Conference wahoo::fishing

    Steve,
    	
    	The fish are brought to the weighin, a team or person at a time. 
    They're usally taken from the livewell and placed into a specially
    designed plastic bag filled with water.  Some of the bigger tournaments
    have big tubs of water you can dunk your bag of bass into while
    awaiting your turn at the scale.
    
    	Once at the scale the fish are dumped into a basket and immediately 
    weighed.  Then their usally put back into the bag and brought over to
    the water by the team or person who brought them up to the scale and 
    immediately released.  Most tournaments have the weigh in right at the 
    ramp and that's where the fish are all released. 
    
    						regards,
    							Gary

    I dont know what they do in a BASS tournament but when I fished in a
    local bass club we would weigh-in at the boat ramp and release all
    live fish right there at the dock/ramp. From what I can tell by
    watching the Bassmasters show, they have the game and fish comm on hand
    to check the fish for length, weight, disease, etc.  In some cases they
    even tag the fish with transmitters to monitor their travel then they
    release the fish there at the dock.

    I would think it would be safe to say that will not return to where
    they were caught.
    The Release Site could even cause death if too many bass for area,or
    maybe Pickerel Zone,or not enough bait fish,or not enough "hiding
    spots",,,any condition that bass cannot live in. 
    
                                               -Steve

    Steve,
    		That's a point that has been debated many times.  B.A.S.S.
    and other groups have done studies on fish released from the weigh in
    sites.  I remember reading one article where one fish traveled 11 miles
    and ended up at the site it was originally caught.  But obviously not 
    every fish will do this.  There still isn't enough hardcore facts to
    support either way if catching and releasing Bass in seperate areas has 
    any significant impact.
    
    	Around here (Massachusetts) I don't believe that the bodies of
    water are big enough to cause any notable impact.  I believe that the
    Bass is a pretty rugged fish and can easily adapt in a new area.  I
    don't think they get killed off.  
    
                                              Gary

    Gary, I have also read about the studies. One went on to say that
    most bass will return within a day or two, and some bass are roamers
    anyway, and that may explain why all bass do no return to the area
    caught.  

    Rich

      Re .4
      I'd like to see that article....reason being is that about 2 weeks
    ago on one of the sports shows on cable,they went through a
    "transmitter" implant on Bass caught in a tournament...and released ALL
    of the fish right near the weigh-in site. 
    
      The transmitters had a 1.5 month life...and a month after the
    release, all but 1 out of the original 150 transmitters were found to
    be within 150 yards of the ramp they were released on. 7 were not
    detected anywhere, and this was consistent with expected failures of
    the units. The 1 that was further away was found on shore....probably
    because someone had cuaght the bass and eviscerated it before taking it
    home to eat is.
    
       The obvious question asked was: "What does this indicate about the
    % of released fish that lived?" Answer was "Nothing!" All of the tagged
    Bass MAY have been dead, in fact...this only indicated that released
    Bass don't move very far..
    
      I'm not dsputing the fact that there may be a few "Lassie Bass" that
    will 'go home'....but the test that they performed at this B.A.S.S.
    tournament sure didn't bear this out...
    
    JMcD

    I think it makes a difference which species of bass we're talking about
    here, time of year, and size of the body of water.
    If the bass were released in a convivial habitat, it makes sense to me
    that they would hang around. Bass are not territorial except when
    nesting. Before and after the spawning season, they are as pelagic as
    lake salmonids. 
    
    How were the transmitters attached to the bass?
    

      Re .7
       All Largmouths..transmitter was inserted into a small slit in the
    back, aft of the dorsal fin, with trailing wire antenna about 3 inches
    long..
    
      
       B.T.W....has anyone wh participates in this conference CAUGHT
    anything this spring??
    
       I've had SOME success...3 five-pounders, a 7 pounder, between 30 and
    35 1-2.5 pounders....all Largemouths..all on 8"  'Producto' plastic
    tournament worms, Texas-rigged.... Answer to "Where?": In a lake.....
    
      JM
       

    .....here's another thing that I would like to say. Just because a Fish
    is in a "bag" full of water does not mean he/she/it is breathing,,,in
    fact it probably is drowning. 
    
                                        -Steve

    Steve,
    
    	You asked a question and I gave you an answer.  I don't want to get
    into a big debate over this.  This file is too full of that type of
    stuff already.  Everyone has an opinion and is entitled to it, but
    remember everything in life can be interpreted much different by two or
    more people seeing or hearing the exact samething.  That's what makes
    like so intresting.
    
    					regards,
    						Gary

    re .8
    
    Wow your one cool dude man...... I'v been fishing in a lake too.
    Hey with the big sucsess man, your should get in the DEC touney's. 
    You would be in the big $$$, or have you and I just didn't see you
    in the winners circle. 
    
    Rich

      Re .10
    
      True enuff... I don't really think he was trying to start an argument
    though...it seems that he may feel the same as I do about the "catch 'n
    release" tournament idea... I don't have any doubt that the majority of
    fish caught and immediately released (well, maybe after a bit of
    awe-struck admiring...) will survive and live to a ripe old age.
    However, I--and I do not think I'm alone by any means--have serious
    doubts about the survial rate of Bass caught and hauled around in a
    live-well for four or five hours or more, bounced off the sides as
    these muscle-boats make 6-G turns at 80+ mph, then stuck in a plastic
    bag, or put into a laundry basket with a board on top as we see at all
    of the B.A.S.S. tournaments...maybe held up so the crowd can see them,
    and THEN released into an area miles from his/her home habitat... Hell,
    if this was a PERSON, the chances of death would be high...so I wonder
    really how many of these "live released bass" are alive a day or a week
    or a month later...
      I'm not advocating a "fish fry" at all of these tournaments, but
    there MAY be some better way...like putting an authorized official in
    each boat, and/or photos and IMMEDIATE release after catching..
    
    JMcD

    ...wah-did-i-say ??? I was not referring to any note when I made my
    blerb,,,,,,,,,I guess an interpretation malfunction occured. Sorry Gary
    and thanks for your intial input.
    
                                -Steve

      Re .11
    
      3 times...and all of these were caught within a distance of about 30
    feet of one another..a small stream enters this lake right there....
    
      Hope I catch the big 4 next year again..  Did take 4 of the 2.5
    pounders home and stuck 'em on the old grill though..wrapped in
    aluminum foil, little butter smeared on them...stuck a piece of
    kielbasa in the stomach cavity...and some onion and garlic powder,
    little salt and pepper, and a couple of "Silver Bullets" to wash 'em
    down.....MAN!!, it don't GET any better than that!!!
    
      I'm really not into the tourney thing...too much pressure.. The day I
    caught the 7+ pounder, I also caught one of the 5's....had 3 hits all
    afternoon, caught these 2 within 20 minutes of one another, and the
    other one 'felt' fairly substantial, but I didn't set the damned hook
    right, so I lost this one...but that's one of the drawbacks with worm
    fishing...I use weedless hooks,(the type with the safety-pin style weed
    guard) and if you don't get the right snap on the rod tip, or if the
    Bass grabs the worm so the hook's flat in his jaw, you just yank it out
    of his mouth... The 7+ pounder was hooked on such a small section of
    his jaw-skin that I was shakin' with relief when I saw how little he
    was hooked on...
        
        I just have a lot of enjoyment getting out there... Believe
    me....there have been MANY days that I've gotten only 2 bites...1
    mosquito and 1 tick!! But it's worth it to me just to get out in the
    woods and enjoy the environment..  I have had soem real good days over
    the past 15 years...but the day I believe I KNOW anything about
    catching Bass is the day I hope someone will have me committed...it's a
    lot of fun and a ton of luck...
    
      JMcD
       

    re .14
    
    Aint it the way, feast or famine. Good luck, but you may not need
    it.
    
    

       First let me say that this is not meant to start any argument.
    
    Anyone who has not seen or participated in a tournament weigh in should
    watch one before they talk about Bass being mistreated.  I'm sure that
    everyone can list alternatives to the system that is presently used
    but it is the fairest system that anyone has come up with in about 20
    years.  This subject has been haggled for all those years and the best
    anyone has come up with is weigh all the fish in the same place on the
    same scale.  Even with the small percentage of mortality that they
    still have it beats the old days when the fish were brought in on
    stringers and no one got penalized for dead fish.
       Of course another alternative that I definitely do NOT recommend
    but would be perfectly legal is for the fishermen to keep all of the
    fish!
       All in all I feel that the tournament Bass fishermen do a whole
    lot more good for Bass fishing than bad.  Try to remember that not too
    long ago the F+G would just poison ALL of the fish in a pond so they
    could fill it with trout whether it was suitable habitat or not!  How
    many so called reclaimed trout ponds are there?
    
    	My 2 cents......  B.C.

       Re .16
      I don't think the analogy is a very valid one. The so-called
    reclaimed trout ponds was a big mistake, and so was killing all the
    buffalo.. I also know folks that have introduced carp to ponds and
    lakes because they like to fish for them, but that doesn't mean it's
    the best thing to do. 
      You're right....tournament fishing HAS done a lot FOR Bass fishing,
    and it probably has done a lot to hurt it as well. I don't know if
    having 50 or 60 humungous power boats churning up a lake's surface at
    60-70 miles per hour does a lot of good to the lake...and I don't think
    the average non-tournament sportsman appreciates the seeming arrogance
    of many of the tournament people either. It seems that the tournament
    "pros" have one very clear goal in mind---THEIR future. Sure, if enough
    bass are around, and enough restrictions on the non-pros are levied,
    then the pros get more secure... It's not really a matter of
    argument..it's more a matter of who's got the power to control the
    situation. I think that this Bass tournament situation has become much
    more of an INDUSTRY in recent years than it has a SPORT. Sure, the NFL
    is a "sport", but it sure as the dickens is an "industry" as well...
    I can remember a time when NOBODY fished for Largemouth Bass simply
    because they were considered extremely hard to catch and nobody wanted
    to bother. Then the tackle makers and tournament pros got involved,
    began to teach the basics, and somehow it became a "P.R." issue, and
    the mass media got into it....more tackle makers got involved, more
    clubs were formed....then EVERYBODY knew how to fish for bass and
    everybody started doing so... Many of these folks are not real "sporty"
    folks, and they'd take home 100 bass if they could catch them...and in
    the spring that isn't at all impossible... So the pressures began to
    mount on some lakes, the populations crashed, and who is really to
    blame for that?? We can blame it on the symptom--the greedy pigs who
    have no self restraint--but who or what is the root cause?? Maybe not
    all lf the blame should go on those stupid people.....maybe some of it
    should go on the possible overselling of the sport...
    
      Hell, I'm not accusing nor convicting anyone...just pointing out some
    of the possible reasons. 
    
      There's some good and some bad in this...and I don't pretend to have
    all of the answers...but I haven't been presented with all of them by
    anyone else either. I don't participate in tournaments by choice...and
    I don't typically fish on the well-known and heavily fished waters. I
    ain't adverse to walking 7 or 8 miles into the woods to get to a spot
    that nobody wants to put out the effort to get to...(there ARE still
    some of these spots...), and when I do this, I usually find a place
    where there are an abundant supply of whatever fish I'm after....enough
    so that if I "limit out" the population of remaining fish will probably
    BENEFIT by my harvest rather than have the lake depleted. But I don't
    think that I'm the typical fisherman...I happen to enjoy the sport, I
    do turn a lot more fish loose than I keep, but I enjoy eating them
    also. I even like to fish for carp...but I'd never put a carp or a
    sunfish into any body of water...
    
      So I guess the bottom line here is where you are coming from...and I
    think there's room for both sides of the debate...and I don't really
    see why it has to be an "argument"...I just don't necessarily think
    that the Bass-Pros have ALL of the answers and the ONLY way things
    should be.. And I DO have questions on some of their methods...and if
    they think they have no reason to change anything would seem to me the
    BIGGEST reason to examine it very carefully... I think there is plenty
    of room to improve...and with newer technology it might be wise to
    explore some new methods. 
    
     
    JM

    It sounds like I opened a "Can of Worms" here (pun). I did not realize
    there was so much controversy about Tournaments. I guess every subject
    has a Left and a Right. I think if we land somewhere in the Middle we
    all can enjoy this Stressed Planet.
    
                                  OO
                                (  > )
                                   U              -Steve

    
    
    		I think the GREEN PEACE NOTE
    		some of you are looking for
    		is on...ANOTHER NODE?
    
    		

    Just to give some info that I have read over the past two years, BASS
    and other trails REDMAN Etc...  Have changed methods of at the weigh
    ins based on data and research.  They continue to do studies on
    mortallity rate of tournament caught bass.  They will fence off an area
    or put the bass caught in a hatchery pond for a month or so.  They
    tipically get better than a 95% survival rate.   Virgina took large
    numbers out of the James River at recent Classics and used the fish to
    stock ponds that have been fished out.  If the State bioligists have
    that much confidence in these fish I would agree that little harm can
    be happening to the fish, in these live wells and weigh ins.  BTW every
    year you see the boart manufactures improving the livewells on there
    products,  Rounded corners, timers on livewell pumps, aerators, deeper
    wells,
       Is it perfected??  Probably not, but then what is!!  They will keep
    researching for improvements I'm sure.  Its the best we got and the
    survival rate is a major accomplishment over the past 20 years.
       I think about the fact that 6 years ago I only fished for super!
    most people I knew did the same.  These organizations have now set a
    trend in place that in the mid 70's was all but unheard of CATCH &
    RELEASE.  I am amazed at the number of people that practice this
    I do a lot of shore fishing and most people I run into practice C&R
    I have nothing against a meal, I have one or two every year and if
    people want to take the fish they catch they have every right to.
    But C & R on tournaments is a must IMHO
    
    Les
     

    
    
    		well said les
    		like i said 90+% have no problems I myself only eat
    		trout so every bass i catch,goes back in for another
    		day,
    
    				(gill_raker)

    I would like to add a little to the statement made on 1577.6. If I am
    talking about the same tournament St Lawrence River in 1989 B.A.S.S.
    did place transmitters on bass and did monitor them. One issue that
    clouded the results was that there was a very early cold fronts that
    cooled the water temperature down and may have triggered the bass into
    late fall early winter patterns. They also felt that there may be a
    period of stress that takes away any homing tendencies for a time. I
    tend to agree with all the info in here that there is no conclusive
    evidence that answers all the questions. In New Hampshire we have
    a period of immediate catch and release during the spawn. My concern
    is we are allowed to apply for tournament permits to keep fish in the 
    livewell and must release them after weigh-in. If a study clealy stated
    that a spawning bass would not spawn in another area after release I
    would seriouly have to consider an alternative for tournaments during 
    this time period. The spawn is a great time to fish and affords us 
    an opportunity for plenty of excitment but if we are slowly destroying
    our fisheries for this opportunity then we each have to make a value
    judgement of how much we want to make available for the future. I would
    hope somewhere in the near future we can have a definitive study that
    answers our questions. 
    
     B.A.S.S. should be doing more to get these answers along with the 
    money being used out of the Wallop/Breaux funds. It appears this 
    organization and the states that benefit from the funds owe all of us 
    some concrete information. I'm going to get off this subject or 
    this note will end up in the "Rathole"
    
     A concerned Basser
    
    Don B. 
    answer

    Now, there's no way of telling, but I swear the the same bass have come
    back to the same places the last four years running.
    
    If they are not the exact same bass, then the 8 bass nests are
    magically located, and bass just can't stay away from the exact
    locations of last year's nests.
    
    But, indisputably, the same 8 nests that I monitored last year are all
    there again this year, in the exact same places. The fish on them don't
    look a whole lot bigger than last year, but several of them are about
    as big as bass get. (These are smallmouth.)
    
    I speculate that these fish head for specific places when the water
    temp is right. I would not take this to mean that a bass grabbed off
    the nest and transported 7 miles to the weighing-in area would be able
    to find its way back. (It certainly wouldn't get back before its eggs
    were eaten, at any rate.)
    
    John H-C

       It is very possible that they are the same group of bass. 
    Smallmouth Bass are often described as homebodies.  If they have all
    that they need to get through the seasons in a small local area they
    tend to stay there.  If all of these bass were taken away it would most
    likely take quite a while for the area to become repopulated by other
    bass that move in from adjacent areas that become too crowded for them.
    Also remember that a good nesting site is a good nesting site.  They're
    all looking for the same basic qualities.  If you want to find out if
    they're the same exact bass in each nest you could always catch and tag
    them.
    				B.C.

    I read an article in the In-Fisherman magazine which indicated that
    8 out of 13 bass taken from a pool in a river and transported about 
    1.6 miles upstream found their way back within a relatively short time,
    bypassing 13 other pools in the process. Possibly the other bass showed
    up later, too, but the thrust of the article was that bass do display a
    definite homing instinct.
    
    (Although I'm absolutely sure that the smallie I caught in Lake
    Waukewan and released in Paugus Bay will not find his way back!)
    
    Ed
    

    
    
        Well I am not so sure about bass, but look at the salmon family,
    they are released or naturally hatched in a stream go out into the
    ocean travel thousands of miles but they still return to the mother 
    stream from which the origionally left from, they do this by smell.
          Now for bass in a lake I wuold say for the most part the water
    would probably smell the same unless there is a sewage or feeder stream
    leading into the lake to change the smell.
    
    
                                                       Lee