Open Buddy Bass Tournament

[waterpossum]

I enjoyed fishing with you Saturday night. I have had several enquires about your schedule on Stockton. Are you a bass club with regular meetings? When and where will you fish next?

[bassfisher]

Mine was 4.20lbs with 2 fish

[5fshlmt]

Waterpossum - Thanks and hope everyone had a good time.  Will send you a message regarding more details about the club.

[Walcrabass]

Tournament Guys,

  Let me make a suggestion for Small Bass Tournaments where the big "TV" weigh in isn't being used. How about a "Paper Trail" tournament where ALL the fish you catch are weighed, recorded, and released except for your biggest one. This would be the only fish brought to the weigh in. Of course you would still be able to cull your big fish that was in the live well. This big fish would be the ONLY weight turned in by each boat and the slots would pay out accordingly. In addition with the technology today each boat could keep track of what big fish had been caught by other boats so they would know whether to keep theirs in the live well or go ahead and let it go since they weren't going to be able to place in the standings.

 All the other fish that were weighed and released would just be to show the fishing prowess of each boat. Much like showing off the "biggest 5" at the weigh in as in most tournaments. The survival rate for the fish being caught would go through the roof especially in the hot months. After all if it is catch and release then they need to live for it to make sense.

Just some food for thought.

Walcrabass

[5fshlmt]

I have fished a few paper tournaments very similar to your suggestion.  They are a good thought and work well when teams aren't involved and everyone is fishing against the rest of the field, including whoever was in their boat.  This allowed for a competitor to verify what was being recorded.  Then you have the problem of making sure everyone had a fair amount of time in the front of the boat, etc... etc...

The drama created more trouble than anything.  When any amount of money is involved it is very difficult to find an alternative solution that everyone can agree to.

As far as Saturday night was concerned I wasn't aware of any dead fish.  Granted, I did not see every fish weighed in but feel everyone did a good job of keeping them alive.

 

Appreciate your input...

[Walcrabass]

5fshlmt,

  I understand that as you say there were no fish :"floating". The problem is that as long as 2 weeks later they can still die from the

stresses created. It has been a long time since I have read anything on this as it was in the 70/80's when it seemed to be a big problem.

In my mind the "one fish" would be weighed in for the team in the boat that caught it. Not just the angler that caught it. Just like a 5 fish limit. Therefore no problem with time in the front of the boat.

I don't think that anyone would disagree that the quicker the release ( like immediately) the greater the survival rate.

I agree with the money involved thing. Seems to be the root of a lot of problems huh??

 

Walcrabass

[5fshlmt]

Yes, I agree, the faster the release the better.  And believe that is one of the main objectives of MLF and TTF.  Problem is that most sanctioned tournaments cannot provide unbiased observers for each boat.  And the desire to fish "paper" events hasn't gained traction.  The big bass events however have gained a lot of popularity and provides a platform like you suggest.  We actually had (4) big bass tournaments at a local city lake to raise more money for our championship.  They went very well and seemed to be enjoyed by all who joined us.  But.... they were on a small body of water during daylight hours.  A little easier to keep everyone honest...

Like you said... root of problems. 

 

[Walcrabass]

5fsh,

 

  I don't think unbiased observers are even necessary. After all the "Paper" portion of the tournament doesn't count. Only the Big bass weighed in. So I guess if the guys in the boat as a team decide to tell a big whopper ( imagine that from fishermen) about how many they caught on paper the only thing it will hurt is their future credibility. I believe we need  to MAKE this type of tournament become popular just like we MADE catch and release popular. In yesteryear even the tournament anglers did not release their catch.

Before it comes up I want to say that yes sometimes I eat fish. I am not very particular what type such as Catfish , WHite Bass, Black Bass, Perch, etc. These fish certainly don't get released. But what I am stressing is that if the fish are to be released to LIVE then we need to give the greatest percentage of fish possible the best chance possible.

 

Wally

[bassfisher]

When is next tournament 

[STLbassbuster]

Anything the weekend of the 20-21st?