Fish mortality in tournaments

[Dwight Hottle]

This info should promote more catch & release tournaments.

 

https://fishb1.com/f/st-lawrence-river-report?fbclid=IwAR3svmbOVRCbs8x0F7U_69q2kfEnFm2p9XYSaCyfk6l1NsQ7et9ZldtXmCc

[webertime]

Inside story on that one was the flight by flight weigh in took a while guys had fish in bags at the tank for 20 minutes.   The after care water was not cooled off. 

[cyclops2]

Why weren't the dead fish sent to a biology lab for what caused the 96 % death rate of S M B ?  Be good to know what to avoid in other waters & their weigh ins.

 

Record high water brings in lots of chemical runoff water .  

 

Any large DEEP CAUGHT SMB died within a hour in my fishing for meat days. They are like pike . Very eay for them to struggle and be restrained to death.  Some fish are prone to die.

[cyclops2]

• I did a web search on Lactic Acid & fish deaths. Very interesting university tests & data.  On had almost identical end results as the high death of the contest fish.  A state decided to restocxk Channel Catfish in a barren river. Each restocking ended with no survivors. The stocking was stopped.............
• No reasons were given................... Buut............ Does long hours of confinement cause death for fish ? Or were there poisons in the waters that killed the fish ?    I do know that daitfish in a white 5 gallon pail  can live all day if I put about 1/2 of it filled with local water weeds. NO PUMP being used.  Since most fish are caught in the morning.THey are struggling to get out all day The Lactic Acid build up goes on. The the boat off loads then to different water temperatures. Very stressful to fish if done in minutes. Then the long wait as the picture showed.
• Catch & Release is far better.   But will the weigh in sponsors still support the same amount of money ?

[reelfast]

When you fish the amateur big bass tourneys on Lake Fork, Rayburn, Grand (Tourney hosts such as Big Bass Splash/ Big Bass Bash etc) they have hourly weigh-ins for this reason. They don’t want you holding fish for long periods of time in confined livewells.  

 

Major league fishing has the best system for pros: instant catch and release.

[cyclops2]

You are TOTALLY CORRECT !!

 

Pull them out of a certain temperature & depth of water IN THEIR FEEDING AREA.  Return them right there. They DO  DO  survive with a floating Rapala in their mouth.

 

I catch a big momma SMB in the spring. Net her & boat her. Go to remove my 1.5" floater. HOT DOG !! she has another inside her mouth. She had a barbed meat catcher lure a bass ran off with last spring.  NO !! I do not kiss animals.

[RichF]

Heartbreaking to see that on one of my home bodies of water. I've never been a big fan of the river tournaments, especially in the heart of the summer. That being said, I've never seen mortality like that in any of the events I've fish. 

[TnRiver46]

People with $75 k bass boats catching loads of fish , weighing them, then throwing their carcasses into a dumpster. Ain't that America..... First world problems 

 

[cyclops2]

In all fairness to what caused the deaths ?  I could be from a localoutbreak of a disease that had already weakned them below what stress contest handling adde3d to them.  

 

Goby fish DO CARRY a form of Botulism that is fatal to fish So do fish eating birds of all types.

[TnRiver46]

21 minutes ago, cyclops2 said:

In all fairness to what caused the deaths ?  I could be from a localoutbreak of a disease that had already weakned them below what stress contest handling adde3d to them.  

 

Goby fish DO CARRY a form of Botulism that is fatal to fish So do fish eating birds of all types.

Being caught deep and put in a livewell and slow weigh in is what caused the mortality

[cyclops2]

I agree with you.  Cold bottom water. Then warm surface water circulated for a day. Then dumping of ICE into the waiting tank could just shock the fish again. I used to put fish on a metal or cord stringer...………………...IF  IF I remembered to put them in the boat before motoring to another spot ? theywere good for about 45 minutes. Released then they dove down fast After that time the seemed confused & did not dive instantly. Dinner fish then.

[StretcherJockey]

Fished an ABA at Pickwick awhile back and the number of bass floating on their side in the tank prior to being released was really unsettling. If you’re gonna fish deep water in tournaments then good learn how to fizz your bass. 

[cyclops2]

It is not  SPORT fishing.

When ONLY the BIGGEST breeders are killed for money at pro events.

Maybe the Fish & game governments need to set the rules to prevent wipeouts in pro areas ?  No spawn fishing times / areas. Save the big breeders ?

Or no electronics ?   Heh heh  That will stop a lot of slaughter.  Underwater maps are O K.

NO fair ?  We scream kill the Cormorants. But they DO NOT EAT THE BREEDERS.

[tkunk]

I have some experience with aquariums. First, you can't just dump ice into a tank of water to regulate temperature, because it creates a big temperature change, which kills fish. You have to use a chiller, which is expensive, to regulate temperature. Also, going from a warm livewell to a cold holding tank is a recipe for disaster. Second, tap water contains many chemicals that kill fish. I doubt that these guys were treating the water (e.g., running it through a reverse-osmosis unit) before using it to create ice.

 

Big smallies are typically 10 to 15 years old. I honestly don't care if people catch bass to eat them, but it's really sad that any animal that age has to die needlessly because of incompetence.

[Chowderhead]

On 7/28/2019 at 10:29 PM, reelfast said:

Major league fishing has the best system for pros: instant catch and release.

 

Agreed!

[TnRiver46]

2 hours ago, portiabrat said:

I have some experience with aquariums. First, you can't just dump ice into a tank of water to regulate temperature, because it creates a big temperature change, which kills fish. You have to use a chiller, which is expensive, to regulate temperature. Also, going from a warm livewell to a cold holding tank is a recipe for disaster. Second, tap water contains many chemicals that kill fish. I doubt that these guys were treating the water (e.g., running it through a reverse-osmosis unit) before using it to create ice.

 

Big smallies are typically 10 to 15 years old. I honestly don't care if people catch bass to eat them, but it's really sad that any animal that age has to die needlessly because of incompetence.

Agreed. My girlfriend’s family even eats a dairy cow after it has given out. There’s no sense in wasting