Tournament This Weekend

[GNSfishing]

I really wonder about the legality of that. If one person is in control of those fish, would not that put he or she over the limit. and is it legal to retain these fish.

If they did indeed keep the fish would that not be commercial fishing as they did pay the participants?

This smells like fish abit to me.

Wonder what MDC thinks of this, it would be very interesting to know the logistics and the legality of a tournament sponsor, keeping the entire last day catch.

Hmmmm!

Hmmm! Inquiring minds would like to know also.......

[fishinwrench]

I sure would not want to be the guy in charge of those fish for 30 days, and have to answer for it if they all croaked.

This deal doesn't smell right to me at all. Those fish need to go back like yesterday.

[REDSOXWSCHAMP]

as long as they are alive and healthy what does it matter?

[GNSfishing]

Seems like I have heard a statement made similar to that before in Washington.......

[J-Doc]

Oh this is becoming comical

[Champ188]

What's comical about taking 50 or so bass out of one of the country's best bass fisheries, dragging them 40 miles to a store parking lot and parading them around for show, and then not being forthcoming about what will become of them?

I posted a comment to the Facebook page of Central Pro-Am last week asking politely what would become of the fish. My post was not answered. Instead it was deleted within a few hours.

Tournament organizations owe it to the rest of the license-buying public to be transparent about the handling of the fish. Those fish belong to all of us, as we all pay for them with license fees.

My original post questioned the reasoning behind road-tripping these fish to Springfield when Bass Pro Shops has closer facilities (Branson and Long Creek) that would easily provide adequate space for a 15-angler weigh-in while allowing for much easier/faster return of the fish to Table Rock Lake.

Why does it not matter that it's "only" 50 or 60 fish? Would it matter more if it was 500? 5,000? It's a matter of principle. And maybe legality, as Babler mentions. It sure as heck doesn't do much to help salvage the credibility of Central Pro-Am, which presumably is a priority for its owner.

[Fishin Hodge]

Being the good guy that Mike seems to be, I am fairly sure he has done all he can to ensure these fish are returned safely to the water. I agree with Jerry for once, we are talking about a negligible amount of fish in a worst case scenerio if zero fish are returned to Table Rock. Guides that allow clients to keep a mess of fish to eat, which I have absolutley no problem with, are a much larger detriment to the bass population than is the Central Pro Am.

I plan on fishing with them next year. Would like to give that Table Rock, 1 man in the boat series a shot. Mike, I hope you do what you need to to take Central Pro Am back into the glory years.

BASS hauls fish all over the place for weigh-ins. A day in the well on the Rock, is much rougher on fish than the actual ride to BPS Springfield in my opinion.

[balsabee]

Tournament organizations owe it to the rest of the license-buying public to be transparent about the handling of the fish. Those fish belong to all of us, as we all pay for them with license fees.

I agree 100% with the above statement.

[fishinwrench]

This is interesting and brings forth a slew of questions.

First and foremost being...Who's idea was it, and why?

B; What are they being fed?

C; Are they being injected with anything?

D; What (and who) determines when and where they will be released?

E; Does doing this require any special permit(s), and if so who issues them ?

Maybe they are being used for a tracking study or something, but if so then why act all secretive about it?

I haven't been active in competitive fishing for awhile but the last I knew this was not normal protocol for a C&R tournament circuit.

[Bill Jr.]

Balsabee and champ188

Doesn't the licensee fees you are talking about allow you to keep your catch within legal means? Not saying that is what is planned but those are the regs of the MDC. If you want tablerock to be a C&R lake then you should probably talk with MDC. I rarely use these daily limit regs, but i buy my licensee and I can if that is what i choose to do.