oxygen for bass

[kc]

It is interesting to read about people aware of bass mortality with tournament fishing. The best thing that can be done is to not hold tournaments during the summer. Several posts here explain far better than I ever could as to what a bass is up against being caught in the hot months and surviving being held for hours, weighed in, and finally released. Larger fish (which are the one we want to protect the most) are the first to die. Study after study shows that even when the bass swim off after the weigh-in in warm water conditions up to 70% will die within a few days.

I caught a 4 lb smallmouth last week end at night out of 6 - 8 feet of water, did my usual of unhooking her quickly and putting her in the live well so she could revive and calm down a bit while I finish fishing the spot. About 10 minutes later I quickly measured and weighed her and she was not out of the water more than a minute or two and she wanted to roll on me when released. After working with her for a couple of minutes beside the boat she finally swam off and I only hope I didn't kill her. No way would she have survived a tournament experience. Fish have a hard time surviving the rigors of being caught when the water is warm and their best shot at survival is immediate release. I pray that tournament anglers will one day get the message and only hold tournaments during more favorable times.

kc

[Danny]

I'm shocked!!! you were fishing in this hot weather, with the hot water? You almost killed that big old small mouth, and probably with delayed mortality, you did, all for your own fun!!!!

Just messing with you dude... but that is simply put the message you put forth with the idea of no summer tournaments.

That idea won't fly, ever.

What I would love to see is to first of all, do away with culling. If you decide to keep a fish, it's yours for the tournament.

I'd also support smaller limits, especially in hotter months.

Imagine a three fish limit for tournaments in the summer, and NO CULLING!!!

OK, maybe I'm supporting the smaller limit in hopes I could finally weigh a limit...LOL

Another thing is the chemical additives. Uncle Lee's has started carrying Please Release Me, just because I have asked them to. If I do ever keep a fish in the live well, I make sure I put in the chemicle, tournament or not.

Also, don't fill your livewell until you catch a fish to go in it, and don't put your fish in the dry livewell untill you get enough water in there for it to be covered. Then make sure to completely fill your livewell.

I love to see everyone sharing ideas to save our fish. I really like the frozen bottles of water. I usually keep a couple of frozen bottles of drinking water in my cooler on the boat, just so I'll have some cold water left after all the ice melts. I never thought about carrying a couple extra for the livewell. So thanks for the idea.

Danny

[kc]

I agree with you Danny. I know I have come across pretty militant on tournaments but I am trying to get the point across that there is a major detrimental effect of all of this rampant tournament fishing and the quality of our bass fishing. Anything we could do in the warmer months to kill less bass via tournament fishing would be a step forward. I realize that T fishing is not going to end in the summer any less than I am going to quit recreational fishing in the warm water but again any step towards reducing the number of tournaments or reducing the number of bass kept/killed is a step in the right direction. This is a good thread and more power to those who are trying to do the right things.

kc

[mhall]

>It is interesting to read about
>people aware of bass mortality
>with tournament fishing. The
>best thing that can be
>done is to not hold
>tournaments during the summer.
>Several posts here explain far
>better than I ever could
>as to what a bass
>is up against being caught
>in the hot months and
>surviving being held for hours,
>weighed in, and finally released.
> Larger fish (which are
>the one we want to
>protect the most) are the
>first to die. Study
>after study shows that even
>when the bass swim off
>after the weigh-in in warm
>water conditions up to 70%
>will die within a few
>days.
>
>I caught a 4 lb smallmouth
>last week end at night
>out of 6 - 8
>feet of water, did my
>usual of unhooking her quickly
>and putting her in the
>live well so she could
>revive and calm down a
>bit while I finish fishing
>the spot. About 10 minutes
>later I quickly measured and
>weighed her and she was
>not out of the water
>more than a minute or
>two and she wanted to
>roll on me when released.
> After working with her
>for a couple of minutes
>beside the boat she finally
>swam off and I only
>hope I didn't kill her.
> No way would she
>have survived a tournament experience.
> Fish have a hard
>time surviving the rigors of
>being caught when the water
>is warm and their best
>shot at survival is immediate
>release. I pray that
>tournament anglers will one day
>get the message and only
>hold tournaments during more favorable
>times.
>
>kc

Well put and you are dead on, but good luck it is not going to happen.

[artcarney_agr]

A few weeks ago, on a very hot day, my fish weren't taking to well to the warmer water in my live well. So, I bought a bag of ice and put it into the livewell. Ten minutes later it had melted, but the fish were doing better. The water temperature was still quite warm, so I thought since my livewell is huge and very very deep I would put in two bags of ice this time. Again, they melted quickly! But this time, I noticed in the bottom of the livewell the fish were laying on their sides! I freaked out! I stuck my hand down all the way to the bottom of my livewell to grab one of the fish. I then realized what was going on! The cold water sinks to the bottom of the livewell! Duh!!!! The water was so cold down at the bottom that the fish were in a state of hibernation! They would just barely move and seemed kind of mellowed out! Later that day, at the weigh-in, the fish began waking up once they were out of the cold water. They seemed just fine and were released unharmed. Has anyone else ever had their fish go into a state of hibernation like this?

[bullrdr6]

The fish weren't hibernating they were in shock. It is safe to drop the water temperature in your livewell 7-10 degrees. Anymore than that and you will chance putting them into shock.

Also the bags of ice you buy have chlorine and other chemicals in them that could harm the fish.

Next time take some water from the lake home in some of the empty soda/water bottles you have and freeze them. Better yet, add some Please Release Me or Rejevunate to the water before freezing. Then you've got ice from the lake thats been treated and can be added to the livewell.

Charlie

[BassBest]

What I did to help that is to use the release me formula in every weighin bag and have another bag with water ready for after weighing with release me in it. then take to the water, so fish are out of water no more than 15 seconds and the water they are in before and after weighin has an abundance of O2 in it, just something to hopefully get them through that time of turmoil after released.

Elijah Orr
Kentucky Lake Bass Club
Asst. TD
270-354-5285
[email protected]

[Moose1am]

You seem to be a very good protector of the fish. I wish everyone took as much care with their fish as you. People can learn a lot from your example. Keep up the good work.

The new tournament bags that have the portable battery powered air pumps on them are great. I do wish that they would put a white surface on them to reflect the light and keep the inside of the bags cooler for the weigh in. Maybe a manufacture will read this and take the hint. White may get dirty faster but it does reflect the heat or light off the outer surface of the bags and that will keep the water inside the bag a bit cooler as apposed to a black colored surface on these transport bags.

Adding the proper chemicals to the water can help the bass survival. I use some chemicals to treat my minnow water before I go out fishing with live bait. The blue color you see in the minnow water is the result of this chemical treatment.

These chemicals help to neutralize or tie up the Chlorine compounds that are found in city tap water. Most well waters have a different pH and these chemicals help stabilize the pH and put it at a more neutral pH level. pH of 7.0 is the best in most cases. And if you can cool the water and reduce the amount of ammonia excreted into the live wells by the fish you can make the fish survive longer. Ammonia is very toxic to fish. It's what kills the minnows in a minnow bucket before the end of the day if you put too many minnows in the bucket and don't keep the water cold. The same principles apply to bass in a live well as apply to the minnows in a minnow bucket.

Regards,

Moose1am

[artcarney_agr]

Purity Party Ice is made from natural spring water and contains no chemicals. It's always worked fine for me over the years. I've only lost two fish over the last ten years of tournament bass fishing and both were a result of being hooked in the gill plate. Seems like a hook in the gill plate is almost worse than a fish swallowing it! Of course, I've had fish swallow the hook and released them alive. I've even caught fish that have had a hook in them for a long time, judging by the rust on the hook!

Anyone else ever caught a fish with a rusty hook in it?

[Danny]

Scott,

I've caught fish that were passing soft plastic baits and part of a hook, but that is it.

Yes, passing as in defacating.

Danny

[dcbasser]

Had several fish with old rusty hooks in them. The fish seem to be healty and once the hooks were removed they done just fine. As far as the chemicals go, how much do you all use for the livewells and do you use more if you have more fish in the livewell, not that I ever do. Looking to get some for the dog days of summer.

[Danny]

I would at least follow the directions on the product. I generally use a little extra. Not sure if that is good or not, but the product is designed to help restore the slime coat, have an antibacterial agent to fight infection, and is designed to calm the fish down.

Hope that helps,

Danny