June 6 Aia

[techo]

Fished the last Table Rock AIA Tournament of the year today. Had my favorite partner, wife. We are in the running for being invited to the championship and just wanted to weigh fish for points. So off to the points we went!

Caught a few shorts on top early. One was 14.75 inches. Tried a c-rigged centipede and caught the first keeper about 7 o clockish. We caught two more keepers on the drop shot right after. The down side was, when I went to put the third keeper in the live well....I saw both fish swimming on their side. We emptied our ice from the cooler in the live well and they seemed a little happier. We decided it wasn't worth it to kill three fish for points and an invitation so we (took pictures) released all three. All three swam away pretty good and we kept fishing in the area...so hoping they turned out all right. I didn't see them on top of the water, so I believe they were okay. The best one released was about 3.5 pounds. The other two were smaller with one barely 15" and the other 16".

We caught another 2.5 pounder toward the end of the day and stopped by a marina and boufght six bags of ice. That bass was very lively when weighed in and swam off in a huff when released. That bass came out of 106 feet of water and was my third try at fizzing. I am not sure I am doing it right as I don't hear or feel anything when inserting the releae needle.

We ended up for the day catching a huge blue gill. a white bass, four bass that would have kept, two bass that might have kept if you pinched the tail just right and I am not sure how many shorts.

Saw a few dead fish at weigh in. I think our best bag would have been 11 pounds if we kept them all. Biggest bag was 18 pounds when we left.

Quite a few big boats bouncing us around out there. It was an enjoyable day still.

[rps]

I have an idea for a tournament rule. Anyone who brings in a dead fish should be required to eat them - right there at the weigh in. That would put an end to livewell deaths.

Good on you techo. I am glad you and your wife had a good time.

[denjac]

That takes a pretty big man to do that Techo! I wonder if it was the heat or the fizzing? I remember Eric P saying to open the lids every now and then to release the buildup of carbon dixoide . Bill B says to fill the livewells and close them off and run on recirculate the whole time. Add ice. Never add fresh lake water back in. I know alot of boats dont have a recirculate mode on them and have to add lake water to circulate the water. I probabbly mis qouted so I am prepared to get my hands slapped.

[Bill Babler]

T. you and Mrs. T. are "True Sportsman." You both are stewarts of the land and water, and represent what is good in all outdoors people. I consider it an honor and a privledge to call you both friends. I look on you both with admiration and the upmost respect.

Sincerely Bill Babler

[Don House]

NICE!!!

[Jason Essary]

techo, you the man.

[Mike T]

Good team

[Tfsh4bass]

I have had luck with Rejuvenade and running my recirculate all day. I usually fill my livewell first thing in the morning because the surface temp is the coolest it will be...I add Rejuvenade at that time and then add a little more when I put fish in there. I have never weighed a dead fish with that combo but I also don't fish deep.

[CaptainJoe]

Great job Techo! Here is the best procedure that I have found for fizzing a fish. I use the through the mouth procedure. After inserting the needle, I hold the fish and needle underwater and watch the bubbles come out. I don't take all of the air out. Leave some in. When the bubbles start to slow down, I will stop, but I will check the fish periodically and sometimes I need to fiz the same fish again. I rarely lose a fish.

Fizzing Link Here!!!

[techo]

We have a small bottle of some orange stiuff that Captain Don recommended a few years back. We throw a capful in every so often. Surface water temp started at 83 and ended at 84 yesterday, with some fluctuation depending on where we were. I am not sure it would have mattered filling the livewells earlier or not with the water already so warm. Great suggestion though!

I received some phone calls from wiser than me folks. I think I did not fizz right. The needle felt like it popped through one layer (not sure what elese to call it) and felt deep to me so I stopped. It sounds like the needle has to enter two layers and you almost feel it give when the bladder is penetrated.

I wasn't expecting any kudos from anyone....just giving a report and feeling like a fool for having to return fish and not weighing them. I felt pretty terrible for not knowing how to handle the fish in the proper way to weigh it and save it. We didn't do much to deserve praise as we didn't give much up. We fish tournaments for fun and would not be in the money if we weighed those fish anyway.

Thanks for the kind words though. It seems every day on the lake is a learning process in one way or another. The people on here make some lessons easier to learn and some lessons easier to take.

On a side note....my usual tournament partner Adam is coming back from Iraq for a week visit in about two weeks. I have the bad news to tell him. The Mrs is my regular partner now as she really enjoys fishing the tournaments.