There are some rally good points posted here about the limits and no dead fish. When I first saw the no dead fish rule I thought the same as many. Last aturday night I fished a tournament on Norris that had a no dead fish weighed rule. I was impressed at the attitude the contestants had about not losing any fish. The idea of the extra fish in the other well wont hold up. Even in a boat weight tournament catching more than 5 18 inch Smallies or Lm is hard on a regular basis.
Delayed mortality is a problem.The further south you go the worse it is. When the water temps get in the upper 80's and the fish go to teh thermocline at 25 or so feet you will lose some of the fish. In teh KLnoxville area some clubs have suspended tournamnets during the hot months of July August and early September. They fish teh winter months of December and Feb instead.Others have gone to a 3 fish limit year round.That helps in survivasl due to less fish in the well and less fish subjected to stress. It also make a far more competative contest.
One other thing that needs to be mentioned is correct fish handling.If you lay the fish on the boats carpet, a dry beily board or handle the fish around its body the chances of it dieing are greatly increased. I like a no net rule becuase nets can damage fish. Try to only handle the fish in its mouth and handle it as little as possible.
Over all, you Kentucky fisherman seem to have a better view of the limits than Tennessee fishermen did at the time the limits were placed. Now every lake in the East Tennessee area is 18 inches on Smallies and the average size fish is getting bigger everywhere.
One last thought. The size limit,day and water is the same for everyone in the tournament. If it is tough for one it is tough for all. Fish2win