Junior Bassmaster Tournament (mark twain lake)

[Bass XL]

Hey everybody. Just got back from my Junior Bassmaster tournament (Missouri) that was held at Mark Twain Lake. It was tough to say the least, but here's how it went (WARNING: THIS IS LONG!).

Pre-Fishing:

Saturday morning we got launched at about 6 am. The whole day was brutal. My dad got one big explosion on a frog at about 7 am, but that was it for a while. Day went on, and we couldn't get anything. Not even a dink. Until about 1 pm I stumbled on a jig pattern and thought I could maybe get a few keepers the next day on it. After that, we called it quits.

After a good nap and an early dinner, we hit the lake again. We put in at 6 pm. Right off the bat we started catching fish on a whole new pattern. My dad caught a good 3.7 pounder on a spinnerbait, and I was catching some shorts every once in a while. We found some spots that we marked for Sunday, and we called it quits.

Tournament day:

I got paired up with a kid that didn't weigh in a keeper all last year, but I knew we would be on fish all day, and that loosing streak was about to come to an end. We launched at 5:30 am and took off to a flooded point that was about 1 ft. deep and had weeds all over it (where my dad got the frog bite). We were both throwing buzzbaits across the point when all of sudden, I see a wake coming toward my buzzbait. All of a sudden, my buzz is just sucked under the water (like a vacuum). I set the hook too early and loose the fish. Day progresses, and I am catching loads of short fish, tons of white bass, a cat fish, and even a crappie...but no keepers. Mean while, my co-angler has 4 keepers that so far weigh about 8 ½ pounds. He had been catching them like crazy on a chartreuse & white chatterbait. I couldn't buy a keeper with a spinnerbait, so I opted for something a little different: a Scrounger Head. We headed for that flooded point one last time. I throw my Scrounger across all the weeds when...BAM! Finally a good fish. I'm reeling it in and all of a sudden...nothing. My rod was bent, but nothing. I'm wrapped up! I screamed. I was not letting this fish get away. I gave it a good tug, and the fish got untangled. I boated it and the fish went 14 ¾ inches. It's not a giant, but it's a fish. Only problem was, the legal limit was 15 inches. I went with my gut, and threw it in the live well anyways. Last spot we went to was a small cove with a bunch of small bluffs. My co-angler nailed a nice 4 pounder...It was awesome, yet I'm furious because this kid is kickin my but.

Weigh in time comes around. Brian (my co-angler) weighs his in for a total of 12.99 pounds. He was the only one to weigh in for his age group (10-14). I tell Gil (my youth director) that I have a close fish, and we need to measure it. We measured for about a minute and a half when finally, the fish just crosses the 15 mark. I was stoked. I weighed in my fish that ended up being 1.66 pounds. The only other kid to catch a fish weighed his fish and it went 1.90 pounds. I came in second, but it was hard earned. A total of 3 people weighed in, which is a small amount. I'm happy with my second place finish because I'm 1 point behind the leader...and about 50 points ahead of everyone else.

Here's a fish Gil, our youth director, caught. It went 8.59 pounds and big bass for the adult tournament:

[Wayne P.]

I wouldn't be been so proud of keeping a fish that I thought was not legal. Shame on you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bass XL]

Shame on me? I may not have thought it was legal, but it WAS legal.

[Daniel My Brother]

Congrats on your tourney. I'm originally from up around that way and I'll say that's the biggest bass I've seen out of Mark Twain. I'd love to hear some details about that catch.

[Wayne P.]

An angler determines whether or not to keep a fish. If the fish is not a legal size it should be immediately released. By your own statement, you admitted it was 1/4" short. What happened later has no bearing on the decision you made to keep an illegal fish.

[thetr20one]

Congratulations. But a Legal keeper takes 5 seconds to measure, never a minute and a half. We had major problems at my old club with guys trying to "stretch" fish. I have never been to a non-club tourney that would do anything more than flip the fish one time. For some what you did is a huge gamble to take a fish to the scales unsure if it will measure. I have to agree with Wayne P on this on BassXL

[Bass XL]

An angler determines whether or not to keep a fish. If the fish is not a legal size it should be immediately released. By your own statement, you admitted it was 1/4" short. What happened later has no bearing on the decision you made to keep an illegal fish.

First off, it was not an illegal fish. Yes, MY measuring board said 14 3/4 inches, but MY measuring board is different than the one used at the actual weigh in. The one I had with me was plastic (forgot my good one on my grandpa's boat), and plastic measuring boards have a tendency to warp. I had to make a decision whether to keep the fish, or to let it go. I decided to keep the fish, and it turned out to be the right decision.

DMB:

I didn't get too much info about the fish (I assume you are talking about the one that is pictured). I know that it was caught on a red shad worm. It was most likely caught in very shallow water.

[Bass XL]

Congratulations. But a Legal keeper takes 5 seconds to measure, never a minute and a half. We had major problems at my old club with guys trying to "stretch" fish. I have never been to a non-club tourney that would do anything more than flip the fish one time. For some what you did is a huge gamble to take a fish to the scales unsure if it will measure. I have to agree with Wayne P on this on BassXL

Thanks. It seriously did take about a minute and a half total to measure this fish (this includes the fish flopping around and what not). This was the closest fish that I have ever had to measure therefore it took a little bit to come to the conclusion that it was in fact a keeper. We flipped it and pinched the tail, and it went.

[Wayne P.]

My last words on this subject- your decision to keep it was contrary to the information you had at the time you caught it.  A Poacher is a Poacher is a Poacher !!!!!!! If you don't know what a Poacher is, look up the definition.

[Bass XL]

My last words on this subject- your decision to keep it was contrary to the information you had at the time you caught it. A Poacher is a Poacher is a Poacher !!!!!!! If you don't know what a Poacher is, look up the definition.

I'm sorry you feel that I am a poacher.

[thetr20one]

My last words on this subject- your decision to keep it was contrary to the information you had at the time you caught it. A Poacher is a Poacher is a Poacher !!!!!!! If you don't know what a Poacher is, look up the definition.

I'm sorry you feel that I am a poacher.

I am not going all there because you are a young guy. If anyone is the poacher it would be the adult that helped you measure. The more you fish tourneys at higher stakes the more you will look down on this type of close decisions. An expierienced adult would have got ripped more problably. Sometimes your willingness to succeed will override your moral judgement. Those will be my last words on this thread also. I hope you do well all season Bass XL!!!

[Bass XL]

My last words on this subject- your decision to keep it was contrary to the information you had at the time you caught it. A Poacher is a Poacher is a Poacher !!!!!!! If you don't know what a Poacher is, look up the definition.

I'm sorry you feel that I am a poacher.

I am not going all there because you are a young guy. If anyone is the poacher it would be the adult that helped you measure. The more you fish tourneys at higher stakes the more you will look down on this type of close decisions. An expierienced adult would have got ripped more problably. Sometimes your willingness to succeed will override your moral judgement. Those will be my last words on this thread also. I hope you do well all season Bass XL!!!

I appreciate it. I totally understand what you are saying, it's just one of those things where it's too close to flat-out say no. I hope you do well this year also.

[fishinfiend]

Great job BassXL!

[alarcher]

BassXL... nice job, if it was a legal fish then forget the rest of these guys statements! "poacher" they need to look this up for themselves, you took a legal bass! Anything harvested legally cannot and will not be considered as poaching!  You made the right call.  Those other guys can preach all they want but if a judge scored it as legit, then it is! Keep fishing bud but to be "safe" next time; to keep their panties out of a bunch... don't bring in questionable fish.

[harshman]

Congrats on the 2nd place finish. And don't let these guys get to you about the fish. Anglers do what you do all the time if in doubt. I've seen fish stretch out after a little while in a live well once they relax from being caught...can't say I've seen 1/4 of an inch but I have defiantly seen that kind of difference in measuring sticks. I usually only keep fish that are a good 1/8 over 15 and nothing  less. Got burnt really bad at a tourney once because my stick was shorter than the weigh in stick. Funny thing that time was I had measured it on 2 other boats sticks before the weigh in and it was a good 15 1/8" fish. Oh well.

What were you catching the whites on and where I was up there Sat. and Sun and couldn't find a white.

Harshman

[Bass XL]

Thanks everyone. Harsh: I caught all the whites on firetiger wiggle warts. All of them were about 20 yards off the bank and located on main lake points/islands.

[harshman]

Thanks.

Harshman

[CJ]

Wow! I guess some guys get off flaming you youngins'. They must of donated alot of money and got to take it out somewhere.  :

BassXL, what you did was the right call. If a fish is close you keep it. Especially in a tough tournament. The bottom line is that the fish touched when the TD measured it on matter how long it took him to do it. Sometimes a fish needs to relax to squeek by and that can take time. Why do you think most tournaments have a courtesy board?

CONGRATS!!! I'm proud of you!

CJ

[Bass XL]

Wow! I guess some guys get off flaming you youngins'. They must of donated alot of money and got to take it out somewhere. :

BassXL, what you did was the right call. If a fish is close you keep it. Especially in a tough tournament. The bottom line is that the fish touched when the TD measured it on matter how long it took him to do it. Sometimes a fish needs to relax to squeek by and that can take time. Why do you think most tournaments have a courtesy board?

CONGRATS!!! I'm proud of you!

CJ

Thanks CJ. That's exactly my point.

[thetr20one]

Wow! I guess some guys get off flaming you youngins'. They must of donated alot of money and got to take it out somewhere. :

BassXL, what you did was the right call. If a fish is close you keep it. Especially in a tough tournament. The bottom line is that the fish touched when the TD measured it on matter how long it took him to do it. Sometimes a fish needs to relax to squeek by and that can take time. Why do you think most tournaments have a courtesy board?

CONGRATS!!! I'm proud of you!

CJ

I am not knocking you MR. ELITE MEMBER, but that is bad advice. What would happen if the watercraft official decided to do livewell checks and he did not deem it to be a keeper. That would be a fine, loss of tackle, and a D.Q. Also at this point I have won more money and prizes than donated by far!!!!

[Wayne P.]

OK, I have to make one more comment to let you know were I am coming from. BassXL, I am an old retied guy that has been serious bass fishing since the early 1970's. I volunteer to provide my boat and be a boat captain for the Jr. B.A.S.S. Federation Nation tournaments in Virginia. If you had been in my boat and caught that fish it would not have been put in my livewell. For you young folks, integrity is a whole lot more important than trying to get away with an illegal fish that you know is illegal when you caught it. Me as the boat owner/driver would be the recipient of a violation citation if caught with that fish in my boat and it was determined to be illegal by any fisheries agent. Not only that, I would be aiding and approving the dishonesty of a young person in my charge.

The results of what was allowed at the weigh-in had no bearing on the decision to keep it. It was illegal at the time it was caught, measured and determined to be 1/4" too short.

[Tin]

OK, I have to make one more comment to let you know were I am coming from. BassXL, I am an old retied guy that has been serious bass fishing since the early 1970's. I volunteer to provide my boat and be a boat captain for the Jr. B.A.S.S. Federation Nation tournaments in Virginia. If you had been in my boat and caught that fish it would not have been put in my livewell. For you young folks, integrity is a whole lot more important than trying to get away with an illegal fish that you know is illegal when you caught it. Me as the boat owner/driver would be the recipient of a violation citation if caught with that fish in my boat and it was determined to be illegal by any fisheries agent. Not only that, I would be aiding and approving the dishonesty of a young person in my charge.

The results of what was allowed at the weigh-in had no bearing on the decision to keep it. It was illegal at the time it was caught, measured and determined to be 1/4" too short.

I also boat captain for the RI Jr. Bassmasters and it wouldn't go in my well. A short fish is a short fish. And 1/4" is a lot to be short by. And I have never heard of a fish relaxing and gaining length, they usually always shrink because of stress in the well. :-/

I bet you will always keep that metal ruler with you from now on Bass XL.

[CJ]

Okay maybe I responded to quickly and didn't come across with the right words. If the fish is a 1/4 in. short, most likely it won't touch. Fish do tense up after being caught and it usually takes a few seconds for it to flatten out. You can feel it do so while on the board. And they will shrink when ice is added but I've never noticed one do so unless I add ice.

Just calling the kid a "poacher" is a little harsh when there was supposed to be some sort of supervision. If you think the fish was short than it's his captian and TD who should be taking the flaming.

[Garnet]

Some of these comments are way offside, be ready next time with the right equipment and remember in this game being acused of cheating is an honour just make sure you are happy with yourself.

More important is why buddie caught more fish. Chatterbaits run way slower, maybe if you opened up your spinnerbait slowing your retrieve down.

Garnet