Outlaw Fishing for Bedding Bass?

[nitro_z17]

jeez guys, there's a lot of bass in these big lakes. this reminds me of the "hey my neighbor killed my deer" crowd

 

[SilverFox]

So basically you want the sport fishermen love banned because a few fish die? Have you thought about the economic effect of doing so? License fees, room and board, fuel, gear and everything they put into the local economy keep others employed. They also do a lot of habitat improvement for their chosen sport fish.

I don't see much difference in sport hunting, guided trips and regular fishing. All lead to death of the game they choose to chase. On duck and dove hunts, there's no telling how many wounded animals die. On deer hunts all you have to do is follow this forum to see how many are wounded and not recovered... take the Tennessee blood trailing network on Facebook for example. Those guys stay busy during season trying to recover wounded deer. Guided fishermen... they also lose a lot of fish especially big rockfish (not that I care about those). Look at the guided crappie trips and the thousands of just regular crappie fishermen that go several days a week and take limits more often than not.

Sure I wish more guys would take better care of their catch. Like I said it ticks me off watching some guys and I've pointed it out to several tourney directors at my local lakes if I saw them practicing poor fish care or leaving fish floating. Again, I wouldn't care if they changed the rules to something better for the fish... but to bash any tourney guy is crazy. Some of us take good care of our catch.

 

[nitro_z17]

So basically you want the sport fishermen love banned because a few fish die? Have you thought about the economic effect of doing so? License fees, room and board, fuel, gear and everything they put into the local economy keep others employed. They also do a lot of habitat improvement for their chosen sport fish.

I don't see much difference in sport hunting, guided trips and regular fishing. All lead to death of the game they choose to chase. On duck and dove hunts, there's no telling how many wounded animals die. On deer hunts all you have to do is follow this forum to see how many are wounded and not recovered... take the Tennessee blood trailing network on Facebook for example. Those guys stay busy during season trying to recover wounded deer. Guided fishermen... they also lose a lot of fish especially big rockfish (not that I care about those). Look at the guided crappie trips and the thousands of just regular crappie fishermen that go several days a week and take limits more often than not.

Sure I wish more guys would take better care of their catch. Like I said it ticks me off watching some guys and I've pointed it out to several tourney directors at my local lakes if I saw them practicing poor fish care or leaving fish floating. Again, I wouldn't care if they changed the rules to something better for the fish... but to bash any tourney guy is crazy. Some of us take good care of our catch.

THIS ^^^^^^

 

[dr]

I don't advocate the banning of tournaments, but think the amount of prize money involved is causing many lakes to be overfished, and probably killing quite a few. Some lakes and boat ramps are so crowded on tournament weekends, it's not worth the effort to take a family fishing for fun. But, money rules.

 

[nitro_z17]

I don't advocate the banning of tournaments, but think the amount of prize money involved is causing many lakes to be overfished, and probably killing quite a few. Some lakes and boat ramps are so crowded on tournament weekends, it's not worth the effort to take a family fishing for fun. But, money rules.

yes, last weekend $10,000 rockwood. it was ridiculous

 

[Pinwheeled]

This whole dang thread makes my head hurt...

-Tournament fishing helps the bass population in this state far more than it hurts it
-Tournament anglers pay the same license fees and have the same right to the water as everyone else
-There are a ton of ramps that don't get tournament traffic which is exactly why I rarely launch at Long Hunter, Fate Sanders, Flippers, etc.
-Some weekend anglers are every bit the a-holes some tournament fishermen are
-TWRA will adjust the regs if they aren't sustainable

Go out and have fun and quit being so damn worried about how other people choose to enjoy the lake as long as they aren't breaking the law.

 

[Pinwheeled]

Take away the large cash prizes, and just give the winners a trophy. Then, see how many people show up with their $60,000 boats.

Then, see how many fewer out of state licenses are sold.

 

[SilverFox]

Most of your big money tourneys around me are run by boat dealerships... to sell more boats. They give away separate prize money for the highest finishing boats that they sell. Some have had over 200 boats in them. I go to a different lake when those are going on. What tourneys I fish are mostly around a $50 entry and under 100 boats usually. Even then I would much rather fish a 20-30 boat tourney. It gets too crazy with that many boats. I don't fish for the money as you can see. I'd still fish the tourneys I do if the entry was $10 or just bragging rights.

 

[Pinwheeled]

So basically you want the sport fishermen love banned because a few fish die? Have you thought about the economic effect of doing so? License fees, room and board, fuel, gear and everything they put into the local economy keep others employed. They also do a lot of habitat improvement for their chosen sport fish.

I don't see much difference in sport hunting, guided trips and regular fishing. All lead to death of the game they choose to chase. On duck and dove hunts, there's no telling how many wounded animals die. On deer hunts all you have to do is follow this forum to see how many are wounded and not recovered... take the Tennessee blood trailing network on Facebook for example. Those guys stay busy during season trying to recover wounded deer. Guided fishermen... they also lose a lot of fish especially big rockfish (not that I care about those). Look at the guided crappie trips and the thousands of just regular crappie fishermen that go several days a week and take limits more often than not.

Sure I wish more guys would take better care of their catch. Like I said it ticks me off watching some guys and I've pointed it out to several tourney directors at my local lakes if I saw them practicing poor fish care or leaving fish floating. Again, I wouldn't care if they changed the rules to something better for the fish... but to bash any tourney guy is crazy. Some of us take good care of our catch.

Agreed

 

[larry ipock]

Older fish can't handle stress as well as the younger. Especially, when they are taken from greater depths. Also the temps in summer from 25 feet to the surface might vary as much as 15 to 20 degrees. Take an bigger fish from those depths in summer give them a sometimes very rough ride in the live well for a few hours, and then the weigh in stress. You're going to have more die offs that people never see. And there is cheating that goes on, I talked to one guy on Watts Bar, he was "practicing" for a local tournament, that Sat. He bragged about having two 4 #. in the baskets at his home. I talked to another guy at Norris once, he was practicing for a coming tournament. He had found two baskets with no fish in them. He took them out in 90 ft. of water and disposed of them. I've been on the lakes since 1987, I see less fish of size and numbers now. I know some of it is due to habitat loss, but some is due to too many tournaments Like somebody said on here, everybody wants to think their a pro. Yes, a fish has a good chance at survival if released quickly, but not from treatment just mentioned. If they are going in the pan, enjoy your fish. I just hate to see the fish wasted from the delayed mortality.

 

[wobblegobble]

The door open and in walks another "professor of fish care".

I wonder how many ducks, deer, doves, turkeys, rabbit and what ever else we hunt run or fly off and die due to poor shot placement?

Wonder how many crappie/bream/catfish and whatever else get a cornmeal jacket each day with no chance of survival.

Wonder how many fish a guide takes out of the waters they fish a year? Wonder how many of those returned die due to pictures/livewells and other things.

A swimming chance at surviving is a lot better than a cornmeal jacket to the fish.

I think all of us know some fish are going to die in tourney fishing. I don't and won't leave one floating out my boat.

Love the Corn Meal Jacket reference! Lol :super:

 

[wobblegobble]

Too bad we can't outlaw the idiots instead of the fishing. Fish care is pretty simple if you think about what you're doing. Knock on wood I've only lost 1 fish since I started tourney fishing here 6 or 7 years ago. I still don't have a clue what happened to it. Some live well treatment, some ice in the summer and fin clips or fizzing them go a long way. Keeping them off the carpet does too. If I catch a fish when I'm fun fishing I want a pic of or to weigh, it goes straight in the live well and I get the scales or camera set up and then I take him back out. As soon as it's done he's back in the water. Ticks me off seeing them carried around out the water or held by the mouth with the fish parallel the floor.

Sorry, but you have no clue how many fish you have killed, especially if you fish when water temps are high. In no way, no matter what kind of care you take, is riding around in a livewell good for a bass.

Exactly!
I would think fish survival rate is high if released immediately after being caught. But, there's no way to determine how many die, hours and miles from where they're caught. I believe When money and competition enter into the sport, the fish suffer. Take away the large cash prizes, and just give the winners a trophy. Then, see how many people show up with their $60,000 boats.

100% Agree