bass tournaments=dead fish

Post by **cprince** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:26 pm

Perhaps I am spit disturbing here... I see it as Devil't advocate!

The way tournament rules are set up... that mortality stat is total BS. Bringing in a dead bass carries quite the penalty. I would bet my last $ that a good number of bass are turfed as seagull food before they ever get to the launch and are replaced by smaller ones...

No way to quantify the real impact of tourney fishing on the fish without a VERY costly, intrusive and non viable study that will not likely happen in our life times...

A few people already said it, and I think it to be the final word on this subject, More fish are eaten/killed on a holiday weekend than in any fishing tournament.

At least in a tourney, they might be tagged and some scientific study might come out of it.

As for buckets... I use a bucket when I go walleye fishing. No live well in my boat, nor on shore.

MNR (not Mr. Wilson...) needs to get radical and figure out how to build a high cement wall around the Chicago water front.

Craig

Post by **Big Bass 444** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:31 pm

The voice of the tournament bass anglers community is all about solidarity and it shows here. There is no doubth that some modifications could be made to reduce the impact of stress on basses during tournaments. I don't think that some of the changes that could benefit consevation would be costly to organisations...but who would be willing to get from 5 to 3 basses for exemple????...do you think bringing less basses to the weight in would be a better thing for conservation? Would it be a turn off to you tournament bass anglers to see such a rule taken place?
I would like to think that bass tournament events here in Quebec and Ontario are about the fun of catching fish....and just fun! The number where you stand in the results...is it that important to you? I see guys bringing 4 1/2 and 5 pounds basses in boats during tournaments..only concern about if they have the edge on others...less concern about the fight the fish brought them...less concern about just being on the water enjoying time there....just stress out more than anything!

Post by **Hookup** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:31 pm

beachburger wrote: In any case, for a two-man team, every boat is coming in under the legal limit. Depending on the waters, a two-man team is allowed to possess 10-12 bass but tournament rules limit them to 4-6 fish for the weigh-in. Some clubs also have rules that you can not have more than 5 or 6 fish in the livewells at any one time. I think this is a good rule as it forces immediate culling.

I do not believe that the limits for sport fishing licenses assume that at each tourney the fish will die... In fact, I do not expect that tourney fishing is deeply considered when setting the take limits so I fail to understand this point of view..

And for the record..

Fishing does not kill fish.

Uneducated or unethical behavior can increase fish mortality rates.

Educate the un educated

Police the unethical

Post by RJ » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:31 pm

cprince wrote:
The way tournament rules are set up... that mortality stat is total BS. Bringing in a dead bass carries quite the penalty. I would bet my last $ that a good number of bass are turfed as seagull food before they ever get to the launch and are replaced by smaller ones...

You sure you want to bet that last dollar?

In the series I fish the penalty is .25 of a pound....very little really...IMO not enough but it does prevent that issue from ever entering an anglers mind.

If we do have a fish that perishes during the day and does get culled out with another we are to keep the dead fish on board and notify shore staff immediately when arriving to weigh in.

RJ

Post by RJ » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:39 pm

Big Bass 444 wrote:The voice of the tournament bass anglers community is all about solidarity and it shows here. There is no doubth that some modifications could be made to reduce the impact of stress on basses during tournaments. I don't think that some of the changes that could benefit consevation would be costly to organisations...but who would be willing to get from 5 to 3 basses for exemple????...do you think bringing less basses to the weight in would be a better thing for conservation? Would it be a turn off to you tournament bass anglers to see such a rule taken place?
I would like to think that bass tournament events here in Quebec and Ontario are about the fun of catching fish....and just fun! The number where you stand in the results...is it that important to you? I see guys bringing 4 1/2 and 5 pounds basses in boats during tournaments..only concern about if they have the edge on others...less concern about the fight the fish brought them...less concern about just being on the water enjoying time there....just stress out more than anything!

Jeez Yan for a fella that finally jumped into fishing a series this summer you sure are down on it.

It's about competing Yan. And if you don't care where you stand at the end of the day you've made a mistake by starting to fish tournaments in the first place. Noone fishes these tournaments for the money...it's about the competition.

As I've said about 3 times above....with the right equipment and mindset in place....the damage to the fishery is absolutely minimal.

RJ

Post by **Jimmy_1** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:41 pm

Big Bass 444 wrote:The voice of the tournament bass anglers community is all about solidarity and it shows here. There is no doubth that some modifications could be made to reduce the impact of stress on basses during tournaments. I don't think that some of the changes that could benefit consevation would be costly to organisations...but who would be willing to get from 5 to 3 basses for exemple????...do you think bringing less basses to the weight in would be a better thing for conservation? Would it be a turn off to you tournament bass anglers to see such a rule taken place?
I would like to think that bass tournament events here in Quebec and Ontario are about the fun of catching fish....and just fun! The number where you stand in the results...is it that important to you? I see guys bringing 4 1/2 and 5 pounds basses in boats during tournaments..only concern about if they have the edge on others...less concern about the fight the fish brought them...less concern about just being on the water enjoying time there....just stress out more than anything!

LOL!

Tournaments are not about fun! Its about $$$, bragging rights etc.

Do you think people in the NHL play hockey for fun???

C'mon.

If you want to fish for fun then fish for fun....not a tourney...thats competition....trying to do better than others.

Last year you posted about the B1....how you wanted to win etc....

Big change of heart Yan....just saying.

Post by **beachburger** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:41 pm

Pretty goooooood.

Indeed. Thanks for posting the numbers.

Post by **beachburger** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:52 pm

RJ wrote:
cprince wrote:
The way tournament rules are set up... that mortality stat is total BS. Bringing in a dead bass carries quite the penalty. I would bet my last $ that a good number of bass are turfed as seagull food before they ever get to the launch and are replaced by smaller ones...

You sure you want to bet that last dollar?

In the series I fish the penalty is .25 of a pound....very little really...IMO not enough but it does prevent that issue from ever entering an anglers mind.

If we do have a fish that perishes during the day and does get culled out with another we are to keep the dead fish on board and notify shore staff immediately when arriving to weigh in.

RJ

Same with our club.

Post by **almontefisher** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:58 pm

Yeah and they did mention it for sure as well as had related info on that which is good. I respect their clubs as well and they do mention about the fish that died in their tourneys and they seem like very low mortality rates which is great. I am not going after individuals on this as they had info and stats.

Keep it up guys cause you can set the example for the other events that occur...40+ bass events that I have counted so far online alone in Ontario in 4 months.

Post by **Jimmy_1** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 1:00 pm

I'm hungry....

What should I have for dinner?

Post by **almontefisher** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 1:02 pm

Jimmy_1 wrote:I'm hungry....

What should I have for dinner?

Venison!

Post by **JimW** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 1:54 pm

Ottawa Valley south Bassmasters.... this year....

Clayton Lake.... 51 fish caught.... 3 dead weighed in.... all taken home and eaten

Charleston Lake.... 37 fish caught.... no dead weighed in

Did possibly some of the fish that were released die later, some could have. but probably not as many bass killed by a tournament than by others out there fishing of food and recreation.

After the 3 dead fish on Clayton we distributed additional information on proper fish handling and livewell care just to make sure everyone had up to date information.

OVSB has a 0.25 pound penalty for dead fish, and we are allowed to bring in 1 dead fish that does not count in your 5 fish limit to discourage culling of dead or dying fish, similar to other area clubs.

Our tournaments are small, usually 8 to 10 boats, and we do an "on the water" weigh-in, and then the fish are released into deeper water, in a sheltered area if possible. This isn't the most accurate weigh in procedure, but it works for our small field, not fessible for larger tournaments, which should have a release boat.

Jim W

Post by **beachburger** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 1:54 pm

Hookup wrote:I do not believe that the limits for sport fishing licenses assume that at each tourney the fish will die... In fact, I do not expect that tourney fishing is deeply considered when setting the take limits so I fail to understand this point of view..

It speaks more to possession limits than it does take limits. AFAIK, bass and walleye are have possession limits meaning the ones in the freezer count too.

With current MNR regs, if you and a chum are fishing beside me on tournament day but are not in the tournament, you and your chum can keep 10-12 fish in your livewell and take all of them home for dinner or you can let them all go whenever you feel like it. My partner and I who are fishing the tournament can only keep 5-6 in the livewell and can't take any of them home unless they are dead.

So on tournament day, you and your chum might end up being a lot tougher on more fish than any of the boats in a tournament.

Doug

Post by **almontefisher** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 2:02 pm

beachburger wrote:
Hookup wrote:I do not believe that the limits for sport fishing licenses assume that at each tourney the fish will die... In fact, I do not expect that tourney fishing is deeply considered when setting the take limits so I fail to understand this point of view..
It speaks more to possession limits than it does take limits. AFAIK, bass and walleye are have possession limits meaning the ones in the freezer count too.

With current MNR regs, if you and a chum are fishing beside me on tournament day but are not in the tournament, you and your chum can keep 10-12 fish in your livewell and take all of them home for dinner or you can let them all go whenever you feel like it. My partner and I who are fishing the tournament can only keep 5-6 in the livewell and can't take any of them home unless they are dead.

So on tournament day, you and your chum might end up being a lot tougher on more fish than any of the boats in a tournament.

Doug

Doug: This I was not aware of. You can not have more than those bass in the boat. I thought that you could only go to the launch with the limit. So see by informing me of this rule I now feel that you have the right thought. I was thinking that you would have 10 bass and cull them at the end of the day based on weights. Thanks for some more good info. This is a good discussion post now. Keep bringing me the facts and you can change my mind.

Post by **beachburger** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 2:03 pm

Ottawa Valley south Bassmasters.... this year....

Thanks Jim.