Oh Joy Oh Joy

[seanympho]

So ladies and gentlemen it is time for the voice of reason to chime in on this topic...

I feel the answer to your problem has just been addressed in the last few posts. If the tournament organizers were to extend the tournament season until the end of October at the very least when fishing is at it's prime, then the pressure on the lakes would not be so focused on such a short period. That way there also may be the odd weekend off for the big guns to regroup for their next tourney. And then the everyday fisherman may also have the opportunity to get on the lake the odd weekend without the fear of becoming a bow ornament.

Now of course that involve everyone donning their big girl underwear because it will be a little more chilly out.

[TheMaverick]

HaulinBass,

Are you insinuating we prolong the tournaments or simply asking the question?

You a funny guy, seriously let me clear it up for you lol, just a question, no insinuations, no sinister plot , I am just trying to get edumacated

I'm only trying to stay within context of your OP


This showed up on my FaceBook wall this morning, thought I’d share.

The info is provided on Dr Bruce Tufts facebook page for the Freshwater Fisheries Conservation Lab supervised by Dr Bruce Tufts at Queen’s University.

The page is called “Tufts Lab”
He also was a speaker at the Paddletales Bass Seminar .

A question that I am often asked about is whether bass make it home after they have been caught in a tournament and transported to the weigh-in site. This is especially interesting on the Great Lakes because bass are often moved such long distances. Our ongoing bass tagging project on Lake Ontario is providing some interesting information on this issue. To date, we have had reports of several smallmouth that were tagged at the Kingston Canadian Open being re-captured at locations such as the Main Ducks, False Ducks, Henderson Harbour, Mallorytown and Chippewa Bay. Although it can't be proven conclusively at this point, I believe that some of these fish are travelling up to 50 or 60 miles back to their home ranges after being released at the weigh-in site. What might be the most impressive about this is the fact that they made the initial trip in a livewell

[StarTzar]

So ladies and gentlemen it is time for the voice of reason to chime in on this topic...

I feel the answer to your problem has just been addressed in the last few posts. If the tournament organizers were to extend the tournament season until the end of October at the very least when fishing is at it's prime, then the pressure on the lakes would not be so focused on such a short period. That way there also may be the odd weekend off for the big guns to regroup for their next tourney. And then the everyday fisherman may also have the opportunity to get on the lake the odd weekend without the fear of becoming a bow ornament.

Now of course that involve everyone donning their big girl underwear because it will be a little more chilly out.

Tournament organizers tend to stay away from infringing on hunting season.

[TheMaverick]

So ladies and gentlemen it is time for the voice of reason to chime in on this topic...

The voice of reason also once said....

"Mutual respect.... that is what it boils down to Big Jim. There is lots of space just go out and enjoy it!"

[lape0019]

Oh ya,
I forgot about hunting season. Yes, for parts of October and November we have to share the waterways with the waterfowl crowd. Most of the time, I am getting on the water when they are getting off but I have heard the clicking of a pump action shotgun or a few warning shots in the past.

I agree with Startzar on this one. I don't think tournament organizers would want to take on the liability that could cause.

[StarTzar]

I agree with Startzar on this one. I don't think tournament organizers would want to take on the liability that could cause.

Taking on the liability has nothing to do with it.
Some of the elite anglers are also hunters
If you schedule tournaments too far into the season, they would not participate.

[Haulin Bass]

I agree with Startzar on this one. I don't think tournament organizers would want to take on the liability that could cause.

Taking on the liability has nothing to do with it.
Some of the elite anglers are also hunters
If you schedule tournaments too far into the season, they would not participate.

So are you saying the tournaments are all packed into the summer months because the Elite anglers may not be able to participate.

[StarTzar]

Summer is Bass Tournament Season. (I go by the Renegade schedule).
Autumn is Hunting Season. (Are there any duck hunting tournaments?)
October 17th is Big Bass MegaBucks day on the Big Rideau.
They just get bigger and better.

[smitty55]

I am getting on the water when they are getting off but I have heard the clicking of a pump action shotgun or a few warning shots in the past.

Really? Are you sure? Because if they were that would not be cool at all. Now if a fishing boat was in the ball park, specially early or late in the day, then I can see someone working their action just to sort of let you know that you're kind of infringing. But for a hunter to actually fire a warning shot they would have to be severely ticked off and believe that a boat was intentionally getting way too close on purpose. Still not right when a few well chosen words should do the trick, because after all, who wants to start something with someone who is armed. I certainly can't see you doing that, but you do hear of it happening the odd time.

Cheers

[lape0019]

Smitty,

I'll be honest here. I don't actually know if they were warning shots. I can tell you I believe they were warning shots as they occurred when we were getting close to a flat we fish and we didn't see any ducks in the air. We were still far enough away when it occurred so I am assuming they were warning shots (not in our direction) just to let us know the blind was in use.

I personally have no issues sharing the water with hunters. I prefer to know when they are in the area. Most of the time, they are stationary and I can move so I just go fish somewhere else.

This happened a few years ago. We know where most of the blinds are in our area and no decoys were out so we assumed it was empty. We were wrong, we heard the shot and turned around. Was it a warning shot or something different? I honestly do not know and as you stated, no one wants to get in an argument with someone who is armed so we just left the area.