Release boats?

[Quillback]

5 minutes ago, Ketchup said:

But its really not a double edged sword guys. Again i am a factual guy, and none has been presented here.  Heck i have even spent several hours the past week reading online, but all i see are statements of people guessing that tournament fishing can have a negative impact.  Well, so can iced over lakes, Ned fishermen hooking bass down deep and ripping their Ned out to save the bait instead of cutting the line, Over populated lakes, i mean the list goes on and on.  So as Targa stated, this does no good, so i will opt out of this thread with a smile. Always nice to read others comments on a sticky subject.

#tournamentsforever

Don't go picking on us Ned guys, I deep hook fewer fish with the Ned than just about any other bait I use.  They hardly ever get it down in their throat or in their gills.  

[fishinwrench]

45 minutes ago, Ketchup said:

But its really not a double edged sword guys. Again i am a factual guy, and none has been presented here.  Heck i have even spent several hours the past week reading online, but all i see are statements of people guessing that tournament fishing can have a negative impact.  Well, so can iced over lakes, Ned fishermen hooking bass down deep and ripping their Ned out to save the bait instead of cutting the line, Over populated lakes, i mean the list goes on and on.  So as Targa stated, this does no good, so i will opt out of this thread with a smile. Always nice to read others comments on a sticky subject.

#tournamentsforever

Well I'm tired of debating it too.  I'm right and you're wrong.   It's ok though, I forgive you.  

[MoCarp]

3 hours ago, Ketchup said:

That statement is obvious. A lake with zero pressure "a farm pond stocked 10 years ago and has never been fished" VS the same pond that all neighborhood kids fish daily, will speak for itself. But were talking about lakes that do get pressured from tournaments. How much does it hurt. Im not nor have never said it doesnt hurt the bass to a degree, but im not of the group that says its detrimental to the bass population. If that was the case, none of us here, since none of us can hold our own day in and day out against the top elites, would be able to go out and catch 50 bass in a day, as reports on this site show we do. So really how bad is tournament fishing as a whole? 

not pressure just NO tourneys, since you brought up Stockton, they moved away managing it for a "wilderness like" lake to one that would support a bass tourney economy, as someone who has fished the lake a VERY long time it was better than it is now, walleyes were bigger and you caught a big pike or tiger musky every now and then, and you could catch some dandy smallmouths, didn't see many bass tourneys, and remember how the crappie anglers yatched, about the walleyes and pike eating all the crappie, but the 10"/15 a day rule slowed harvest that was hurting the crappie population, even the carp were bigger then. now boat pressure effects fishing... fish during the week more and you can see it 1st hand...the big jump on pressure at Stockton came with the big drought that hit TR... when no-one could get many boats in because the ramps were way out of the water..people piled into stockton, areas of the lake you never saw boats were covered, fishing suffered...ever stick you head under the water in boat traffic? you can FEEL the boats...imagine someone blasting ACDC into your house all hours of the day ...bet your cat would be bouncing off the walls...is it bad for the fish?...let me ask whens the last time you went fishing and just chilled? no blasting about just chilled? there is something to be said about that...I find myself relating more to guys that enjoy fly fishing...because they are not doing it for the same reasons guys bass fish it seems...one of the reasons I enjoy euro-carp fishing...life if full of drama who needs that in fishing??? whens the last time you had a huge lake to yourself? I can remember fishing Stockton and on some days might be 10 boats on the whole lake and they would be up the river arms scared the wind might blow...me happy to catch SMB and walleyes with no boats in sight...40 years will change things and the plethora of bass tourneys and tense anglers have made people less friendly on the water, fishing seems to be worse, can't remember the last time I heard of a 9 1/2 pound bass on TR...hell I remember the 13 pounder out of Truman..that will never happen again...why? a bass will get caught and if its luck live 20 times in it's life stressed out not growing like it should...if they were caught and immediately released that might help better that what happens now...over time bass fishing will love itself to death...just my 2 cents

[slothman]

8 hours ago, Sore Thumbs said:

Funny you mentioned this. A small group of us have been trying the MLF model and doing small tournaments. Just trying to figure out how to do it on a larger scale and keep people honest at the same time. 

That sounds pretty awesome. I could see myself getting into that. 

[abkeenan]

If we are going to call out poor Ned, then we must be fair and call out the true instrument of the devil/tournament directors....the Alabama Rig.

 

[Champ188]

3 hours ago, Ketchup said:

But its really not a double edged sword guys. Again i am a factual guy, and none has been presented here.  Heck i have even spent several hours the past week reading online, but all i see are statements of people guessing that tournament fishing can have a negative impact.  Well, so can iced over lakes, Ned fishermen hooking bass down deep and ripping their Ned out to save the bait instead of cutting the line, Over populated lakes, i mean the list goes on and on.  So as Targa stated, this does no good, so i will opt out of this thread with a smile. Always nice to read others comments on a sticky subject.

#tournamentsforever

I’m right, you’re wrong, now I’m taking my toys and going home. And flinging a cheap shot about Ned rigs on my way out.

Where’s your data to prove that a fish has ever been deep hooked on a Ned rig? Where’s your proof that leaving the lure in is the thing to do? I can’t find any legitimate studies have been done on either claim.

#liberalmuch?

[mixermarkb]

Hey Champ, as the resident liberal I resent that hashtag, just a little, lol

But seriously, I enjoy tourneys, and yet I think that fish treatment can always be improved, and that experimenting with new ways to do things like the MLF guys have done, is the 100% the right way to go. 

I also believe that more data is necessary on our fisheries in general, and that as fishing and boating pressure increases, data based management of the resource also has to increase. It may hurt some feelings, and change some traditions, and it's for sure going to require tax dollars, but we fishermen have to demand hard scientific data from the folks in charge of our waters, and be willing to support folks like mojorig when they tell us what the lakes need to stay healthy. 

I'm not willing to accept that the best days are behind us as far as fish populations and fishing in general. If we listen to each other, and share ideas with respect as most of us do here on OAF, and most have done for the large majority of this 20 page thread, we can make a better future for fishing in the ozarks. 

Hows that for hope and change????

 

tight lines guys- get out there and catch em this week, I'm working every day till next Tuesday.

[tjm]

19 minutes ago, mixermarkb said:

and change some traditions,

Just when did the grand old time tradition of high speed bassboat tourney fishing start?  I was not aware of them a while ago, so I really don't know if this "tradition" is 20 years old or 40 years old, were you always required to fish at 100 mph?

[Champ188]

I'm going to offer some of my own closing thoughts, and as Mark so admirably did above, I'll try to keep reason foremost in mind.

Only to satisfy the earlier request for qualifications to speak to this matter, I've participated at practically every level of this sport --- successfully. Qualified for six straight Central Pro-Am championships out of the seven years I fished them, previously qualified for multiple Mr. Bass of Arkansas championships, won a Ranger boat and trailer at the age of 26 in the 400-angler Arkansas Arthritis Foundation tournament, etc. Enough of that.

To answer tjm's question above, organized bass tournaments are on the north side of 50 years old. Ray Scott held the landmark All-American Tournament on Beaver Lake in 1967. Sure, there was competition before then, but that pretty much stands as the birthdate of tournament fishing as we know it today.

In the context of Table Rock Lake, I have one major beef with tournaments and that is this ... the state of Missouri, along with regional and local chambers of commerce and other pro-tourism bodies, continues to recruit national-level derby after derby to our lake. Naturally, oodles of other smaller tournaments are held, too, and we all know that fish care isn't always the best. OK, I can live with that, if I must. BUT, and this is the spearhead of my point, this lake CANNOT withstand this continuing barrage without some supplemental stocking of bass. OUR FISH are the very fuel for this fire, but the same state government who wants to crow about its glorious natural resources --- and glorious they are! --- is not willing to spend a drop in the bucket to sustain them. And unless MDC begins providing some help to these fish that we are plundering at an alarming rate, we are all going to pay a hefty price in the form of fishless days on the water.

I could go on about why I chose to back off of my own tournament fishing ... rudeness on the water, the dropoff in prize money vs. the cost of participating in derbies, etc. But others have more than adequately covered that.

The bottom line behind my concern and negative feelings toward derbies on Table Rock is that we darn well better start putting some fuel (fish) back in the tank or the motor is going to cough, sputter and die. 

[Ketchup]

9 hours ago, Champ188 said:

I’m right, you’re wrong, now I’m taking my toys and going home. And flinging a cheap shot about Ned rigs on my way out.

Where’s your data to prove that a fish has ever been deep hooked on a Ned rig? Where’s your proof that leaving the lure in is the thing to do? I can’t find any legitimate studies have been done on either claim.

#liberalmuch?

Do your research on this site alone over the past 3 years. It took me a matter of 30 minutes here in the search area to find multiple comments from guys saying it. look it up chief!