Interesting topic...

I have a friend that works for KDFWR. We've discussed this question in the past. He said that it has been discussed at staff meetings in the past also.

Managing tournaments is a tough task. First of all, you would never want to discourage a tournament from coming to the area. They bring business to local companies, notariety to the area, and license money to the state fish and wildlife agency (which gets put back into the fishery in terms of management, habitat, and boating access improvement. Many of the big tournaments actually donate a lump sum of money that gets spent on fish habitat improvement on that lake.

It just shows our responsibility as ethical fishermen to spread the importance of safety, respect for the regulations, and healthy handling of the fish that we release!!

FYI, KDFWR does have a website devoted to tournament scheduling. It is optional for tournament directors to report their tourneys, but once they do, you can look on the site to find out on any given days what tournaments are going on, and which ramps they are fishing from. Check out the fishing link on the website at www.kyafield.com.

Tight lines

ps. I'm fishing the tailwater this weekend...no way I want to fight the traffic on the big lakes!