And people like me get a bad rap for eating the fish I catch. Yes, even the treasured "bucketmouths" and "bronzebacks".
In reply to the "why even post this" comments. Out of sight and out of mind doesn't mean that it isn't reality.
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And people like me get a bad rap for eating the fish I catch. Yes, even the treasured "bucketmouths" and "bronzebacks".
In reply to the "why even post this" comments. Out of sight and out of mind doesn't mean that it isn't reality.
no msg
Yes it did say that 98% had clipped tails but it also talked about fish being held in tanks for multiple days and not released immediately. This article probably proved what the author intended it to but there are not enough facts in the article to conclude the deaths were due to the tournament. How were the fish handled during the clipping of the tails? How long were they held in tanks? Very sketchy article and just another way to try and put a black eye on bass tournaments.
Charlie
I can't believe a couple on this board blew up on this thread like they did.I guess Danny when you start threatning a man's wallet you'r gonna raise a ruckus.
You 2 need to get you'r head out of the sand and pay attention around the ramp after the next big tourney in you'r area,although as i stated earlier It's not rocket surgery and you 2 have already witnessed it,just afraid it may cost you a dime.
I love fishing tourney's,BUT IT KILLS FISH and theres alot that can be done to limit it in summer months.
Has anyone hugged a tree today ???
I too love tournaments and this story may have holes in it but....
a friend of mine has a houseboat at wax on nolin,he is retired and is there quiet a bit,he eats lots of bass he gets from tournament directors and he nets lots of them on sundays and mondays in the duck pond behind the marina.He make comments all time how he knows why people say the fishin ain't like it used to be.Even some of those fri. night big bass die too.When renegade had their tournaments there he would get at least 15 bass as big as 5lb in the next day.If you put a fish in the boat at 7 am and tote it around all day his chance can't be that good,specially if you hop wave from pleasure boaters.
I personally would love to see tournament do away with slot fish and go to a 3 or 4 fish tourney.TFK had no slots i didn't think it was good but..it speeds up weigh ins and basically has no effect on the tournament.
It doesn't take a degree in "rocket surgury" to read my posts to see that my complaint is about the article and the way it was written. The article is pure "sensationalism" press and plays right into the hands of the Wisconsin DNR. Some research into this and you would find out that this "study" was designed by the Wisconsin DNR to have exactly the type of outcome that they wanted. The fact is if the Wisconsin DNR had conducted this "study" in the manner it should have been conducted the outcome would have shown that a number of fish would have died from being overstressed without them having to set the "study" up in such a manner as to overkill the fish. There is nothing in my posts that would suggest I do not believe that deep summer fishing tournaments do not take their toll on the fish. In fact, if you read my posts you will see that I mentioned that I would support a moratorium on deep summer bass tournaments. I am on the water probably more than 98% of the folks on this board and I am totally aware of what is going on around me. I have witnessed fish kills after summer tournaments...I have mentioned that more than once on this forum in the many years I have been on here. I also have mentioned many times in the past that steps need to be taken to ensure that the fish are better taken care of during the hot months. By the way, if deep summer tournaments were banned in Ky it would not "hurt" my wallet not that is any of your business.
Let us not forget that every person with a fishing license(and EVERY kid under 16) can legally take home their daily limit to do the 'ol backstroke in Crisco oil. People don't want to catch-and-release- then just do what the law allows; takem' home and fry them up! Folks get all worked up about tournament fishermen best look at some of those fellas in that 15 ft al boat. They hit the lakes everyday,(while you are working) fish with minnows/live bait and keep everything they catch. In a months time they "harvest" a LOT more fish than most tournaments do all year. So next time you hear people griping about tournament fish mortality- propose they do what the law allows- TAKE THE FISH HOME. Which do you prefer?
I have no problem with people taking home their legal limit and eating the fish. What I do have a problem with is people "releasing" dead fish. If the fish is dead, take it home and eat it. Its the waste of the fish that gets me.
Andrew
This same lame mis-direction comes up every time we discuss tournament fishing and dead bass. Yes, some fisherman keep and eat bass. But that has changed so drastically in the past 20 - 30 years it has become mostly a non-issue. When tournament fishing started in the 70s they came to the weigh-ins on stringers. Basically it was 100% death rates. As it progressed Ray Scott had the foresight to understand the impact that tournaments were having and knew that this was a problem. Hence, catch and release was born and it has been drilled in our heads through TV fishing shows for years. That started a major culture change in bass fisherman and of all the fishermen I know and from comments made on boards like this one catch and release has become the norm. In short, there aren't many meathogs these days and the bigger impact on the bass population is coming from the rampant growth of tournament fishing. To expound upon the point further back in the 70s and 80s when everyone was keeping and killing everything that is when bass fishing in KY (in my life time) was fantastic. If the meat hogs have such an impact why was fishing so much better then? The simple truth is that tournaments are the prime hurt on our bass populations these days and some of us who care more about the bass than the tournaments would like to see T-fisherman step up and do a little more to lessen the hurt. I also believe if T-fishermen don't step up and change their ways in time regulations will. Wouldn't it be better if we took steps on our own and avoided that option?
kc
>Actually the story only has the "facts" as you tout only if
>you believe what is being said is true.
>
>Let me know when you have proof of these numbers other than
>this so called "true story".
>
>Think about this: The story came out in the Saturday
>edition of the paper. At 10:00 a.m. on Friday this
>individual had collected a total of 432 fish during the week
>after the tournament to this point. The tournament ended on
>the preceeding Saturday. That means he collected 432 fish
>between Sunday and Friday morning...approximately 5.5 days
>of collecting (unless he was out there collecting at night
>too) Now considering the reporter had to in all earnest
>have his story in sometime Friday evening to make the
>Saturday publication deadline, that means this guy found
>another 148 fish on Friday afternoon. He must have hit a
>big bonanza of dead fish on Friday considering he only
>averaged about 80 fish a day during the preceeding 5.5 days.
>
>Maybe he got those fish from the 8X8 ft holding tanks they
>threw 400 fish into and expected them to live....give me a
>break...come with me sometime in the winter when I am taking
>care of 40 fish in a 5000 gallon tank and see what it takes
>to keep them alive when no one is putting hooks into them.
>If I put 400 in my tank they would not last two days...much
>less 4 and my tanks have low water temps, continuous
>aereation and the best chemicals money can buy to take care
>of them.
>
>Now, having said that let me say that anyone that knows me
>knows that I totally believe in taking care of the bass and
>I really would like to see a moratorium on day tournaments
>during the deep summer months...but I am not going to jump
>on a bandwagon because of a "the sky is falling" type
>article that is rampant with questionable "facts". No more
>than I am going to grab the rag magazines off the
>supermarket shelves, read the crap put in them and then put
>it up here as gospel.
First, I never said it was gospel.. come on man. Look at my response to Matt... if we save one fish, it was a good discussion.
Plus, I went back and read the article again. I did not see where you got the number of fish gathered by Friday, and then the suggestion a big bonanaza of dead fish. Maybe I just read it wrongly, but I did try to find evidence of this.
Further, the article does try to present both sides.... it clearly says there are concerns about the method of the study and the holding of the fish, adding additional stress. However that stress was also added to fish that had been caught using electro fishing techniques. Maybe those fish were not stressed as baddly as the tournament fish. But if that is the case, then it proves the tournament caught fish were stressed more than electro harvested fish.. and that's all.
The story also points out that the previous year's die off was attributed to the LMBV. It says that this virus will kill a fish more easily if stressed... i.e. when caught and played in, and kept in a livewell, then weighed.
You know I like to tournament fish. But remember, the fish can not breathe when they are being weighed, they are out of water. Then the anglers hold the fish up for photos and to show the crowd. Some (Ike) may jump off the stage and take the fish to the audience. All the while those fish can not breathe.
Was the story all inclusive? Absolutely not. I would imagine that results of the study will produce a book with more words than the whole issue of the newspaper. I would love to see the study results, and more importantly, as an analyst, I would prefer to see the raw data, and draw my own conclusions.
I think it is great that this created a nice discussion, and I'm very happy that not everyone agrees. Do you know how boring that would be? LOL
Maybe sometime soon, you will let me buy you a cool drink... soft drink of course, and we can discuss at more length.
One thing that can not be denied is that the fishing has suffered with the popularity of the sport. This is a natural given. Just look at he origins of the tournaments, large, and I mean huge stringers of dead fish weighed in. Look at the huge explosion in numbers of fishermen and girls... it is only natural that fishing is hurt. Add to that the natural ups and downs do to poor spawn or water changes, and well there just won't be as many fish.
Hope to see you on the water..
Danny
Take it easy on Matt and Dave. Neither are bad guys, and it is important to see both sides of any issue. Even if you don't agree with what they say, simply show why you don't agree, don't just slam them.
That's the best part of a discussion. If we all agreed, it would be very boring and we would all be saying yeah... no real give and take of ideas.
Dave may be exactly right on his assessment of the study. I don't know much about the Wisconsin DNR and I can not say with any certainy that they want any particular result. However, having been in the employment of one of the largest food manufacturers in the country, I can tell you, when you pay for a study, you get the results you want. We hired one of the most respected third party groups in the business to do a study for us. Their preliminary results flew in the face of our "beliefs" and so we added some money to the deal and asked for the study to be extended. Guess what.... yep, suddenly the results were exactly what we wanted. LMAO I'm sure our competitors would love to know that. LOL
BTW, writing surveys is a science. It takes a lot of talent and knowledge. The reason? You have to make sure all your questions will lead a person to giving you the answer you want. In a study like this, they hypothesis that the DNR is starting with are the questions, and the methods are the way the questions get asked.
This is a great discussion. Let's not ruin it. And you need to know, I personally look forward to reading your opinion, and your reasons supporting your reasons on topics, even if they do disagree with mine. *smile*
Danny