By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

Experience and familiarity.

As might be expected, those were the dominant themes for the inaugural MLF Team Series draft, the results of which were announced last week. The 80 Bass Pro Tour competitors, along with 2021 MLF Pro Circuit TITLE winner Jimmy Washam, were split up into three-man teams for competition this fall, which will culminate with the Team Series Championship. The winning team at the final event will receive $300,000.

The Top 27 from the final 2021 BPT points standings are team captains and made their selections in inverse order (Angler of the Year Jacob Wheeler picked 27th). The captains tended to pick anglers with whom they have longstanding relationships and there was also a trend toward picking established veterans.

BassFan spoke with several captains last week in attempt to gain some insight into their selection strategy.

Mark Rose was up first, giving him 54 anglers to choose from. He opted for Jordan Lee, the 2020 BPT AOY and two-time Bassmaster Classic champion.

"Some of these younger, up-and-coming guys are looking to make a name for themselves and I thought I'd give (Lee) that opportunity," Rose joked. "Seriously, the reason is pretty obvious – he's a great fisherman and a great teammate and somebody who works well with others. His demeanor is a lot like mine; he's pretty laid back."

After picking up veteran Luke Clausen, another former Classic winner who also has an FLW Cup victory on his ledger, Rose things he has a formidable team.

"Jordan is as versatile as they come and Luke is one of the best finesse fishermen there is. I think we're going to be pretty well-rounded."

Alton Jones had the No. 2 pick and snatched up 2019 AOY and REDCREST champion Edwin Evers, also a past Classic titlist. He later added well-seasoned finesse guru John Murray.

"There's no way I could pass up Edwin there," Jones said. "You look at his history and under any conditions, on any type of water at any time of year he can put together a plan quickly.

"I was looking for guys with different skillsets. Edwin's an excellent power-fisherman and John can dial in a finesse program as quickly as anybody. I think we've got a solid group."

Dustin Connell had the sixth pick and veered away from the norm, tabbing third-year pro Cole Floyd, who's 43rd in this year's BPT points and has yet to claim his first tour-level win. He later added Fred Roumbanis.

"Cole and I don't necessarily talk all the time and we're not great buddies or anything, but he's a young guy and he gets after it," Connell said. "With my second pick, I was mind-blown that Fred was still there when it came back around to me.

"I got two different guys who are both easy to work with. We'll be able to collaborate and bounce ideas off each other with everybody keeping an open mind."

Kevin VanDam tabbed longtime Strike King Pro Staff teammate Todd Faircloth with the 11th pick, then took David Walker in the second round.

"When you're going through the draft process you're trying to look at everybody and there's a lot of really good anglers," VanDam said. "People who you were thinking about get picked and you have to shift pretty quickly and make a change.

"The think about Todd is that whether you're punching grass in Florida or dropshotting for smallmouth up north, he's very experienced at it. David and I go way back as well and we've been friends for a long time. Thinking about the time of year these competitions are going to take place, he's an exceptional largemouth fisherman who also has a ton of experience."

Bobby Lane, the 2022 REDCREST winner, took his brother Chris (a former Classic champion) with his first pick at No. 18 and eventually filled out his squad with Washam. The Lane brothers teamed with Evers to win the Team Series pilot event that took place in Florida in late 2021.

"The No. 1 reason I took my brother is that blood is thicker than water and the No. 2 reason is that he listens, I listen and if we need to make adjustments, we can," Lane said. "We fish a lot alike and if we get on the right bite, we've got double the chance of kicking some (butt).

"Jimmy's a young dude who's learning and growing, but he's won some big-money events. When the money's on the line, he puts his foot on the gas and it's only a matter of time before he really finds his footing and becomes a force in every tournament."

Stephen Browning had the 22nd pick and selected a pair of grizzled veteran in Jeff Kriet and Tim Horton.

"To be honest, I wanted some experience and I wanted a finesse-type guy, and everybody knows that Kriet is very good with a spinning rod," Browning said. "I also wanted somebody who could fish offshore and I was lucky to get Timmy with the second pick.

"Those guys have fished a lot of (MLF Cup) events and I felt like that was the best way to go for this format. We're only guaranteed two days on the water for this thing and I think experience is definitely going to play into it. If you've gotta catch one and you've got two minutes to do it, those guys know how to handle that kind of pressure."

Notable

> To see the complete team listings, click here.