Dead fish during day tournaments

[GeoFisher]

Never lost a fish in 30 years fishing tournaments. Never use ANY special agents or ice. But the livewell timer is set to the quickest setting and if my co-angler has a limit I leave the switch on CONSTANT. Ban tournaments GEO? Sure ban em all this time of year. The Gulf could use your help plucking tar balls.

Lets see........it's a HUNDRED degrees out here. The water is 85-90 degrees if you don't condition it.

I've seen my share of summer weigh ins where HALF the fish weighed are either dead or dying. Granted most of these are local tourneys, but still DEAD fish are DEAD fish.

Stick around a weigh in and watch how many are dead or dying.

It happens, and there is not too much you can do about it.

Later,

Geo

[GeoFisher]

I think re-circ has its benefits - the largest being when you cannot pump in fresh water. Recirculating water in a livewell that has already reached high levels of ammonia and warm can actually cause some harm. Those Koolwell systems are nice, I wish I had one. The best thing to do is pump out about half the livewell water, and pump back in fresh water at least every hour. I have never lost a fish - but keep a constant eye on them this time of year.

Geo - I don't think banning tournaments is a good solution. However, I think the dead fish penalty in tournaments should be a little more than most are. At least it will keep the hadful of tournament anglers who don't work to keep fish alive a little more proactive.

How about a DNR member at EVERY tourney and EVERY weigh in. How about they TICKET those tourney jocks for every DEAD FISH. Wanton waste of the fishery resource is a serious offense....

Here is what really gets my goat. Most serious tourney guys get SICK about a guy taking a 5 or 6lb fish and cutting it up for a nice sandwich. BUT if that same tourney guy catches a 5 or 6 and carries it 30 miles in a hot, rocking livewell, and then weights a DEAD FISH, he has no problem with that. Personally I think THAT *****. If you've NEVER KILLED a fish in a tourney then you can bitch about the guy that harvests fish for the table. If you've EVER KILLED ONE at a weigh in, then you don't have any ground to stand on.

This time of year, it is stressful enough on the fishery. I'd love to see some rules to protect the fish.

* MAKE it a REQUIREMENT to use chemicals.
* Make it a REQUIREMENT to use ice.
* MAKE it a REQUIREMENT to protect your catch.
* NO DEAD fish......PERIOD.
* If it is obvious you're fish are going to die........you cannot weigh them.
* If you bring in DEAD FISH.......you're disqualified from your classic.

MAKE this a SERIOUS ISSUE.......cause right now, it is NOT.

Later,

Geo

[DJD]

If you ban dead fish you will find dead fish floating through the lake because they will toss them back before the weigh in. I would think small to medium tournaments having more problems than the large pro or state level because of the tubs of chemicals that most of them use....has anyone seen this any different?

The ones I have fished here over the last few years were small enough to get the fish weighed and back in the lake pretty quick. I think that helps.

If you have a situation where there is a line of guys standing there with bags of fish in this hot weather their not gonna hold them off the hot ground and that bag can only hold so much life supporting capabilities and sooner than later the fish are gonna get hotter from the ground and stressed because of the depleteing oxygen and even the waste from the other fish. Yes there is room for improvement....JMHO

[F16ENGMGR]

Geo

No dead fish allowed at weigh in period. Screw the 8 oz penalty or whatever it is. DQ the whole fish. Most sights have trash cans. If you don't want a dead fish floating then discard it.

As for the larger tournaments not having problems - many also have release boats that take them to who knows where for release.

And if you want to fillet a batch of bass go for it. 11 1/2" spots are pretty darn good alongwith a 3 lb largemouth that swallows a crappie jig that's bleeding to death.

I rather doubt you'd put much of a dent in the 250K fingerling largemouth that I helped stock in the Markland Pool in 2007 & 2008. Smashing success btw.

The bass tournament angler is probably more savvy about the bass fishery overall than any other angler. I rather doubt that they want to see the demise of their sport fish.

[Joel_FOM]

Do the tourney guys eat the dead bass they bring to the weigh-in?

Yes, at least Fishers of Men tourneys do. We will always have a cooler for dead loss.

The frozen bottles and rejuvenade work great. But if you put bagged ice in your livewell it will melt and release chlorine. I have actually had anglers kill fish doing this. They wondered what went wrong, but fish and chlorine do not mix. If you cannot get bottles, make sure that your bag doesn't break when you put it in the livewell.

I am a "tournament guy" and I want the fishery to flourish. I honestly cannot see that it hurts the fishery to have some dead fish brought in. I can see that it hurts bass fishermen's reputation when those fish are wasted. I want to see all of them swim away, but there are lots of folks who would love to make a meal from those that don't make it.

I guess what I am trying to say is that we all need to get along a little better. Geo is probably ticked off because he saw some floaters at the ramp after a weigh-in. I don't blame him. But the answer is not to ban tourneys, nor is it to ban dead fish (that would just scatter the dead loss all over the lake when the angler realizes he has one that doesn't make it). It is also foolish to suggest a ticket for a dead fish - would you ticket the guy with 5 spots on ice in his cooler? The answer is to show some good stewardship with the resource. If God didn't want us to eat a fish, He wouldn't have made them out of meat.

Try your best to keep them alive, and if you lose one, somebody take the thing home and eat it!

[SecretWeapon]

A lot of good ideas listed here! Something I use and have been very impressed with is the V-T2 Livewell & Baitwell Ventilators. They are very inexpensive, currently $31 on sale. www.v-t2.com and they are made here in KY. I know a few dealers have them installed in their new boats on the lot.

The V-T2 is an all natural, environmentally safe, and affordable method for cooling livewell/baitwell water, increasing aeration and dissolved oxygen, and reducing harmful metabolic waste (CO2 gas).

The V-T2 creates a fresh air flow throughout the livewell or baitwell. This air flow cools livewell/baitwell water and interiors, provides more aeration and oxygen, and expels harmful gases created by metabolic waste.

Justin Hires
National Divisions Coordinator
www.USABassin.com

[Embrey]

Geo


The bass tournament angler is probably more savvy about the bass fishery overall than any other angler. I rather doubt that they want to see the demise of their sport fish.

doesnt matter if they want to see it or not...its about money.

[F16ENGMGR]

Hell yes it's all about the money. But why/who do you think the V-T2 system was invented? Guess someone got the idea that "Hey" maybe this will help keep my creel alive. Gee it's been advertized on FLW & B.A.S.S. Yep all about the $$$.

[Rudypoo4444]

Lets see........it's a HUNDRED degrees out here. The water is 85-90 degrees if you don't condition it.

I've seen my share of summer weigh ins where HALF the fish weighed are either dead or dying. Granted most of these are local tourneys, but still DEAD fish are DEAD fish.

Stick around a weigh in and watch how many are dead or dying.

It happens, and there is not too much you can do about it.

Later,

Geo

I hear exactly what you are saying, and understand your points. They seem very valid to me.

If this kind of thing goes on as much as you say it does, I can't help but laugh even more when someone gets on to me for eating largemouths.

It is a catch-22 though. You ban dead fish being weighed in at the tournaments, some of these jokers will just throw the dead ones out before they get to the ramp. Put too small of a penality on dead fish, and it still won't matter to some of the guys if they bring in dead fish or not.

Sometimes I am GLAD I didn't get bit by the tournament bug.

[kc]

I like the idea of a DNR guy at every tournament and ticket the tournament director if a bunch of dead bass are weighed in. Like several have said on this post it is not rocket science. The key is a little information and preparation and make the tournament directors responsible. Maybe they need to have a pre-tournament meeting and explain to everyone how to keep their fish alive. They could even supply some ice and chemicals for those who aren't prepared. And if they still have too many dead fished weighed in - fine them. Tournament fishermen are quick to point out that "fishery problems" are because the meat eater keep too many but they have rules and I think tournament anglers should follow rules too. It is not difficult to ice and use chemicals to keep fish alive but it beyond me how many haven't figured that out.

My 2 cents...


kc

[Duayne]

You can't ticket someone for bringing in a dead fish when he could easily have caught 5 and cleaned them. The reg is 5 per person. A boat with 2 ppl could take 10 bass home if they wanted. I'm not a tourney guy and I do think weigh ins this time of year is a mistake, but the simple fact is, if ppl catch them they can kill them up to five per person. It seems to me like it would be kinda fun for the small medium deals to do a some low fee small payout catch and release tourney's this time of year or go with all night tourneys.

If you want something that will provide a huge help with little cost, go to Kroger and buy kosher/pickling salt (non iodine). Its right next to the iodine salt. Salt water retains oxygen much better than lake water and you won't have to cool it as much which means you don't have to carry as much ice and there is less chance of shock when put back in the lake.

If you want to keep from having to change the water as much, go to the pet store and get some chlorine/ammonia blocker. Don't add bagged ice without it, but its a good idea to use this stuff even if you aren't adding bagged ice as fish put off ammonia several ways and it is deadly to them.

[offdtop]

I don't believe it's the "weigh ins" that are the problem, it's guys taking steps to help prevent it. As mentioned way earlier deflate the bladder would save 75% of these fish because they are being pulled from 20 to 25 ft of water in a split second. A conservation agent should/could be at weigh in's and demonstrate the proper technique and this would take survival rates up drastically! Instead looking for wrong they could help promote what is right.....JMHO