What I feel is an alarming trend

[GeoFisher]

By no means am I trying to say they don't have a right to do what they are doing I'm not that selfish. I think stiffer reg's on the fishing would help alleviate some of the pressure and actually boost our fishing.

I asked this question on an email to the KDFWR a few years ago and it went like this.
Are we managing our lakes for tournaments or are we managing our lakes for quality fish? I got a typical government response and I kind of understood it. I have been blabbing for years now about placing the slot limit on the smallmouth at Cumberland that is at Dale. I keep hearing, it won't work but no one single person can explain to me why it won't work.

I brought it up on here a few years ago and asked why and the best I got was Cumberland isn't Dale Hollow. What the hell does that even mean and it makes NO sense at all. Oh it will work, guaranteed.

In closing I feel our lakes are being pressured to death. A few Saturdays ago there was an estimated 250 to 300 tourney boats on Cumberland at one time. I was told this by a few that were fishing a BFL down there and there was a huge tourney going out of the dam. If that is even close to being true and I think it is how can a lake sustain that much pressure for very long its just crazy.

The world would end if they closed the season on bass, much like they do up north.......Could you even imagine not being able to take a bass off the beds.........

NOT saying I'm an advocate for that, but you know.......it cannot be good for the fishery to pull those fish off the bed, or close to the bed, and throw them in a tank of sub par water, and haul them down a lake 20-40-50 miles away.

I'd love to see the big tourneys go to a catch, weigh, release method, and using digital scales with a marshal.

Later,

Geo

[mhall]

Now I never said anything about closed seasons now, lets don't get carried away here, LOL....

[dabassking]

I think that managing a lake for tournaments and managing a lake for quality fish can be one and the same. We live in KY. A 15" bass IS a quality fish in this state. It's not like 5 pounders are as much common place in lakes here as compared to Guntersville, Chick, or lakes in Florida and Texas. Dale Hollow is regulated to be a Trophy Smallmouth lake. Cumberland has an 18" size limit on SM and that is, without a doubt, a quality fish. I think a lot of you guys that want a slot limit on Cumberland only want it to run off the tournament guys. It won't! Look at Dale. It gets heavy tournament pressure and it has a slot limit.

Also, if you look at the tournament pressure that the previously mentioned lakes like Guntersville and Chickamauga get, you would see that the pressure put on Cumberland is not even close to theirs.

[MJ]

Guntersville is miserable on the weekends. We go once a year during the week and leave on Saturday. We used to try and fish a few hours on Saturday morning when we leave but there are so many boats it's terrible. Plus, they fish a lot different down there. They have no problem pulling up right beside you and fishing. Sometimes I put bouys out to mark channels and it draws them in like a magnet. Fishing during the week is the only way to go there.

I have found fishing cumberland at night is a lot more relaxing. It's hard to do it the older I get but at least there are not a bunch of tournaments and people just driving up and down the lake. I never have figured out why people enjoy just driving all over the lake with no real purpose!

[dabassking]

I realized that I didn't really state my final point about Guntersville in my previous post. What I was getting at is that that lake gets absolutely pounded on day after day and year after year and it still produces huge bags. I don't think the tournament pressure that Cumberland is getting is impacting the fish as much as it is impacting the fishermen.

Some guys just don't like tournaments and will try to find an excuse to bash them, be it "too much pressure is hurting the fish" or "these tourny guys are all A-Holes". It is what it is. I think most guys, tournament fishermen or not, don't really mind the other. There are, however, two extremes and both sides of the extremes have an "Us vs Them" mentality. It's sad because there are several other bigger concerns that both "sides" could be arguing together. It's the general consensus that tournament fishing has brought out the A-Hole in some tournament fishermen, but I think this thread is proof that tournament fishing has even brought out the A-Hole in some guys that don't even fish tournaments.

[MJ]

I hope the other poster is correct that it's a fad and will pass sooner than later.

[Fishin is life]

You can make 300 tournament boats disappear on cumberland. You can make another 300 pleasure fishing boats disappear. That lake is massive and a vast majority of the fish roam in deep water and likely wont see a bait. I fish Green 2-4 times a week most of the year. The tourny fisherman population has exploded the past 5 years and so has the fishing. The number of fisherman has probably increased 10 fold and the average winning weights have probably doubled. If we have a couple bad spawns and the bass fishing drops a deuce most people will swear its due to the tourny pressure. Fishing pressure might make the fish a little harder to catch, but its not gonna kill the population. People go to the ramp after a tourny and see 3-4 dead fish floating and throw a fit but never say a word to the guys out meat hunting thatll keep the 10 biggest bass they catch all day everyday

[bassmaster]

I realized that I didn't really state my final point about Guntersville in my previous post. What I was getting at is that that lake gets absolutely pounded on day after day and year after year and it still produces huge bags. I don't think the tournament pressure that Cumberland is getting is impacting the fish as much as it is impacting the fishermen.

This is so correct. Tournament fishing has been like this for several years at Cumberland and other lakes in most states. I agree the attitude of SOME tournament fisherman unfairly sheds a bad light on ALL tournament fisherman. I tournament fish and "Just" fish. BOTH are recreational hobbies for me. I win and lose my fair share. I take it serious as I do "Just" fishing. Fishing is fun for me either way and I deal with the public and take it in stride as there are rude folks everywhere not just on the lake. Now as far as the 300 boats or so on Cumberland Saturday, almost 200 of them were Kentucky High School Fishing Teams with teenagers from all over the state (There were two of these regionals with only one being originally scheduled for Cumberland, the other was scheduled for Herrington but it was unfishable at flood stage so it was moved). I know some of these kids and some that go as a sponsor and provide boats and gas in some cases. This "Sport" is good for our young people, some even go on to get into the fishing industry as a result. I hope that most if not all are taught respect (for others and the fish), teamwork, and a love for fishing as other kids that are taught in other sports such as football, basketball, golf, tennis, baseball, etc......In these cases, I know of some fine fishermen and fisherwomen who will be the future of our sport (hobby).......Oh, and on a side note, BEFORE the lake came up this last time, most everyone including myself were catching some nice fish, GREAT fishing on Cumberland despite the pressure.........from ALL fisherman. Oh FishinisLife, how much pressure does Green get and how has the fishing been over the last 5-7 years as far as quality?! Good discussion guys!
Thanks,
Tim

[kc]

You can make 300 tournament boats disappear on cumberland. You can make another 300 pleasure fishing boats disappear. That lake is massive and a vast majority of the fish roam in deep water and likely wont see a bait. I fish Green 2-4 times a week most of the year. The tourny fisherman population has exploded the past 5 years and so has the fishing. The number of fisherman has probably increased 10 fold and the average winning weights have probably doubled. If we have a couple bad spawns and the bass fishing drops a deuce most people will swear its due to the tourny pressure. Fishing pressure might make the fish a little harder to catch, but its not gonna kill the population. People go to the ramp after a tourny and see 3-4 dead fish floating and throw a fit but never say a word to the guys out meat hunting thatll keep the 10 biggest bass they catch all day everyday

In days past I used to argue quite vigorously on tournaments impact on the fisheries and although IMO there is no way it is a positive I agree that mother nature plays a stronger hand than fisherman. But I disagree with your comment on meat hunting. I think along with tournament fishing increasing so has the catch and release mindset. I have found most bass fisherman that are "meat hunters" are typically not that great of fishermen and often struggle to put them in the boat in the first place. And whenever there is this tournament vs pleasure discussion it is always where the tourney guys go to counter - blame the meat hunters...

kc

[kc]

Are we related......LOL

You ''get it'' bro

We must be brothers from different mothers. Smallies are just plain sacred to me and I take it they are for you too. But I chase mine more in the western part of the state (just not on Saturdays)...

kc

[kc]

Yea, we're having a 1000 boat kayak tourney in the Boundary Waters this summer..........It will be EPIC. .

That will be an interesting blast off!!! Better watch getting paddle slapped from any direction...


kc

[roadrunner]

One of the worst experience you can have is try to get into Kentucky Dam Marina when a big tx is over these idiots think the road is one way out I saw a tx man cuss a lady out who was coming into the marina and he was on her side of the road he got out of the car and ripped her apart because he got up at 4:00 to make it to the tx and she should get the hell out of his way. I will say he met his match because she explained that she paid 6,000 for a boat slip and he was on the wrong side of the road blocking her from getting to her weekend home and it was not her fault that he was so stupid to get up at 4:00 to catch a stupid fish that would still be in the lake at 10:00. Then she dialed 911 and reported him. I will say that the park service needs someone at the tx before fisherman show up and before they leave for crowd control. I have seen people park with the front of their truck in the road which makes it one lane into the marina all day long. The park service should have towed about 15 vehicles.