Silly question, but....

[kreyfish]

The previous discussion about fishing around marina's that have a "NO FISHING" policy made me think about this question....

After a tournament, who releases the fish and where are the fish released?

Seems to me that if the fish are released at the marina, the fish would more than likely call this new place "home". Or are they released back into the lake at various points?

Just curious....

[Danny]

Kreyfish,

I can't answer for all organizations, obviously, but most club tourneys just release the fish back in where the weigh in is.

Bigger tournaments like BASS and probably the FLW tour, have release boats that release the fish around the lake.

Last time I fished a BFL, they just released the fish back in at the weigh in sight, although that was many years ago, and may have changed.

I always thought like you that the fish just stayed in that general area, and many may, but did you happen to see the Bassmaster shows this year? They are using a fish tracking technology to follow two fish at each sight. One of the fish was actually caught, and released a long way from where it was caught. It was only tracked for two days after the tournament, but it was headed back in the general of where it was caught, some 20 miles from where the weigh in was.

Hope this helps,

Danny

[kreyfish]

Thanks for the reply Danny. No, I wouldn't think that ALL of the fish released at the ramp/marina would stay there, but it seems logical that a lot would. Considering the shade, structure, food eliments...hanging around the dock would be an ideal habitat for these larger fish.

With these "No Fishing" zones becoming more and more popular, it might be a wise idea for event coordinators to release these fish back into the main lake.

I've never fished a tourney, so I don't know the S.O.P. It just seems like something that should be considered.

Thanks again.