fishing for release fish????

How much consideration do any of you put into the release fish from the tournaments? I've always wondered, do these fish travel far from the release site or do they find the first ledge/log/stump etc and make that their new home, so to speak ( It's not like bass are lazy...lol). I mean their are hundreds of pounds of bass caught every weekend at some lakes and relocated to one spot. Do any of you guys focus allot of your attention on this topic? Just curious.

I know alot of people go after these fish in tournaments and I have done so a time or two myself but it's never a pattern I choose first. I'm sure alot of the fish leave the area they are released and travel along way back into the lake.
I think it's like any fishing and can be influenced by anglers, conditions and that unknown factor that bass pull on us once in a while and they do what they want.

I look at it this way, "you still have to fool the fish", I like DJD don't "focus" on this as a pattern but when the fishing is tough it is a confidence booster when you go to an area that you know fish should be. This topic has been frowned upon by some and revered by others - to fish for fish with "pre-punched" holes in their lips, but your not shooting fish in a barrell you still have to make a fish believe what you are throwing is food they can eat.

And I don't know about the "one spot" that they relocate too, I do know that an area that holds consistant tourneys usually is a good catch percentage. Although you have to remember there are fish that like it deep and there is fish that like it shallow and more times than not you marina fish are of the shallower variety.

[QUOTE=AndyG;364370]A good friend of mine bank fishes near a ramp on Norris where they have tons of tournaments. He usually waits until the middle of the week to give the fish time to get over being caught. He actually does really well, and Ive been with him before and believe it or not most if not all of the fish were keepers with holes in their jaws...

But I would say the majority of em go right back home. A store owner on Fork told me of a 10lber that was taken to the other side of the lake to be certified at a marina, was tagged by a game warden, released there, and re-caught exactly where it was caught the first time a few weeks later. The fish travelled miles to get back.[/QUOTE]

I believe it. We used to fish out of Irvin Cobb Resort on Kentucky Lake every year in Blood River. The owner at the time Cliff Roberson had a pet 7lb plus bass that would hang near the minnow tank. There was a square hole cut in the dock where Cliff would throw the dead minnows and he would hand feed that bass I saw it a couple of times. That bass would go winter out somewhere on the main lake and every year when the water would warm some usually in mid March within a few days or so give or take that ole bass would come back to lay under that dock and get fatter. That was the dangest thing I ever seen, and that bass would get a little bigger each year. One time a young boy with his Dad asked Cliff if he could feed that bass and Cliff said sure. Cliff told the boy hold the dead minnow just off the surface a couple of seconds then let go and pull your hand back. The little fella did what he was told but before he could let that minner go that ole hawg come up and took it from him skinning up his hand a little. Little boy cried it scared him half to death, I wanted to laugh but we kinda felt sorry for the little guy, and he didn't want to hand feed that ole bass anymore, lol.

[quote=mhall;364373]I believe it. We used to fish out of Irvin Cobb Resort on Kentucky Lake every year in Blood River. The owner at the time Cliff Roberson had a pet 7lb plus bass that would hang near the minnow tank. There was a square hole cut in the dock where Cliff would throw the dead minnows and he would hand feed that bass I saw it a couple of times. That bass would go winter out somewhere on the main lake and every year when the water would warm some usually in mid March within a few days or so give or take that ole bass would come back to lay under that dock and get fatter. That was the dangest thing I ever seen, and that bass would get a little bigger each year. One time a young boy with his Dad asked Cliff if he could feed that bass and Cliff said sure. Cliff told the boy hold the dead minnow just off the surface a couple of seconds then let go and pull your hand back. The little fella did what he was told but before he could let that minner go that ole hawg come up and took it from him skinning up his hand a little. Little boy cried it scared him half to death, I wanted to laugh but we kinda felt sorry for the little guy, and he didn't want to hand feed that ole bass anymore, lol.[/quote]


thats some funny stuff right there.... i bet that poor kid was traumatized after that encounter.... i

My take on fishing for released fish depends on what you are out to accomplish. Odds are better fishing in a release area than they are out on the lake if you can not locate fish. Granted you stll have to catch them in a release area ,but its a whole lot easier to catch fish when you are confident that you are fishing where they are.

I think finding fish is the hardest thing about fishing. when you find fish, catching them is the easy part. I don't know about everyone else but out of about a million different colors and styles of baits in my boat i probably catch 90% of my fish on 6 to 10 consistent baits and that might be an over statement.

Fishing a release area to catch fish is and always will be productive, but it will not make you a better fisherman. I get alot more satisfaction out of finding fish out on the lake and figuring out how to catch them. In my opinion 60 to 75 % of the time when i am not catching fish is because i am not fishing where they are and not because they aren't biting.

I've read in bass that they call them fish retarted and seen shows about it.Alot of times anglers fish in spots of release and win tournaments.
:cool:

There was a study done a few years back on this same subject that was reported on in one of the fisheries wildlife journals. Study was done in Texas (I think). Gist of the study was that for the lake they studied, they found that many local anglers liked to fish around the ramps where tournies were often held as they usually did real well fishing there. 70% of those fish caught were then taken home. Basically, the tournies were restocking those areas on a regular basis with keeper sized fish. Not sure if they addressed whether the fish would move back to other areas or how long they stayed in the release area. Something to think about for setting up release areas. Search the fisheries literature and I'm sure you can come up with the study.

Andrew