Castmasters Not Allowing A-Rig

[jeb]

I agree, FNF. Many states up north do not allow bass fishing until after the spawning period should be over. I don't know if they could close the season down here, but they should at least not allow tourny's during that period. It just has to be very stressful on the fish.

[Stump bumper]

I agree, FNF. Many states up north do not allow bass fishing until after the spawning period should be over. I don't know if they could close the season down here, but they should at least not allow tourny's during that period. It just has to be very stressful on the fish.

I would hate to see anymore laws since I think we have too many and seeing how I had a $75 fine in NY for lifting a smallmouth bass while trying to catch steelhead with an inline spinner and the Game warden called it a bass fishing lure. I would hate to see that here since there are somany more spawning size bass here due to longer growing season. NY and Vermont have a very different fishery than Arkansas so the laws are different as they should be.

Spahog;

Also I know Johnny who runs castmaster and every dead bass and is probably worried more about how bass are treated more than anyone I know. I have seen him give up a win to let a deep hooked bass go to give it a better chance to survive. I was not at the meeting when they voted to not use the A-rig and unless you were part of that meeting I think it is unfair to say why it was banned. I was there for the meeting when we voted to go over 10 boats where we would have to pay Corp fees for ramp use and his major concern was who would show up and how the fish would be treated but with a two man operation trying to control 200 people at weigh in he is the one who gets the most upset on how some people behave and treat their fish.

[jeb]

I understand about your caution about more laws. But when a spawning female is pulled off a nest, transported miles and miles from where it was, bumped around in a livewell, have to find new spawn areas, etc, I just think it's obviously better for the fishery to not be doing that. I'm not saying to close bass fishing altogether, but just have a tournament hiatus during the spawn. Heck, the way some organizations work, they seem to almost target the spawn period. Like the Bass Masters classic recently.

Just rubs me wrong, I guess.

[Feathers and Fins]

Stump the only law would be that no tournaments be held durring the spawn. I have watched way to many human fish seine nets sit on bed after bed after bed, you cant tell me thats good for the fish with all the stress they are already under. Other times of year just simply have the anglers pull up to the dock or beach have the fish weighed right out of the boat then immidiately released back in the water. Simple and conservation minded.

Im not against tourneys but beleive spawn tournaments are bad for the fish as are long waits in line at the weigh in and a few simple changes could protect the fish. 1 guy may well be conservation minded and put the interest of the fish first but there are 200 more boats who may not care as much.

I dont fish for bass durring the spawn anymore, I had an old guy once tell me take the protector kill a thousand babies, leave the protector insure future generations to catch. It made me think and decide not to target them at their most vulnerable time.

[spahog]

The meeting is irrelevant. The fishermen not the tournament director made that decision, so I'm not putting anything on Johnny. After re-reading my original post, I agree that it is unfair for me to say "majority of those voting against it." It wasn't a majority, just a few members. I was simply making a statement about a few members (a couple of which are my buddies) who cited conservation related concerns as a reason. Obviously, I don't think that's the reason it was banned.

I'm not trying to get on a soapbox here. I fish tournaments all the time, so I'm no supreme conservationist myself. I'm just saying it is fact that Castmasters as a club is well behind the other clubs in terms of taking appropriate steps to ensure fish have the best chance at survival. He can get upset about the way people treat their fish if he wants, but it's not the fishermen's decision to structure a 70+ boat tournament with no flights, no mandatory weigh bags, or no reasonable place to weigh fish. I completely agree with your assessment that it is near impossible for a 2 man operation to run a tournament with that many boats. However, as tournament director it's his responsibility to manage that. His personal integrity related to the treatment of fish doesn't alleviate his responsibility of ensuring proper controls are in place to protect all fish weighed in one of his tournaments. Again, this isn't a personal attack on Johnny. I don't know him, but by all accounts he is a really good guy. His tournament got really big in a relatively short period of time, and I just don't think the proper changes were made to adjust to the growth.

Just my thoughts.

[Quillback]

You've got some good points Spahog. I'm not a tourney fisherman myself, and I'm not anti-tourney, but I would expect a relativeliy large tourney like Castmasters place more emphasis on fish survival. Weigh them quickly and get them back in the lake with a minumum of handling.

[1969Larson]

Not to be insensative, but you can always stock more fish. Don't complain about the A-Rig for conservation reasons or sportsmanship unless you are fishing barbless with 4-lb line. I do it all the time and don't lose many fish.

[Feathers and Fins]

Larson here is my rebuttle to that, Why spend the money on breeding and raising a fish that naturally reproduces in the lakes? When a simple rule change would negate that need. What really bothers me is that a guy can catch fish after fish putting them in the live well and culling as he goes disrupting many fish from spawning. But an average angler gets caught doing the same thing and he will get cited.

Then i hear from those same tourney fishermen how bad the fishing is or how few they are catching each year. They are their own worse enemy and the resources when you keep destroying nest and that is what they are doing. April, May, June no tournament fishing rule and I would bet in 5 years we would see far more bass.

[jeb]

When i hear from those same tourney fishermen how bad the fishing is or how few they are catching each year. They are their own worse enemy and the resources when you keep destroying nest and that is what they are doing. April, May, June no tournament fishing rule and I would bet in 5 years we would see far more bass.

Probably correct. The funny/sad thing about the tourny guys complaining about the small bags is that they often times blame "meat fishermen" instead of looking in the mirror, where the blame probably really belongs.

[Feathers and Fins]

Without doubt Jeb, When you pre-fish an area with say 50 boats for 3 days before a tourney and you think you arnt hurting your own bite your nuts. They dont eve stop to think though " they " pulled off after locating a fish or two there is 50 other boats comming behind them pulling off after they catch a fish or two in the same spot.

I dive and see things you wouldnt believe, I went in PC last year before a tourney and found about 30 bass in a area a good fishermen could get to and catch them. I watched 10 boats go in it pound the area and leave. I dove it after that the same day and found 38 bass still there. Just about every one of them had fresh hook marks in their mouth. But try and tell someone that they are their own worse enemy and they will find someone else to blame.

When i ocean fished tourneys I specifically targeted areas you had to be some what insane to try for. Many times I had to beach my boat and hit the area from shore ( leagal for the tourneys) or I would drive the boat and my partner would cast to the rocks we were fishing It took very close communication and a constant eye to the rock and one to waves and a third on the depth finder. We didnt target easy to get to spots or areas with alot of fish. We target huge Calico Bass on Boil rocks that was dangerous to fish.

Ill dig up a few of them if i can find the pics and post a few of the ocean monsters. We were not looking though for a limit we knew we could get 5, 2lb fish we wanted 3 8lb fish.