Bass Tourney Affects

[northshore]

I've been doing some reading about the affects of bass tourney's on bass populations. It seems the mortality rate after a tourney is around 2-5%. Not a major concern, although these are generally larger older fish, which we all enjoy catching again. I have fished many water bodies after a few tournies have come through and the bass fishing in my experiences is quite poor, with many smaller fish caught but few keepers, furthermore many of these smaller bass 1-1.5 lb have visible hook scars in the mouth area, obviously not thier first time at bat. But this is all fine, what bothers me and I would like to ask the question, where do they release the bass after tournments? Studies have shown largemouth bass generally stay within 1 mile of the release zone, sometimes even after a few years. Only 14% of caught bass actually return to the areas where they were caught. Targeting bass involves studying a water body, for available structure, local forage, and nearby summer and wintering grounds, but these hotspot areas seem devoid of bass on lakes with many tournies (since the 'pros' know how to locate these hotspots too). Instead high concentrations of bass and greater angler success can be found in the tourney release areas, especially within days after such tournaments. So forget all the science involved in locating bass and just find out where these arbitary release spots are, and you will catch bass, and big ones too, since a team of bassmasters have already scowered the corners of every back bay and concentrated the bass at thier chosen release spot. Just what i've observed.. You'd think tourney guys would concentrate within 1 mile of release sites, which i'm sure they do. Maybe they should release the bass a few at a time, at different locations, do they do this? Or just dump the whole lot of 100 bass in one spot??

Edited July 29, 2010 by northshore

[Guest LivingLegend]

I've been doing some reading about the affects of bass tourney's on bass populations. It seems the mortality rate after a tourney is around 2-5%. Not a major concern, although these are generally larger older fish, which we all enjoy catching again. I have fished many water bodies after a few tournies have come through and the bass fishing in my experiences is quite poor, with many smaller fish caught but few keepers, furthermore many of these smaller bass 1-1.5 lb have visible hook scars in the mouth area, obviously not thier first time at bat. But this is all fine, what bothers me and I would like to ask the question, where do they release the bass after tournments? Studies have shown largemouth bass generally stay within 1 mile of the release zone, sometimes even after a few years. Only 14% of caught bass actually return to the areas where they were caught. Targeting bass involves studying a water body, for available structure, local forage, and nearby summer and wintering grounds, but these hotspot areas seem devoid of bass on lakes with many tournies (since the 'pros' know how to local these hotspots too). Instead high concentrations of bass and greater angler success can be found in the tourney release areas, especially within days after such tournaments. So forget all the science involved in locating bass and just find out where these arbitary release spots are, and you will catch bass, and big ones too, since a team of bassmasters have already scowered the corners of every back bay and concentrated the bass at thier chosen release spot. Just what i've observed.. You'd think tourney guys would concentrate within 1 mile of release sites, which i'm sure they do. Maybe they should release the bass a few at a time, at different locations, do they do this? Or just dump the whole lot of 100 bass in one spot??

 

Looks like ur on to something, thats why they are pro's!!!! Thats like fishing from a bucket! Shame on you Bass masters, SHAME ON YOU!!!!!

[Terry]

well

if there are signs of being hooked...we then know catch and release does work

27 years ago they would just release them at the dock where the weigh in was...there is no way that next year the fishing got better within a mile of the weigh in......nowever the second day of a tourney fishing around the weigh-in area was pretty good at times

now they return them to many parts of the lake in bass holding areas which is better then their right to make it a catch and keep tourney..........

 

and if you look at tourney results I bet the average fish is 2lbs or under no the monsters people think

 

tourneys are legal and now part of the community...so we must learn to adapt ..

[steverowbotham]

Depending on the series and the lake, sometimes they're released at the docks, sometime they're taken out to the main lake and dropped. Obvious locations may be void of "keeper fish" but they'll always be somewhere else. There are so many fish out there, you just have to find them.

[jedimaster]

Most tourneys do release the Bass at the weigh in site. Its just not really feasable for tourneys to drive around the lake and scatter them. Besides who is gonna go put them back all around the lake? If the guy that drives out in his boat with 100 bass in his boat gets stopped by the MnR he would be in big sheat for having way over his quota. Tourneys, do their very best to play within the rules, most only allowing 5 fish in the boat between 2 guys, everyone must have a sports license, All fish that die are kept by tthe anglers that brought them in, Any dead fish are given severe penalties. The question of would the lakes be better off without Tournaments? I don't think they would. Its the sheer fact that tourney anglers are avid catch and release anglers, this promotes catch and release all over the fishing spectrum not just Bass.

 

What would do more harm to a lake population, 20 anglers catching 100 bass and having 2 percent die. Thats 2 fish.

or having 20 anglers catching and keeping 5 or 6 bass each?

 

Not to mention all of the money that most clubs and tournaments put back into both the local economy and the various fishing and hunting conservation clubs, like OFAH and others.

 

I think you would be very hard pressed to find a tournament angler that actually keeps fish on a regular basis. Most are very careful about the fish they catch, often doing hundreds of dollars in upgrades to there boats, nets and tackle to ensure a fish will survive to be caught another day.

 

 

Is the fishing on a lake the day after a tournament more difficult? Yes no doubt it is. But just imagine if you put all those tourney guys in the water every weekend and they all keep a few bass for trophies and meals. I am not saying that only tourney guys practise catch and release, nor am I saying thats what started it, but catch and release is a huge thing for tourney folks, as is keeping invasive species like pike out of the lakes, maintaining good relations with land owners, putting money back into the sport and trying to promote our hobbies in a profesional and responsible manour.

 

jedimaster out

[Ben_Daniels]

I think the subject is definitely a double edged sword. Having all the top pro's on one body of water pulling trophy fish that are the biggest spawners in terms of egg's and some of them dying is not the best for a fishery....but at the same time they're the people that are drawing attention to our sport which I feel is a good thing, but at the same time I wanna have more and bigger fish! I guess you can't have it all in life

 

-Ben

[BillsTheBassMan]

There's a report floating around the internet from the Pennsylvania DNR that covers this exact subject - google it if you're interested.

 

About an eighth of each bass caught return to their home are - I believe SMB have a higher return rate than LMB.

 

I don't like these tournaments in rivers because the fish are slighty rarer, especially for big fish. I also don't like the idea of bass being driven all around Ontario.

.

I don't mind these tournaments in lakes as much, and frankly, they are going to continue to be a part of things, so be thankful they are all catch and release, and that many measures are taken to keep the fish alive.

 

Ryan

[OhioFisherman]

Catch and release, it beats the heck out of catch and kill? Bass tournaments have brought awareness to a section of the people out there fishing. LOL shore lunch? at McDonald`s on the way home!

[canadadude]

In the large elite series and other proffesional tournaments, there are designated boats in charge of releasing the days fish.In many tournaments designated release sites are out of bounds to the tournament fishermen.

 

As for local tournaments the releasing of fish can be a problem,here in Niagara there have been a few incidents where Lake Erie bass were released at the ramp and the next day 15-20 4lb+ smallmouth were dead in the ramp.These were very unfortunate incidents but it did wake up the local clubs to the importance of releasing the days catch, now a few boats and quallified anglers fizz and release the fish back out in the lake on similiar structure and water were they were caught. A few unfortunate fish kills can put an ugly mark on tournament fishing, so it's very important when organising events that a release plan is followed. To me just dumping the fish back in at the ramp or weigh site is not very proffesional and tournament anglers should take more care in releasing the fish close to the structure or enviroment they were harvested from.

[Garnet]

The idea of release boats was born right here in Ontario and has spread through out the tourney industry. With further study they learned to release the fish in the main basin and let them disperse in many directions. Also in water weight ins started here in Ontario.

 

CBAF clubs are requiring you to take your fish back out to the lake after weight in. Hopefully this will spread thru the clubs.

 

Don't understand that comment about bass being driven around Ont. all tournaments require you to stay on that body of water. If rec. fisherman are moving fish that's illegal and you can't write enough laws for idiots.

[northshore]

Yes - I read that report and a few others about the affects of moving bass many kms for tournaments. Yes, LM are more suscepble to these actions as stated they seem to stay in the release area, SM will travel more. Although SM are more delicate and have higher mortality rates. As well you can't just count the dead bass during the tournament. Some bass die later after release due to increased risk of disease from stress and handling (all in the studies). But all this is somewhat fine, since it's all legal. What bothers me is that large healthy bass are being moved many many distances from areas with optimun conditons ie. lots of forage, structure, easy access to proper wintering and breeding sites - and then released in bulk to an arbitrary area, which may not be the best environment for these bass ie. poor forage, poor wintering grounds, increased competition with other residence fish already established in the area - all these factors reduces the overall health of the bass population. Not to mention, we the anglers using science to locate big bass, on lakes with many tournaments - we can just toss this technique out the door to some extent and just concentrate our efforts in the vicinty of release areas - since we will probably be fishing higher precentage areas, artifically inflated by the actions of these many many tournies. Releasing 100 bass off some dock - just doesn't sound right to me. Change this to a river setting and this affect is amplified, bass will be moved very far from the healthy productive areas. With all that said, I agree BASS does do some good with thier conservation efforts, publicity of the sport, and economy.

Edited July 30, 2010 by northshore

[Terry]

first, the release boats release that bass in prime areas, I can remember a tourney where they asked us which general ares we catch them in and the had a few boats and release them back in their native area....

the way they handle the fish, the live wells and chemicals that calm the fish and gives then extra oxygen and adds protective slime, in any cases the mortality rate is lower then the lakes annual mortality rate..with means it has no affect on the natural number of fish on the lake....

 

 

bottom line they are breaking no laws and are a legal part of fishing and they could be catch and keeping all those bass.....so they may hate river fishermen as much as you hate tourney guys, but they don't carp about you because they know river fishing is legal...........and we mush all live in the same world

[NBR]

I've been doing some reading about the affects of bass tourney's on bass populations. It seems the mortality rate after a tourney is around 2-5%. Not a major concern, although these are generally larger older fish, which we all enjoy catching again. I have fished many water bodies after a few tournies have come through and the bass fishing in my experiences is quite poor, with many smaller fish caught but few keepers, furthermore many of these smaller bass 1-1.5 lb have visible hook scars in the mouth area, obviously not thier first time at bat. But this is all fine, what bothers me and I would like to ask the question, where do they release the bass after tournments? Studies have shown largemouth bass generally stay within 1 mile of the release zone, sometimes even after a few years. Only 14% of caught bass actually return to the areas where they were caught. Targeting bass involves studying a water body, for available structure, local forage, and nearby summer and wintering grounds, but these hotspot areas seem devoid of bass on lakes with many tournies (since the 'pros' know how to locate these hotspots too). Instead high concentrations of bass and greater angler success can be found in the tourney release areas, especially within days after such tournaments. So forget all the science involved in locating bass and just find out where these arbitary release spots are, and you will catch bass, and big ones too, since a team of bassmasters have already scowered the corners of every back bay and concentrated the bass at thier chosen release spot. Just what i've observed.. You'd think tourney guys would concentrate within 1 mile of release sites, which i'm sure they do. Maybe they should release the bass a few at a time, at different locations, do they do this? Or just dump the whole lot of 100 bass in one spot??

[NBR]

Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire's largest lake has many many bass T's and the states DNR (Fish and Game) did a study in 2007 and 2008. Nearly 50% of the T'e in NH started frome and weighed in at the Ames Farm resort which helped in the study. I tried to add the address but for some reason known only to the computer gremlins that punish old people I couldn't. Search on NH Fish and Game and ask for information on bass tourney release information and you should get the full report. Incidentally, the reason for no data in 2009 is an abutter to Ames Farm seeked to prevent T's from being hosted there I think because of the noise. NH bass T's may not start before 7:00AM to keep the noise down.