Shell Knob 8/27 8/28

[196champ]

Fished out of shell knob bridge for the weekend.  Had 2 exceptional mornings on top Saturday good quality LM's 15 or so keeps several 3-4 lb fish.  Sunday was just as good number wise but the quality tailed off.  Fish were sparatic chasing shad but if you hit them on the head with a top water hold on.  Action was hot and heavy until 9 or so then caught them with a spoon or drop shot with a fluke type plastic.

This is going to ruffle some feathers but think it is very important to bring up...on Saturday night there was a smaller tournament out of the shell knob ramp...looked to be 20 or so boats.  I showed up to the ramp before dawn Sunday morning with a slight breeze blowing in.  I counted 15 keeper sized fish washing up on the ramp itself and throughout the bank, this was in the dark and I'm sure there were more...people talk about keeping a few fish on here like it is a crime, but this is just as bad...I see it all the time at weigh ins, guys just taking their bag and dumping it back in the lake without even checking on the fish.  This time of year especially it's hard to keep these fish alive but you should do everything in your power to get them back alive and release each fish with care after the weigh in.  If you have a handfull that don't look like they will survive I'm sure someone would be glad to take them home, it's not a crime.  Puts a terrible image on us when I came back on sunday afternoon to a rancid smelling ramp and people asking why there are so many dead fish floating around....

 

[Donna G]

That's really sad.  I've waded out to my waist at Mill Creek to try and resuscitate tournament release fish.  Seen some awful summer night tournament scenes at Lake Ouachita.  8lbers floating where they were released in a hot, shallow, oxygen-deprived cove instead of being returned to deeper water.  It's a black eye for all anglers when this wonderful resource is casually and callously handled. 

We generally practice CNR, but we keep a few fish occasionally for table fare. Champ188 and I aren't against keeping fish, but we don't do it on a regular basis.  We're not trying to feed a town - it's just the two of us and we don't eat fish seven nights a week.  When we do plan to keep some to eat, we normally do that on lakes that have a 12-inch minimum size limit on spots and where there is an overabundance of that class fish.  That, and the fact I like crispy little fillets. 

When we're fun fishing and a legal fish dies on us, we'll put it on ice and take it home.  We're not going to leave one floating.  On the flip side, we've fished for hours on a fun trip with me spending most of that time trying to bring a fish back from the dead, riding around aerators running dumping livewell additives in.  You'd be surprised at the ones we've saved.  Learned a trick from Jacob Powroznik when I had the privilege of being his co-angler in the FLW at Beaver years ago.  Super nice guy and showed me how to stop a fish from bleeding.  Used it successfully multiple times.  It's not foolproof, but works pretty well.

Here's the deal - I love bass.  They are beautiful and give me so much pleasure catching them that I'm just not that interested in eating them.  We do it rarely and it hurts my feelings, actually.  In my book, that's what crappie and walleye are for.  lol  Regardless, I realize that not everyone shares my sentiments about keeping bass, but I think handling tournament fish with care and making sure dead ones aren't left floating and wasted, is something we can all agree on.

 

Thanks for sharing what you witnessed.

[176champion]

I have seen that before at the ramp after a tourney ...

[marcus]

i like the major league fishing tournment format where they weight them in and get them right back in the water within a minute.you see KVD catch like 50 keepers on one episode...i think thats a great format for fish safety.

[Quillback]

Thanks for the report 196, sounds like you had some great fishing.

Sorry to hear about the dead fish.  Donna pretty much sums up my feelings on the subject. 

Might not hurt to shoot an email to MDC, let them know what you see, not that I expect any enforcement action, as I don't know if any laws were broken, but there may need to be some regulation changes needed for summer tournaments.  Fish kills like this aren't good for any of us, whether you are a fun or tourney fisherman.   This is just wasteful and avoidable.

[196champ]

Attached are a few pictures, there was an older gentleman sitting on his dock watching me all morning.  Said i better put a few in the live well for a snap shot as no one would believe the morning I had.  Real nice guy, wasn't the best photographer but hey no big deal.  Also had this nice channel on a drop shot.

[Champ188]

Pretty fish. BTW, your shoes have holes in them.

[dtrs5kprs]

1 minute ago, Champ188 said:

Pretty fish. BTW, your shoes have holes in them.

[196champ]

Hey now nothing better than a pair of crocs! Versatile footwear right there 

[slowbait]

That is a bad scene seeing all those dead fish I agree, but Quillback you think that every tourney is bad? I will tell you that the tourneys I have fished in on Wed nights from the bridge and Fri nite from Campbell that there is a group of fisherman that stays after the tourney to help the fish survive. The tourney directors also push hard about needling the fish so they do move on. there are some people that care to make the fish live on. I will also tell you that it was the Jack Henry/Efco tourney that was out of the bridge Sat nite, and from what I hear from some that this tourney does not take care of their fish. This is not the first time that this tourney has done this. Most of the time they fish out of Big M. There are a few men that fish this tourney that do care but may not have been there Sat nite to police the fish. Yes this is a bad scene but not all tourney fisherman are to blame. There are a some out there that don't care and they should be shamed, like the tourney you are talking about. 

During the tourneys on Wed nite and Fri nite we have handed out needles and literature on how to keep your fish in good health, including cool (not cold) livewell water. We try our best to make this happen. 

A few years ago the Mill Creek tourney had the same problem. So they were policed and had to drop their limit to 4 fish during the summer. Hopefully they have learned to needle and take care of their fish, I have not heard if they have.  

So maybe this tourney needs some help or does need to be policed and fined. But not all tourneys are bad ( some are). We are all out there to enjoy what God has givin us. And yes, to harvest some fish is a good thing to help over population, no argument here. To waste is a bad thing and should be policed. Or someone needs to take the dead fish home.................