Dead fish during day tournaments

[Tom Shepherd]

The only fish that I have had die in a livewell are fish that are hooked bad. Would they die if you turned them loose? Of course they would. Anytime you stick a piece of metal in an animal it has a chance to die. Just take care of your fish the best you can and most will be fine. The ice bottle technique works really well for me and keep the recirc on constantly. Another little trick I do is when it is really hot I will throw a bag of ice in the livewell before I leave home and this cools down the livewell before I even get to the lake.

[Duayne]

I think having someone at the weigh ins to assist in teaching proper methods is a wonderful idea.

[Rudypoo4444]

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.

This is just offensive and WRONG. I have never fished a tourney, but I am just as savvy as the next guy when it comes to protecting the resource. I never keep over my limit, I don't always keep fish to eat, I buy my licence every year to help fund the resource, and I stay concerned and alert to our local bass fisheries.

[Bandit1]

You all mention having the DNR at the ramp to give a ticket for dead fish weighed in. If that is the case they would have to give a ticket to every Tom, Richard, & Harry that brings in a dead bass. Weather to eat or otherwise. I am a tournament fisherman to. I don't like seeing a bunch of dead bass floating, hell, I dont like seeing a bunch of dead carp floating. If they are going to give tickets for dead fish, give it to the guys that put the dead fish back in the lake, that will eliminate alot of the floaters, but you also have the ones that hooked the fish deep & as they are trying to get the hook out the fish dies. The fish is to short to keep, do they get a ticket too? Or do they risk getting a ticket for having a short fish?

Just sayin,

Jason

[F16ENGMGR]

This is just offensive and WRONG. I have never fished a tourney, but I am just as savvy as the next guy when it comes to protecting the resource. I never keep over my limit, I don't always keep fish to eat, I buy my licence every year to help fund the resource, and I stay concerned and alert to our local bass fisheries.

RP4444 thanks for supporting the sport with your license purchase, although it may be a law if you fall into the angler age category. And did you know that a 10% fee paid by tackle mfg's for items that you purchase also goes towards the fishery?

Have you ever been to a bass tournament weigh-in? Offensive? Sorry you feel that way. Maybe with your intellect and experience you could help enlighten this monumental high dollar industry especially on a local level.

FLW just jacked up the entry fee for 2011 according to Bassfan - 40K a year. And yes they'll fish when the weather/water is warm. You may want to petition them not to hold bass tournaments during warm weather though. At this writing they're fishing Guntersville, AL. Temps are forecast to be 90 deg. I wonder how many dead fish they'll report.

[Rudypoo4444]

RP4444 thanks for supporting the sport with your license purchase, although it may be a law if you fall into the angler age category. And did you know that a 10% fee paid by tackle mfg's for items that you purchase also goes towards the fishery?

Have you ever been to a bass tournament weigh-in? Offensive? Sorry you feel that way. Maybe with your intellect and experience you could help enlighten this monumental high dollar industry especially on a local level.

FLW just jacked up the entry fee for 2011 according to Bassfan - 40K a year. And yes they'll fish when the weather/water is warm. You may want to petition them not to hold bass tournaments during warm weather though. At this writing they're fishing Guntersville, AL. Temps are forecast to be 90 deg. I wonder how many dead fish they'll report.

With my "intellect" I can tell you that stopping summer tournaments is not the answer, but making the tournament leaders and fishermen responsible for their catch is. If I bring a dead fish back to the dock with me, it really doesn't matter, because at that point, they are just riding with me on a trip to the skillet.

How about making these tourney leaders penalize the fishermen during the tournament to help raise awareness, and make the tourney owners replinish the resource by stocking "X" amount of fish for fish weighed in dead. And if you get caught throwing out a dead fish before you get to the dock, you don't get to fish tournaments anymore, EVER.

Sound fair? Hope I didn't throw too much intellect at you, LOL!

[Bandit1]

With my "intellect" I can tell you that stopping summer tournaments is not the answer, but making the tournament leaders and fishermen responsible for their catch is. If I bring a dead fish back to the dock with me, it really doesn't matter, because at that point, they are just riding with me on a trip to the skillet.

How about making these tourney leaders penalize the fishermen during the tournament to help raise awareness, and make the tourney owners replinish the resource by stocking "X" amount of fish for fish weighed in dead. And if you get caught throwing out a dead fish before you get to the dock, you don't get to fish tournaments anymore, EVER.

Sound fair? Hope I didn't throw too much intellect at you, LOL!

Hey Rudypoo,

Does that mean for every fish you take out of the lake to eat YOU will be restocking with "X" number of fish?

Just askin,

Jason

[shakinatdark]

i had 2 FROZEN GALLON JUGS AND BASS MEDICS PRODUCT IN MY LIVE WELL. HAD 1 FISH DIE AND DID REFILL AND ADD ICE AND MORE PRODUCT TO WATER. LIVE WELL TEMP WAS 71 AND THE FISH STILL DIED EVEN AFTER HAVING FISH IN LAKE WATER FOR 15 MIN TRING TO HELP HIM OUT. SOMETIMES THINGS JUST HAPPEN EVEN WITH THE BEST EFFORT GAVE...... THIS WAS THE FIRST FISH THAT I HAVE LOST IN TWO YEARS AND THE FACT THAT A 5/0 WIDE GAP HOOK IN HIS THROAT THAT I CUT THE SHANK OFF PROBABLY DIDNT HELP THINGS EITHER....

[rudeZ20]

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

Justin,
Spoke with Judy and installed these today. We will see if they are as good as proclaimed. I aprreciate the heads up about them. Not only MADE IN THE USA but also locally owned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Support the locals!

[Rudypoo4444]

Hey Rudypoo,

Does that mean for every fish you take out of the lake to eat YOU will be restocking with "X" number of fish?

Just askin,

Jason

Nope. If I put a fish in my livewell, it is going in there for a reason....For me to eat. I am not just giving it a joy-ride all day waiting for a weigh-in. This situation is a little different. The tournament guys are taking a chance on the fish dying by keeping it in the live well until weigh-in. That is why they should be held accountable, and why I said they should stock "X" number of fish if they have one die. The fish in the tournaments die for no reason. Hopefully there is someone there that will take the dead fish to eat, but I would bet most of the tournament fishermen do not, so a dead fish is just a waste in their situation.

Don't try and turn this around on the recreational fishermen. They aren't carrying around fish in the livewell just to show them off at the end of the day. People have to eat, it is not a necessity to weigh fish at the end of the day. I know some guys do the "tournament" thing for a living, but it isn't 1% of the total population of fishermen. If they are going to cart a fish around all day, with a chance of it dying, just to weigh it in at the end of the day, hold them accountable for the destruction of the resource if there is any.

I'm not against tournaments or tournament fishermen by any stretch, but they have a different situation than the REC fishermen do, so they should have to play by a different set of rules.

[Bobby Headrick]

Some fish will die no matter what you do. Also when a person is fun fishing and fishing deep, Do you take time to bleed the fish before returninh it to to water, how many of these caught and released back fast, fish die ? It is always blamed on the tourny guys. At the KBFN tourney this past weekend, the tourney officials supplied , rejuvenaide, and also peroxcide, this works wonders in helpin keep fish alive, also there was plenty of ice on hand and we had 4 release tanks set up to hold your fish in while in line to weigh in. My boat had one dead fish, we did all we could to keep it alive but it was hooked fairly deep and did not make it, but it went into a cooler and was taken tobe eaten, there is always someone around who will take a few home to clean and eat, this is fine. You are gonna have fish mortalaty in the summer whether is is from tourneys or catch and release. Also to point out there are a few tourney circuts out there that do not have the means to protect the fish while waitng to weigh in, these tourneys need holding tanks to hold yopur fish in while in line. like DJD mentioned earlier.

[psprowler]

People have to eat, it is not a necessity to weigh fish at the end of the day. I know some guys do the "tournament" thing for a living, but it isn't 1% of the total population of fishermen.

I don't have a dog in this fight but I would suspect that <1% of the total population of fisherman solely depend on lake bass for their main source of food........