Mistreatment Of Bass By Professionals

[chelboed]

I handle them how I want because I eat the daggum things. I was approached by an idiot the other day that said:

"I just don't understand why people eat bass. Go eat a catfish, they're better anyway. Throw your bass back t to grow and have fun catching."

Hehehe...

1. I prefer the taste of bass over any Midwest fresh water fish.

2. There was an article recently about how people are over releasing bass, so the small and mid size fish are eating more of the hawg sized bass's footage. Comparing it to a silly spiritual experience...and saying "Hey, keep a few". Small to miss sized fish eat more per their size than a toad.

[CeeJay]

I handle them how I want because I eat the daggum things. I was approached by an idiot the other day that said:

"I just don't understand why people eat bass. Go eat a catfish, they're better anyway. Throw your bass back t to grow and have fun catching."

Hehehe...

1. I prefer the taste of bass over any Midwest fresh water fish.

2. There was an article recently about how people are over releasing bass, so the small and mid size fish are eating more of the hawg sized bass's footage. Comparing it to a silly spiritual experience...and saying "Hey, keep a few". Small to miss sized fish eat more per their size than a toad.

 

That's fine of course, I wasn't referring to catch and eat anglers.  Absolutely nothing wrong with that.  Yet you can still "respect" your prey before you eat it.

In my main post, a few pages back ,  I was focusing on professional catch and release anglers.

[CeeJay]

I wonder if they have tagged fish or done some kind of scientific study to where they can actually determine mortality after a tournament.

 

Yeah, it's been done.  The mortality rate is much lower than it used to be, but I can't find the exact percentage from the studies at the moment.

I'll try to find some more info on that...

[chelboed]

Yeah...I never hold them weird. I just kid. Serious about keeping bass though. I hate it when people get down on others about keeping bass.

[CeeJay]

Yeah...I never hold them weird. I just kid. Serious about keeping bass though. I hate it when people get down on others about keeping bass.

 

I am a catch and release angler but I have absolutely nothing against keeping your catch.

I've never eaten bass but my father used to and said they were great for breakfast (classic southern style).  And of course the legendary George Perry fed his family with a 22 pound largemouth

[WRB]

Major Leage Fishing maybe the new format for professional tournament bass fishing.

No landing nets, no carpet contact, no tossing the released bass into the water promoting good bass handling and excellent viewer perception of bass fishing.

The Elites eliminated landing nets, however still bounce bass into the boat...not good for the bass or the perception of bass fishing to TV audience.

FLW uses nets and allows bouncing bass into the boat, both negative to the bass slime coat, nets save the angle from lure injury.

Bass anglers initiated catch and release...that is not true, public pressure was the reason B.A.S.S. Ray Scott initiated C & R in the mid 70's. Trout anglers have handled their fish carefully for decades before bass anglers learned to release their bass. Bass are more durable than trout is true, heavy scaled fish tend to be less affected by poor handling with the exception of catfish.

Dislocated jaw is the problem with holding bass by the lower lip and bending the mouth wide open.

Bass are a renewable resource, good food resource and hardy. Bass are not indestructible and die from poor handling. Regardless of how well you handle bass being released after being caught, a percentage will not live as a result of being caught. Keep and eat over stressed or severely injured bass, releasing those fish in poor condition isn't any different than tossing them on the bank.

Good live well management, proper handling and a respect for bass is something we all should practice.

Tom

[CeeJay]

Major Leage Fishing maybe the new format for professional tournament bass fishing.

No landing nets, no carpet contact, no tossing the released bass into the water promoting good bass handling and excellent viewer perception of bass fishing.

The Elites eliminated landing nets, however still bounce bass into the boat...not good for the bass or the perception of bass fishing to TV audience.

FLW uses nets and allows bouncing bass into the boat, both negative to the bass slime coat, nets save the angle from lure injury.

Bass anglers initiated catch and release...that is not true, public pressure was the reason B.A.S.S. Ray Scott initiated C & R in the mid 70's. Trout anglers have handled their fish carefully for decades before bass anglers learned to release their bass. Bass are more durable than trout is true, heavy scaled fish tend to be less affected by poor handling with the exception of catfish.

Dislocated jaw is the problem with holding bass by the lower lip and bending the mouth wide open.

Bass are a renewable resource, good food resource and hardy. Bass are not indestructible and die from poor handling. Regardless of how well you handle bass being released after being caught, a percentage will not live as a result of being caught. Keep and eat over stressed or severely injured bass, releasing those fish in poor condition isn't any different than tossing them on the bank.

Good live well management, proper handling and a respect for bass is something we all should practice.

Tom

 

I highlighted part of your quote if that's ok.

You are very correct.  Lee Wulff comes to mind as one of the first anglers to advocate careful handling of fish to be released.

When I was really into fly fishing, I read everything I could by those salmon and trout anglers from long ago....even when I was targeting bass and bluegill on the flyrod.  I learned a lot from their literature, both instructional as well as fiction (great angling stories that make one want to get off the couch and go fishing   )

[F14A-B]

In my opinion, even with a small mortality rate involving LMB or any fish types, there are other species that can & do benefit from a dead fish..

Don't keep under sized fish because of wounds or death, release them proper let nature do its duty & avoid fines & risk.. Like I said, just my view & understanding.

[WPCfishing]

I agree 100%!!!!! I am 18 and I understand if the fish ends up on the deck floor sometimes you cannot control how they come in. But my biggest peatpeve fishing is when people "throw " the fish back in from 8 feet.

One I see pros do a lot is hural a culled fish off its stringer back into the water.

They say time is money but no fish equal no money ..... We must treat the fish with respect so we gave this great sport for years to come

 

One of my favorite smaller lakes back in the eighty's and ninety's is now almost void of bass. Not because fish were mis handled but because a certain group that have come to live in my state are hungry for a free ride. What could be worse than that! 

[Nice_Bass]

My biggest gripe is "sight fishing" the bass while they are spawning, catching both the male and female, then taking them 30 or more miles away to the weigh-in site. Kiss those bass babies goodbye with mom and pop now gone!

Also during the Classic this year a couple of guys were fishing in deep water, watching their lure on their fish finder, and when they saw a bass approach moving it toward them...this isn't fishing it's playing a video game!

I am not disagreeing nust for the sake of it however if you have ever sight fished with electronics it really is a lot of fun and takes a bit of learning with your gear. Anyhow, some lakes it is necessary.

[basshole8190]

Just a sunfish guys! Getting tossed back into the water isn't any worse than being bounced around in a live well all day. Bass are a lot tougher than people think.

[CeeJay]

Just a sunfish guys! Getting tossed back into the water isn't any worse than being bounced around in a live well all day. Bass are a lot tougher than people think.

 

Just a sunfish?

Many other great fish in that category...Bluegill, Crappie, Rock Bass...

Yeah they're all pretty tough, Bluegill probably being the "toughest", Crappie being the least. 

[Turtle135]

A Wisconsin study conducted to monitor "delayed mortality" in tournament released bass ranged from 0% up to 52.2% (higher water temperatures generally lead to greater delayed mortality). The bass were monitored for 5 days post tournament release. What this means is that the bass makes it to the weigh in alive and swims away at release but a significant number of those bass will die from tournament handling stress.

[Canyon explorer]

I too see the same things you do and have the same concerns , especially late in th summer. I also think most of the time a letter or e-mail to the Tournament director will register. If it doesn't, he should not be there. A few years ago I called to the attention of a  club Tournament Director culling at the dock was a poor practice even though the clubs limit was one less than the states law.

The following year the clubs rules were ammended. :-)

[Deverez]

Bouncing around on the deck and holding them by the jaw doesn't bother me... they are pretty tough fish. What makes me cringe is when people (especially professionals in front of a camera at the time) grip the fish by the jaw and shake wildly in celebration, or sling it above their head in celebration (or to show other people). Jacob Wheeler has a serious habit of doing this.

[KayakBasser]

     I agree 100%, hey if you really want to be ticked off, watch a couple bill dance episodes.

[livemusic]

A Wisconsin study conducted to monitor "delayed mortality" in tournament released bass ranged from 0% up to 52.2% (higher water temperatures generally lead to greater delayed mortality). The bass were monitored for 5 days post tournament release. What this means is that the bass makes it to the weigh in alive and swims away at release but a significant number of those bass will die from tournament handling stress.

 

Dang, up to 50% mortality? That is horrible. If that is due to high temps, they should do away with tourneys in summer. That seems such a waste.

 

It would be interesting for someone to do a study of catching bass, bringing them up the boat, tagging them, then releasing (catch and release but not boating them) and see what the mortality is. I would think it would be zero but maybe being caught is seriously detrimental to health! I have no idea. Obviously, being caught by a fisherman is not part of natural evolution.

[livemusic]

     I agree 100%, hey if you really want to be ticked off, watch a couple bill dance episodes.

 

Really? I thought he was the model of good behaviour or does he hold the bass at an angle? As for the tourney guys showing them off triumphantly, don't they all do it? It's made bass fisherman into rock stars.

[Bluebasser86]

A Wisconsin study conducted to monitor "delayed mortality" in tournament released bass ranged from 0% up to 52.2% (higher water temperatures generally lead to greater delayed mortality). The bass were monitored for 5 days post tournament release. What this means is that the bass makes it to the weigh in alive and swims away at release but a significant number of those bass will die from tournament handling stress.

I have a hard time believing that a significant number of bass with die following tournaments. Without a doubt, some will, but I'd bet a good number of those probably would have died if caught and released immediately also. 

 

Lets take the last Elite Series tournament at Guntersville as an example. 1,441 bass were caught, weighed, and released during this event. So if just 10% of those bass died, that means there should be 144 dead bass floating along the shoreline. If they lost the maximum amount of 52%, that would be 749 dead bass somewhere in the lake! Now, take into account that there isn't a weekend that goes by that Guntersville doesn't have at least one, and usually several tournaments on it at the same time. I'm sure there's plenty of weeknight tournaments on it as well. So if we say that on an average weekend, 50 bass die from the stresses of tournament handling, we're talking 2,600 fish a year, and those would mostly be your larger, mature fish that the lake is so famous for. Guntersville is of course in the south though, so the temperatures are going to be high a good portion of the year and the warmer temps allow fishing year round and more tournaments during more months than most states. So bump it up to 150 dead bass a weekend from tournaments, 7,800 adult bass are now dead, just from tournaments. It just seems to me that these really popular lakes would decline very rapidly if fish populations were being that adversely effected by tournaments. Not saying I approve of everything I see at tournaments. I've been to ramps the next day after a poorly ran tournament and seen the dead bass laying everywhere so I know it can happen, but I think the vast majority of these guys are doing the best they can to take care of the fish and make sure they survive to be caught again. 

[Bluebasser86]

Really? I thought he was the model of good behaviour or does he hold the bass at an angle? As for the tourney guys showing them off triumphantly, don't they all do it? It's made bass fisherman into rock stars.

Bill Dance is probably one of the absolute worse displays of how to hold a fish properly. 

[Turtle135]

It would be interesting for someone to do a study of catching bass, bringing them up the boat, tagging them, then releasing (catch and release but not boating them) and see what the mortality is. I would think it would be zero but maybe being caught is seriously detrimental to health! I have no idea. Obviously, being caught by a fisherman is not part of natural evolution.

 

The Wisconsin study incorporated some tests to use as "control numbers" to determine if the bass where actually dying just due to the "catch and immediate release" aspect of fishing. Their numbers suggest that the prolonged stress associated with being held, transported and the additional handling contributed to the higher mortality rates.

 

Personally, I am not at all against tournament fishing. I'm beginning to get the notion that certain fisheries would benefit if more small and average size bass where removed from the system. Perhaps at warmer water events (where the mortality rate can be unusually high) the catch (except for the lunkers) could be donated to a local food bank instead of being released.