Your Thoughts?

[SkeeterB]

I fish in a local club (www.jccbassmasters.com) here in Indianapolis. It's talked about after many tournaments about the fishing pressure on Indiana lakes. We recently fished an afternoon tournament on Geist and it took 6lbs to win. Now, this is fishing in conditions where recreational traffic caused water to come over the bow of my 19 foot boat. There was two tournaments in the morning and another Friday night. This same pressure happens on many Indiana lakes and I am concerned that it is destroying the quality (or lack there of) of fish here.

It has been talked about briefly between club members about possibly reducing the limits to 3 for each angler next season. On Geist on Saturday, there were dead fish everywhere. I think the reason for the the dead fish is because of the pressure and some anglers not taking proper care of them. Fish care is extremely important especially as we go through these hot summer months.

If we were to do this, our club can't be alone. I sometimes think club tournaments as well as USA Bassin, Federation and others are a big reason why fishing is so poor here. There are few lakes, small body's of water and a ton of fisherman.

What do you think about reducing limits to three and do you think it would help bass fishing in the state of Indiana? Would your organization be interested in such an idea?

[JustinM]

LJP who posts on here sometimes has a very good system for tourneys. It's points based and only one fish brought in. But they all trust each other. I've fished a few on Kentucky that were 3 fish and it worked out fine imo. It does allow for more "luck" than skill. Having 3 4# fish is a lot easier than 5 4# fish. In 3 fish tourneys I do like to see more in the big bass pot than usual.

[idbefishing]

. There are few lakes, small body's of water and a ton of fisherman.

There's your answer right there. I wouldn't mind the 3 fish limit but guys will continue to catch them to upgrade their limit. Therefore, just as many fish being hooked and the pressure will continue. Unless, we go to a no cull system.

[ClarkIR]

You are not giving the fish enough credit for adapting... just because your not catching them doesnt mean regulations need to be placed on the lake.

Roland Martin once talked about how the Civil Corp of Engineers built a private lake for an experiement.

They stocked it with 500 bass and every fish that was caught was recorded and thrown back... no bass were kept. Well by the last year they were caught like less than 300 bass out of it the entire year. They then drained it too see how many bass were actually in it and there ended up being over 2200 bass in the lake.

What that says is, bass adapt. They are always adapting. The more fishing pressure on a lake, the more lures the bass sees and the more it starts to refuse lures that they have hit in the past.

dont let the tail wag the dog on this issue... i dont believe thats a concern at all.

[HURRICANEBOB]

What about seasonal touney limits? Water temp below 70, 5 fish limt. Water temp 71 and above, 3 fish limit.

I think water temp does make a difference on the fishes stress levels and survival rates after being caught, and sloshing around in a livewell awaitng weigh-in. I think in warm water, fish caught and released while culling stand a better chance of living than a fish caught, kept, carried around the lake for 5 hours, then weighed in and released.

I think fishing out go high tech. Digital cameras that show the date and time on each picture are cheap and easy to get. What about a fish tourney where no fish get weighed in. A digital picture is taken of a caught fish laying on a ruler that shows its lenght, and the guy who brings in the 5 pictures with the longest total length wins the tourney. As boats come in, they just plug the camera into the judges laptop, who saves the pictures, and totals up the total 5 fish length. Pictures don't lie. Why are we so interested in weight? Why not length? I mean, bigger is just plain bigger.

[LJP]

My bass club tourneys are based on length. Each 1/2 inch of fish increases its point value. Only one keeper fish per boat is kept for big bass.

[ClarkIR]

Should boxing be broken up into height classes instead of weight? Longer does not equal heavier. At bluegrass you can catch a 3lber and it not be a keeper. If you can't keep the fish alive in the well then you don't need to participate. Ever thought of weighing the fish... Writing down the weight and throwing it back? Rapala sells $20 scales

[JustinM]

Well clark. Even with the rather odd tone of your post, his system works well. I've fished his tx before and it worked. Isn't that all that matters? And keeping fish alive in your live well is cake. Have you ever been to a big lake like Kentucky, Barkley or guntersville the day after a huge tx? There are hundreds of huge dead fish floating. Keeping them alive for 8 hours is easy. Keeping the damage caused by catching them and keeping them in the livewell is not. Read forums from guntersville to Kentucky to lake fork to newton. It's all the same. The night after they are released again is when they die. Paris landing used to be the worst about dead fish the day after. That big marina with a small opening was sick. 50+ 5# fish dead after big tx's went through. Even in late winter it's a issue. Guntersville this march at goose pond colony had a 400 boat tx out of it while we were there. You should of seen all the dead fish. The smell and sight of it made me sick. So yeah if you can get away with it and there is trust between members then pulling out a stick is great. Besides do you want to check 15 scales to make sure they are all right on? And right on at every once?

[idbefishing]

It boils down to guys don't care about the fish. There are many that don't carry ice, Rejuvenade, etc...and just don't think about what happens after the scale. How many leave their livewell running while waiting for the trailer? The ramp area water is warmer, contaminated with oil, gas and oxygen depleted. While you waiting, you replaced all the main lake water with the bad water. Tourny that don't have release boat dump their fish right at the ramp in the same bad water. The longer the weight line the longer the fish stay in a bag with nowhere near enough water for the fish to breath. To add to that, the fish are weight out of the water so they're being choke for some more. It is not the catch and release that killed the fish. It is the improper handling of the fish that killed them. In a small club where everyone trusts each other, the honor system works well. In bigger tourny where it's all about the money, it just won't work. We all know how money is the root of all evil.

[slimshad09]

I get crazy thinking about this stuff. Dead fish is a thing that can't totally be stopped. If you hook one deep it will die. If you weigh in a dead fish you get penalized. In my club there is always a person that will take the dead fish home for their family to eat. As for the really big tournys, maybe they need to be limited on the number of boats. It won't change so just try your best and move on I guess. You can keep your fish rejuved and hope for the best. I think I will donate some rejuve to some guys that don't have it in the next tourny. My problem is catchin them not keepin them alive!

[ClarkIR]

my comment was more in reference to hurricanebob and less to LJP.

I feel like this is one of those global warming debates... 50 fish died in a lake that has over 20,000 probably... Money isnt the root of all evil like someone else said.

Because really, money, is the best resolution to whatever is itching your back here. Pay for the top of the line scale to be on the boat... pay for a person to sit in your boat for 8 hours to weigh fish as you catch them... pay for the most advanced techniques to care for the fish..

Bass Elite fisherman go to these same lakes year after year and haul in large quantities of fish with no problem. The fish are going to repopulate, and years and years of tournament results is proof of this.

[ClarkIR]

Here are some tournaments held on Guntersville Lake over the last 6 years

2010: 1206 Fish, Approx 4800 lbs
2009: 1283 Fish, Approx 5300 lbs
2008: 1179 Fish, Approx 3700 lbs
2007: 977 Fish, Approx 2900 lbs
2006: 1158 Fish, Approx 3400 lbs
2005: 1067 Fish, Approx 3500 lbs

I feel like year after year, with all of this kill offs from big tourneys, youd see a steady decline in the fish caught, But the evidence here is pretty conclusive to me.

Not trying to be a **** here, but I mean you accept the fact that you are going to kill a fish or two when you hunt them with sharp objects to begin with. Conservation should be a big deal especially at the amatuer level and im not opposing that, also everyone can make a tourney any way they want and its up to the individual to decide if they want to enter or not.

Instead of running away from the problem (Lowering limits, no live well holding, ect) People should be looking for ways to improve the situation to maintain the traditional 5 fish limits.