Quote Originally Posted by kyriverblues View Post
I agree 100%. Just an idea but Is there maybe a way where some tourney officials could be placed in different areas of the lake being fished and when a guy has a fish to be weighed he or she could use a VHF radio to call the nearest official to come and weigh the fish and it can be released quick. This way a fish would only be in live well minuets instead of hours and not be hauled all over the lake.
I think the bottom line is we are past the age of the catch, hold in a live well all day, weigh in, parade around on stage, then release model of tournament fishing. Muskie tournaments have adopted what you describe and its a good thing because muskies would never survive what many tournament caught bass go through and their numbers are lower to begin with. I personally like the MLF-style of tournaments but that would not fly for a large tournament like the TOT. Imagine coming up with 400 boat officials for such a large tournament. Minimally if tournaments are going to continue with a central weigh-in then they must evolve to better care for the fish. There is a level of care exercised but the results from this tournament demonstrate there is much room to improve.

But I think the way forward is to find a tournament format that supports catch, measure, photograph, and release. One reason I like the MLF format it changes the game in terms of how you score. The 5 fish limit in tournaments is directly related to possession limits and the understanding that keeping too many and hauling them around is detrimental. So that lends to a strategy of culling and having to target larger fish but in MLF you can score significantly with numbers which changes strategy. Surely with technology we can come up with a tournament format of capturing each catch digitally to verify inches or weight and use that information as the basis for the results. GoPro style cameras could even catch some of the live action. Instead of keeping fish all day and parading them around on stage images or videos could be shared from each contestant as the top individuals / teams are presented. This could actually be a interesting business opportunity for those with the fortitude to develop this model and make it successful...

kc