Big Bass Tour - KVD Big Bass Classic - April 8-10th

[willyfish]

On 4/9/2022 at 2:26 PM, Big Bass Tour said:

It's not near as many as a 150 boat stringer event that happens on any given weekend across the country. Our format is extremely fish friendly, we limit the number of fish in the live wells, we take care of the fish while we have them and release them back in great shape. Maybe you should come check out our process and fish care before you comment. We've been coming here for 13 years and the fishery is in outstanding shape. 

I don't have a problem with any of it, god speed. My question is simply about how you are releasing the fish. Is there a release boat taking the fish to different parts of the lake or are they released down in Long Creek? Is there someone running bags from the weigh in and dumping them from shore?

[Big Bass Tour]

1 hour ago, willyfish said:

I don't have a problem with any of it, god speed. My question is simply about how you are releasing the fish. Is there a release boat taking the fish to different parts of the lake or are they released down in Long Creek? Is there someone running bags from the weigh in and dumping them from shore?

We use the AFTCO Bass Bus release boat and release at multiple locations. 

[STLbassbuster]

Thanks BBT for putting on a well run event. I have been fishing it every year since 2019. No checks this year but had a good time! Congrats to those who cashed checks during some challenging weather conditions.

[Big Bass Tour]

4 minutes ago, STLbassbuster said:

Thanks BBT for putting on a well run event. I have been fishing it every year since 2019. No checks this year but had a good time! Congrats to those who cashed checks during some challenging weather conditions.

Thanks for fishing!

[abkeenan]

I'll go ahead and defend the BBT and their staff. My brother and I have been fishing their event every year but two since they starting coming to Table Rock over a decade ago. They have always been a professional outfit in every way with staff being just as courteous as can be. Like most things in life there is a give and take. Is it a nuisance for locals to have the influx of anglers crowding the water? Sure. The lake gets hammered for three days straight. But the flip side is that a bunch of money is spent on food, lodging, etc. and injected LOCALLY. Some small businesses and folk's livelihood may rely on this weekend. But it's just ONCE a year they roll into town. I think we can calm down and not act like the BBT is destroying any of the lakes that they visit across the country on their circuit. If there were evidence that fish were just being slaughtered and you saw floaters all over the lake...sure. That would warrant an eyebrow raise and an alarm. But there has never been any evidence of that in the 10+ years of the event.

Are there some poor sports that come out of the woodwork and have bad fishing etiquette? No doubt, either knowingly or ignorant, it happens. How do you want the guys at BBT to manage that? They can't. It's impossible. They have it in writing in their rules but no way to actually police it. I'd also argue that it's no more of a regular occurrence than any other tournament. The more people on the water the higher the probability that there is an issue with people fishing on top of one another and some feathers being ruffled. Especially when money is involved.

As far as fish health I'd also being willing to bet that there are more fish killed in a 30 boat 5 fish limit tournament in a single night in the summer than during the entirety of the BBT weekend. The format lends itself to not toting a bunch of fish around all day. Also helps that it's during the colder months of the year and not during the spawn (only saw a handful of beds all weekend and no fish glued to them) nor did I see anyone sight fishing. Unless you see the BBTs process of fish handling I don't really understand how you can cast judgement or have an opinion. We can all agree that MLFs system of catch, weigh and release is the best there is in the business. But that just isn't feasible at the scale and scope of BBT. No way to marshal EACH of the 500+ anglers and with accuracy. 

What I do have an issue with is the scheduling of it all and the Missouri Regatta. They decided that it would be okay to schedule the BBT with 350+ boats, the MLF High School/College tournament with 130 and Anglers in Action with 150 all on the same weekend. Then add in all the small time club tournaments and you have the lake under a huge amount of fishing pressure. So if you want to point blame maybe steer it towards them without using any sort common sense here.

Last thing I will say about this particular tournament is that it gives Joe Schmo's (aka ME) a chance to win a little money or perhaps the grand prize with one lucky cast. But it's more than that. It levels the playing field for the everyday guy or gal who would never otherwise have a chance to win a large tournament against the best local sticks on the lake. It also allows for fathers to take their young sons. Son's to take their aging dads. Grandpa to show grandson how to fish and treat others. Husbands to fish with their wives. Brothers to have a good time and talk smack for 3 days to one another. I look forward to this tournament each year like a kid on Christmas. Silly as that may be, it's about making memories on the water with family and friends.

Speaking of memories, I'll add in a short report for my brother and I's weekend. Friday was about as poor of fishing conditions as I deem allowable to get out on the boat by my standards. 35 degree weather with 20-30mph northern winds with no let-up ALLLLL DAY with some snow flurries and sleet mixed in was brutal. But the fishing was good to those that braved the elements (record setting day for the lake in this tournaments history). Fished Long Creek most of the day with large baits going for that bigger bite. I could only muster some 2lb fish with nothing to weigh coming on a Megabass Kanata jerkbait. Brother stuck with a 8" Megabass Magdraft all day. He caught a mid 3 that was bested by the slimmest of margins of .01 pounds to bump from the 10th place to just missing a check. Although I think he deserved something for that effort as when the fish bit his reel popped out of the reel seat on the rod and it was a s**t show watching him fumble to get the fish to the boat with rod in one hand and detached reel in the other (added to the memory bank). A few hours later he was rewarded with 5lb'er that was good for a 2nd place finish for one of the hours.

Saturday and Sunday the weather shaped up but the fishing didn't. Bounced around from Spring Branch, Dam and Long Creek. Still stuck with mostly an arsenal of the large ocean-going baits. Here and there threw a jig when the situation presented. Didn't weigh anything Saturday and on Sunday weighed a 3.13 on a jig with full-size brush hog that ended up getting bumped. Water temps Friday were 48-50 and moved up around 53-55 end of day Sunday. Long Creek being about 2-3 degrees warmer than main lake dam water. Long Creek fron 86 bridge to MO/Ark line was a nice green stain with around 3-5 feet of visibility. Past Cricket Creek was much more chocolate with around 1 foot or less visibility. Dam and up is clear with around 10-15ish feet of visibility.

Sorry for the long read and tight lines to all. Fishing should be really good here soon. 

[Champ188]

I'm gonna let abkeenan's long-but-on-the-money report stand for most of what I would've said. I do want to throw in that I was a vocal opponent of the BBT event until I fished it one year. Like others, I have to say their fish care is first class and that regardless of my feelings about Johnny Moneybags, the tournament staff certainly seems to have the fishery first on their priority list.

Personally, I do wish they wouldn't come at a time when the fish should be spawning but fortunately, there were few, if any, fish on beds this year. But then they'd be at another lake during the spawn and someone else would be complaining, so I'll conclude by saying good job to the BBT and we appreciate you taking the best care possible of our fishery.

Frankly, we'd be better off turning our attention to the come-one-come-all summertime "jackpots" that weigh 'em on the tailgate of someone's pickup then toss 'em back into shallow, oxygen-depleted water at the ramp and drive off to let half or more of them die. 

[abkeenan]

Anyone know what section of the lake the winning fish came from? Saw that it was on a SPRO McStick but that's all I know.

[Maverickpro201]

I would like to know the weights and weigh ins also.

[Champ188]

 

Event - Big Bass Tour

 

[Targa98]

I 100% agree that this is an amazing event. 3 days away from "reality" spending it on the lake with a couple friends. Pouring money into the awesome local eateries!! I know it's not possible bc by all account this is a Bass Pro event, but I do wish there was a more centralized weigh in location. Again, I understan long creek has the only Bass Pro marina but they would def have more fish weighed in. With that many boats and this years wind and gas prices it just wasnt worth the run. We personally had a 3.5 or so each day but just didnt want to make that run with only 1 fish. With 2 we would have. But each day, those fish would have only got an 8-10 place check but only in a couple random hours. I have cashed several checks in the past and also look forward to this trip Every single year. Amazing weekend with awesome people!!!