Dead Bass after Weekend Tourney

[esoxansteel]

From todays Peterborough Examiner, Dead Bass washed up on residents properties, and were found floating in lake this week, after a weekend tourney on the Tri-Lakes, a picture showed 5 very large and dead bass, on the front lawn of a Bridgenorth resident. Tourney president denies weekend event had anything to do with dead Bass, as the Shimano Live Release boat was used. MNR mentioned that extremely high water temps can cause undue stress on fish, and mortality can occur, but so far only Bass have been found or reported. Hopefully someone can post the link to see the story

[lew]

MNR mentioned that extremely high water temps can cause undue stress on fish, and mortality can occur, but so far only Bass have been found or reported.

 

We fished Chemong on Wednesday and the water temps were 80F

 

We only fished a few hours then called it a day.

Edited July 19, 2013 by lew

[Terry]

fish seems too rotten to be from the weekend but is a dozen dead fish from a tourney a big deal, derbies and eaters kill a lot more then that

 

 

 

 

http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/2013/07/19/is-tourney-to-blame-for-dead-bass

 

 

Bridgenorth resident Bob Curry argues the dead bass that came ashore this week on his Chemong Lake property are a result of a bass tournament that was held on the lake on the weekend. The organization that runs the tournament said it has nothing to do with the dead fish and says its participants are careful to conserve fish populations. Galen Eagle/Peterborough Examiner/QMI Agency

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Bob Curry unwraps a black plastic garbage bag crawling with maggots and dumps out the remains of six decomposing bass on his Chemong Lake lawn.

The odour is overwhelming.

The 76-year-old Bridgenorth resident, who lives on Nicholls Blvd., is among a group of homeowners on the lake who discovered dead bass washing up on their shores on Monday and Tuesday.

Curry said he’s confirmed about a dozen dead bass in total that washed up on properties on his side of the lake.

The fish carcasses come just days after a catch and release bass tournament was held on the lake on the weekend. Curry and his neighbours argue the two events are connected and they worry the fish that have turned up could be just the tip of the iceberg.

The organization that hosted the tournament said it had nothing to do with the dead fish.

“It’s next to impossible,” replied Andrew Pallotta, president of the Competitive Sports Fishing League that hosted the 57-boat bass tournament Saturday and Sunday.

The residents argue the tournament didn’t take into consideration the high temperatures over the weekend and the fish likely died when they were taken from the lake and placed into live wells en route to the weigh-in station.

“How many … fish have they killed? These are breeder fish. The lake is in bad enough shape now,” Curry said.

“I’m just positive that they didn’t account for the extreme heat in this catch and release program,” neighbour Greg Braund added. “I haven’t ever seen a kill-off like this before.”

Rick Daniels, who runs a Chemong Lake fishing charter and writes a fishing column for The Examiner, said he too discovered about five dead bass earlier this week as did his immediate neighbours on lakeside Kelly Blvd.

“I’m concerned that it was needless, something that could have been avoided,” he said. “These were all prime spawners. It was a shame. It was a needless kill as far as I’m concerned.”

But Pallotta said there was no way the tournament was involved in the death of the fish. About a dozen fish died during the two-day event, but they were not dumped back into the lake, he said. Tournament anglers who bring in dead or dying fish are penalized.

The tournament used the Shimano Live Release boat to store the captured fish, a technology that has been developed to ensure the fish go into the water in a better condition than when they leave it, he added.

“I’ll argue anybody who wants to argue on the system because we have biologists, we have professors, we have universities behind our science,” he said.

Pallotta said the criticism being levelled at the tournament has less to do with dead fish and more to do with residents who don’t want fishing tournaments on their lake in the first place.

Curry, Braund and Daniels all shared long stemming issues with the six to eight fishing tournaments that bring hundreds of fishing boats to the lake each summer. They complain participants ignore parking rules in the lakefront neighbourhoods, block driveways with trailers, cast too close to docks and other boats and cause a nuisance to other area boaters.

Curry argues the tournament anglers are just after big bucks and don’t care what impact they have on the fish or lake ecosystem.

“These guys in the tournaments, they are in it for the money. They aren’t in it for the enjoyment and conservation,” he said.

That can’t be further from the truth, Pallotta said.

“If they weren’t there to take care of the fish, we wouldn’t have a fishery come three of four years,” he said. “These guys are top-end fisherman. These fish are our partners. It’s in in our best interest to take care of them.”

Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) spokesman Jamie Prentice said the MNR has not received any complaints about dead bass on Chemong Lake.

Prentice said fish can die naturally when temperatures skyrocket and warm the temperatures of the lake and reduce oxygen levels in the water.

“More extreme weather conditions like this can lead to natural mortality,” he said.

While he said it puts more stress on fish to be caught and released during hot temperatures, he said the Shimano Live Release boat is known to be effective.

“Shimano … they are really good stewards of the resource that way,” Prentice said.

The MNR does track complaints of fish die-off and will investigate if trends point to a source outside natural causes, he said.

[email protected]

 

 

Poll

Who do you think is to blame for the dead bass found on Chemong Lake?

 

Friday, July 19, 2013

• Competitive Sports Fishing League catch and release tournament

• This week's heat wave

• Poor water quality

[OhioFisherman]

I tend to think the number 1 cause of fish fatalities is people eating them, or perhaps other fish. Of course homes on a lake, boating, swimming has nothing to do with reduced water quality?

[lew]

For what it's worth, when I was fishing Chemong the other day I saw LOTS of dead pan fish floating on the surface and I don't recall reading anything about a panfish tourney.

[OhioFisherman]

Heat and water temp reduces the amount of oxygen in the water, game fish tend to suffer before rough fish - panfish.

[esoxansteel]

Heat and water temp reduces the amount of oxygen in the water, game fish tend to suffer before rough fish - panfish.

 

Exactly, with these water temps some mortality is to be expected, especially with gamefish which require more O2, went out on Rice Lake fishing walleyes at midnight wednesday, and the Indian River at Keene was 86.2 degrees on both my graphs, and Rice Lake was 81.4 to 82 degrees, again that was at midnight, hopefully the cold front will drop water temps, and also provide much needed relief and rain.

[lookinforwalleye]

I can't see how having Bass in a livewell all day is good for them in this heat....but hey the show must go on!!!!!!

[musky_hunter]

make sure to have tons of ice and refresh water eveyr 30 mins.

[glen]

No floating bass on any other lakes? Chemong only die off?

Tourney troubles.

[misfish]

Hot days always had ice on board. Learned that from the expereinced bass anglers. . When I had my own boat and fished tournys,I left the live well on all the time. Fresh water in all the time. I had one dead fish, it was due to a deep hook on a tube.

[Dave Bailey]

Every so often a fish is going to die in a tournament, but never enough to impact the fishery. And then the local snapping turtle gets a feed. The old circle of life thingy.

[Moosebunk]

For the sake of competition some lakes get beaten every single weekend despite any and every kind of weather. What can ya do eh?

 

 

Leah asked me one time if I'd put one of my mud minnows in with her goldfish. I said, "sure, but watch what happens..." From a cold water pail to a warm water tank the fish ripped around bashing it's head on the glass ti'll it turned belly up within about 30 seconds. "Dad, those minnows are crazy," she says. lol.

[lookinforwalleye]

That's what I hated about Sugog almost every weekend there was a tourney and sometimes mid week as well.....always seemed to mess up the fishing for several days.

[musky_hunter]

weekend angler can do more damage than tourny guys. at least we release the fish instead of taking 6.

[lookinforwalleye]

Not gunna get into a argument with a tournament angler can't really be bothered.....but this weekend angler takes zero fish home and puts zero fish in the livewell for a photo op.

[206]

All tourny fish could be tagged before release, then you could confirm it was from tourny and who's livewell it was in. They could be held responsible...or you could do nothing and fish on!!

[danc]

I wouldn't want to be on a tourny lake before, after, or any other time of the year. I'll take a solitudinal island or shoreline camping spot any trime. Peace and quit. Being one on one with nature. Don't forget the sugar for your coffee. Your nearest neighbor is 5 miles away. Yea. That's what I like about fishing. If I see a boat within a mile of me, it's time to move.

[misfish]

All tourny fish could be tagged before release, then you could confirm it was from tourny and who's livewell it was in. They could be held responsible...or you could do nothing and fish on!!

 

Ya,and lets do this to every other angler that catches and releases a fish. No where has it been confirmed, they were tourny fish.

 

[Terry]

All tourny fish could be tagged before release, then you could confirm it was from tourny and who's livewell it was in. They could be held responsible...or you could do nothing and fish on!!

they have tagged all fish from some tourneys and they have found time and time again that the mortality rates were low every time

Edited July 20, 2013 by Terry

[porkpie]

While I agree tournaments are a bloody nuisance, and frankly if they did away with them, I would be a happy camper, I am of the opinion that die off occurs fairly often in extreme temps, and have seen it before. While I'm sure it can't be good for the bass, I don't think it can be hung around the neck of the tournaments solely!

[wkimwes]

This sounds like more like people trying to find a way to stop tourneys on the lake altogether. I'm sure it's "annoying", but the owners' of the properties don't own the "lake", which I'm sure these guys think they do. Of course I'm probably a little bias as a guy who works for a company who has to deal with people like these guys. It's a real nuisance, they make all kinds of claims without any "scientific proof", because frankly pnce the ministry lawyers show up they usually go away when they say...when you pay for a biological, ecological and environmental impact study then you have no proof or evidence and you will get squashed by a mediator when we will have already paid for those assessments and approved by the ministry.

Edited July 20, 2013 by wkimwes

[Rich]

Most fish were so unbothered by the tournament experience they actually returned to the exact place they were caught.

[frodobuggins]

Most fish were so unbothered by the tournament experience they actually returned to the exact place they were caught.

I think this is more the opinion of people who fish tournaments so they don't feel bad about doing something they enjoy and not something based on study or fact.

 

 

Wilde (2003) reviewed 12 scientific studies that examined dispersal of tournament caught black bass and reported that 14% of largemouth bass and 32% of smallmouth bass returned to their site of capture.

[Dutch]

It is unfortuante that those fish died whether it was the fault of the tournament(s) or not.

 

The article was jaded against the tournament fisherman from the start. There were other comments in the article about trailers blocking driveways and littering the streets. Simple bias ad NIBMY comments from a person with an obvious bias towards bass fishing and tournaments being run on the tri-lakes.

 

It is unfortunate that every dead bass that winds up on shore after a tournament is owned by the tournament.