks, again, to the format and the need to stay on the active bite, anglers readily find themselves running out of productive areas by the final day. And the best in the game, statistically, are often found practicing sometime during the week.
Jacob Wheeler, Jeff Sprague, Michael Neal; all can frequently be found laying off sometimes and looking around. In fact, we’ve even seen Wheeler wait around until he was in dire straits before pressuring his best spots.
I’ll make a bold prediction: Before long, we’ll see an angler pass on the auto-berth. It think it will first come down to a Heavy Hitters event, where a leading pro thinks he has a good shot at a big bonus fish. Specifically, it may very likely be a visible, bedding bass that a pro locates late in the day, and feels he can catch the following morning for a good shot at $50,000.
Even further, I think we may someday see pros choose to stay on the water during the Knockout Round and have a better chance to develop a winning pattern. Risky, yes. But it may be the difference between just another check and a six-figure payout.
Who will be first?
(Joe Balog is the often-outspoken owner of Millennium Promotions, Inc., an agency operating in the fishing and hunting industries. A former Bassmaster Open and EverStart Championship winner, he's best known for his big-water innovations and hardcore fishing style. He's a popular seminar speaker, product designer and author, and is considered one of the most influential smallmouth fishermen of modern times.)
