Keeping Bass Alive

[Bill Babler]

All tournament fisherman and tournament directors need to read the difinitive article on how to keep tournament fish alive.

Keeping Bass Alive - Leggetts Creek Bass Masters

This how to information can be found on the internet and is Extremely valuable.

This is a 20 page article covering everything from pre-tournament to release boats, not only telling you to do certain things, but giving you the reason for the action, and the reaction. Fantastic piece and should be a primer for all tournaments either night or day.

This is a great read. If you can't find it let me know. You can google search, keeping bass alive and it will be the 6th piece down the page.

I have read everything I can find on the subject and this is the Bomb. Best piece I have ever read.

Bottom line, 3 fish limits, water at 70 degrees or under small doses of salt, duel continuious areation, short stays in the livewell, no longer than 4 hrs. if possible. Quick cool handling at weigh-in, with fish cooled and rejuvinated before being released. Any dead fish to be disposed of properly. ie Eaten. Nothing left on the ramp, but the waves.

At 80 degree water temps in your livewell, the fish really don't stand a change even with two pumps running full tilt. It has to be cool and not over crowded. Eric said 25 ft. on the fizzing, but most articles, will say 18, to be on the safe side. As Phil stated professionals need to be at the release and gather tanks to take care of any problems before the fish are released.

This is not 10 or even 5 years ago. If we kill dozens of fish and let them float and it is viewed by the non-fishing public, or for that matter any PETA people, you can bet it will be on the news and then some. This is a very worthy topic and should be taken very seriously on this and any other bass fishing forum. You want our right to go away, there is no better way than to leave a mess like I found for someone to photograph, or video tape and put on the news. I will guarantee you any of the networks in Springfield would have ran pic's of those floaters.

Give that article a quick read.

[rps]

Bill

First, and very importantly, you are right to be disgusted with abuse of resources. You are also right to advocate intelligent and science based handling of fish to be released. Keep at it. People who advocate are the ones responsible for the dominance of catch and release thinking. I support what you say in this thread and in the other one.

Unfortunately, you have just run into vested interest land. Big money has become involved in televising bass and walleye tournaments. The best of these events carefully schedule to avoid the conditions which dictate the steps you describe.

FROM THIS POINT ON I HAVE MODIFIED MY POST AFTER READING WHAT A NUMBER OF FELLOW MEMBERS HAVE WRITTEN IN THE OTHER THREAD CURRENTLY RAGING ABOUT A FISH KILL.

The rest can't do that, and the results, in terms of fish kill, are wildly uneven and not successful.

Good tournament directors exist at many levels below those big dollar events. Unfortunately not at all, and the shame is that they are more important at the tournaments not in the big leagues. Why? Because the lower level tournaments are more likely to happen at locations after the summer thermocline has set in. Also those fishing at the lower levels are not as likely to be well educated on the necessary steps to avoid massive fish kills. The evidence to support this is in the dead fish Bill and others talk about in their posts.

Everyone except my wife has fallen in love with the idea of a central weigh in where big men fling fish in the air to be admired. Any rational steps to avoid the death traps such behavior creates in the summer will be resisted:

It isn't manly to fish measure and release. Bubba might lose a tournament he would have won if his fat fish were weighed against that other fellow's skinny one. How can Roy Jim be sure Bubba didn't cheat if he can't see the fish Bubba claims. Why limit the tournament to three fish when the limit in the state is five? The list goes on and that doesn't even begin to address the costs that truly proper care would entail.

I remember the death and injury toll among anglers when bass tournaments first started imitating the BASS shotgun starts. It takes too long, but if all us keep working and writing, we can eventually have some effect on the fish kill problem. Hopefully, we won't have to resort to that European country rule that banned catch and release fishing.

[Whack'emGood]

Sometimes, no matter what you do, even catching and immediately releasing a bass causes them to die (gut or gill hooked, water too hot, etc.). This is extremely frustrating. Sometimes, when this happens, I wonder if it is even worth catching 15-20 fish to have one of them die on you. But if you give up fishing to protect the fish and miss out on catching them, then they are of no value to you. Sometimes its just a catch-22 situation... If you catch a bunch of bass (either catch and release immediately, or carry them to the weigh in), no matter what you do to take care of them, you may still end up losing a few. None of us are perfect, or even close. We just have to do the best we can to take care of our fisheries, but still enjoy catching the fish that we love to catch. Everybody needs to put out 110% toward the cause-- thats all we can do. Anyone that doesn't do all that can be done, and give 110% toward taking care of the fish that they catch, should be flogged repeatedly on the head.

Whack'em

[mclothier1]

Link to article

[Chris Tetrick]

Whacked'em good was exactly right. Anyone who doesn't do all they can to make sure the fish can swim off back to their home shouldn't be fishing on Table Rock, or any other lake. Bass are such a wonderfull, prescious resource we get the oppoutrity to enjoy in which fishermen thrive upon. It's a passion for us, in our blood. I'd give anything to see a bass caught get released and swim off. Unfortunately though like you gentlemen said, they can die in the warmer water, hooked deep and blood running out of their poor little gills. Makes me sick. Doing guide trips this year I unfortunately have personally known 3 bass that we've caught and seen killed. 2 Smallmouth in the spring swimming a grub and last week a nice K.Y. that laid over dead as soon as I laid the fish back into the water.

What I use is a very sharp pair of high dollar side cutters for a bass that's hooked deep. Run it down her throat and cut as much of the hook off as I can hoping they can diguest it through them and get to swim on, but being extra carefull to not touch their gill plates or the inner tummy. That's what I do anyways, what do you guys think's the best way for handling a fish that's hooked deep?

[Whack'emGood]

I do exactly what you do Chris. I have a quality pair of wire cutters that I never fish without. I try to cut as much of the hook out that I can without causing any undue stress to the fish while I cut it. I try to leave as little of the hook in there as I can. I have even had the rest of the hook pop right out of the stomach after I cut the hook. Everyone should have a quality pair of wire cutters in their boat. It works great and can really make a difference sometimes.

Whack'em

[onedone]

I have been repulsed by little club tourneys for years on smaller lakes, either the hot water mortality or the group fish fry that ensues after weigh in, Bob Kidd lake over by Prarie Grove used to be a miniature Lake Fork till local boys took to wednesday night jackpots every week all summer long. One morning I arrived and it was as Bill described in the other post. except these fish were upwards of 6-7lbs. Nauseating. Due to high mortality rates, saltwater fisherman arent even allowed to boat some species for a photograph. They must bring the fish boatside and release in the water. probably not a viable answer but what is?

[techo]

No tournaments during the hot months would help. Heartland doesn't have any in July. They do have on in August though.

[powerdive]

Amen that, techo. We learned our lesson in the walleye circuit. July and August are now out of the tourney picture for us now--and that holds true even in some of the northern states as well. Just too much stress on the fish.

However, round here bass fishing is a river of gold. Good luck trying to get tourneys banned in summertime. One could try to establish more stringent regulations for them, though. Fly-by-nighters, company derbies, fundraisers, small-club tourneys--no matter how "small" or cash-strapped an organized event, the TD should be required to obtain a regatta permit from Water Safety (which is free) and a Corps permit ( which isn't). In addition, I wish MDC would also be involved in the approval process, including enforcing minimum standards for fish-handling equipment and processes.

Easy for a non-bass guy to say, huh? Not likely to be a popular view, but that's mine.

[Whack'emGood]

Well, what are we gonna do? I guess we should ban all bass fishing for two months during the spring spawn (as we discussed earlier this year), and then ban all bass fishing during June, July, and August because the water is too hot. That doesn't sound like much fun to me. What do we have left? The month of May (alot of bass are still spawning in May, too) , then a little bit of Fall fishing, and then all of the crappy Winter months when you can't catch them if you tried. If we do that, then we might as well just quit fishing and take up golf or something. Its like I said, we can't just ban everything... We just have to do the best we can to take care of the fish when we catch them. For me, Summer night fishing is the best time of year. I wouldn't want to give that up, thats for sure. I am a conservationist, and I make it a priority to protect the fish and the fishery-- but if I can't fish for the bass, then what are they worth to me. Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't get much enjoyment out of knowing that the fishery is healthy and that big uns are swimming around all over the lake, if I can't fish for them. Catching fish, and the enjoyment I get out of it, is the reason I am a fisherman. I always do my best to take care of the fish and the fishery so I can catch fish both now and in the future. Thats the bottom line. Everyone needs to remember that.

Whack'em