# Tournament question !!



## rockwalker (Jul 22, 2009)

I have never fished a tournament but want to real bad just have to get the kitchen pass to do so! thats the hard part!

but i was wondering when you guys fish these tournaments is each team responsible for releasing their fish and if so do they take them to their spot or are they all released at the docks???? 

reason I ask is a few weeks back we were at little river on sinclair and seen 6-8 dead bass floating along the sea wall and 1 of them looked to be about 8-9 lbs and I noticed that the board that day showed big fish at 8.6 lbs. just didnt know and since i started back fishing and looking  at different tournaments that one question just got in my head!


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## j_seph (Jul 22, 2009)

Released at the dock or they are all carried to one location and released. The tournament officials are the ones who do the releasing. I fish mostly catfish and striper tournaments. Usually they take care in these tournaments to make sure that if a fish is not going to make it, it will become table fare for someone and not go to waste. The above mentioning of the dead fish looks bad for a tournament scene for sure.


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## brian lee (Jul 22, 2009)

anyone who catches a fish that is alive but not able to swim off on its own should revive the fish til it is ready to go by its self. the summer time is one of the worst times of the year to get big fish to stay alive in a livewell all day.the angler who didnt revive the fish correctly puts a bad name on all of us tournament fisherman. do all that you can to keep them alive, if they dont you know you have tried.take it home to someone who can use the food


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## DeepweR (Jul 22, 2009)

at the dock, alot of variation on the fish living. water temp, hook in the fish, how deep they were caught,etc. i can asure u all anglers try to keep the bass alive. alot of times fish caught deep will die from bring'n up too quick out of deep water. just my opinion!


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## j_seph (Jul 22, 2009)

Either way, tournament officials are usually the ones responsible for releasing the fish and most time were the last ones handling these fish and a lot of the blame IMO goes to them not taking the time with the fish or not inspecting them to some degree before and during release


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## DeepweR (Jul 22, 2009)

dead fish= .25 lbs off your weight per fish so it matters to a tournament angler!


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## Laugh44 (Jul 23, 2009)

.25# per fish...what tourneys are you fishing...all my tourneys are 1/2-1 lb. dead fish penalty. I need to get in on your tourneys Deep.


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## bigbass07 (Jul 23, 2009)

it is standard in the t-ment industry FLW, bass, berry's , c&r, 99% of the local trails and pot style t-ments that .250 dead fish . 1.00 per dead fish and 3.00 per short fish.


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## j_seph (Jul 23, 2009)

guess us catfisherman have it tougher than most. Dead fish for us don't even get weighed


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## DeepweR (Jul 23, 2009)

*berrys, jackson lake*



Laugh44 said:


> .25# per fish...what tourneys are you fishing...all my tourneys are 1/2-1 lb. dead fish penalty. I need to get in on your tourneys Deep.



tues./fri.   nights


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## rockwalker (Jul 23, 2009)

Thanks for clearing that up! I was not laying blame on anyone I know stuff happens and sometimes you can't save em all but I just wondered how that got handled. Seems like if all the fish were released at the dock that that might be pretty good fishing a day or so later! 

Heard "stories" years ago about a fellow that won several of the tournaments out of Kersey's old place on Jackson  and never left the no wake zone


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## bigbass07 (Jul 23, 2009)

rockwalker said:


> Thanks for clearing that up! I was not laying blame on anyone I know stuff happens and sometimes you can't save em all but I just wondered how that got handled. Seems like if all the fish were released at the dock that that might be pretty good fishing a day or so later!
> 
> Heard "stories" years ago about a fellow that won several of the tournaments out of Kersey's old place on Jackson  and never left the no wake zone



yea around the release points are always great.


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## slingshot86 (Jul 27, 2009)

some tx trails wont allow you to fish without an aerated livewell. i like to freeze 2 liter soda bottles and drop them in later in the day. use em for drinkin water too. we go to great lenghts not to kill a fish. hook up with hawghunna and his group . Terry is from griffin as well. fine gentlemen, everyone of them. thats why i stick with the jon boat stuff. much easier to get that kitchen pass too. alot of those guys fish with their wives ! and win! tell them  your new and they will bend over backwards to get you started in tx fishin.


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## gahunter12 (Jul 28, 2009)

I think all tournament fisherman try there best to keep fish alive. Some times things happen. I use frozen coke bottles and please release me. I also leave my pumps running all day non stop in hot water. Also once you fill your live wells up flip your wells over to recirculate instead of empty. If you recirculate fresh water from the lake the water will stay hotter. I will usually fill my wells up in the morning when the water temp is a couple deg cooler and switch over to recirculate to keep my water as cool as possible. This has worked for me and I have been lucky to not have a fish die on me in over 5 years in my boat.


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## CRBass (Jul 28, 2009)

gahunter12 said:


> I think all tournament fisherman try there best to keep fish alive. Some times things happen. I use frozen coke bottles and please release me. I also leave my pumps running all day non stop in hot water. Also once you fill your live wells up flip your wells over to recirculate instead of empty. If you recirculate fresh water from the lake the water will stay hotter. I will usually fill my wells up in the morning when the water temp is a couple deg cooler and switch over to recirculate to keep my water as cool as possible. This has worked for me and I have been lucky to not have a fish die on me in over 5 years in my boat.



This is exactly what I reccomend to our anglers.  I even freeze the bottles to give away and give away Please Release Me.


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## TheBishop (Jul 29, 2009)

j_seph said:


> guess us catfisherman have it tougher than most. Dead fish for us don't even get weighed



Tougher? Cats are a heckuva lot easier to keep alive then bass! If you let one of those die, you ought to get penalized the whole fish!  Heck i have trouble TRYING to kill those fish! 

I have done poorly this year keeping fish alive.  Its cost me too.  I had some battery/livewll issues earlier but since then corrected it.  I have found the lots of Ice early, rejuvenade, recirculate, is the best solution.


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## sasquatch hunter (Aug 10, 2009)

*get koolwell*

man, you guys need to see my website, it's in my profile...and i have a thread in the member's services section.

and check this out....

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=384821


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## Marks500 (Aug 10, 2009)

I just keep my Aerator and Recirculate Running For the Whole tournament and I never have any problems with fish dieing. Only had one fish die this year and it was because it got hooked too deep.


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## riprap (Aug 10, 2009)

I will have to give a thumbs up for please release me. Fish looked real good a couple of Saturdays ago. When I opened the livewell the ones in there were a little afraid of Roland Martin's picture on the bottle.


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## sasquatch hunter (Aug 10, 2009)

*additives*

I'm a little skeptical of some of the additives, I don't use anything but the koolwell these days.

I've heard that the additives kind of give the fish a "sugar buzz"  that soon wears off and still ends with the fish dying.

If everyone takes such good care of their fish, and they always swim off, why can you go to a weigh-in location a day or two later and see dead fish everywhere...................it's called delayed mortality.


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## Marks500 (Aug 10, 2009)

sasquatch hunter said:


> I'm a little skeptical of some of the additives, I don't use anything but the koolwell these days.
> 
> I've heard that the additives kind of give the fish a "sugar buzz"  that soon wears off and still ends with the fish dying.
> 
> If everyone takes such good care of their fish, and they always swim off, why can you go to a weigh-in location a day or two later and see dead fish everywhere...................it's called delayed mortality.



I have used Rejuvenate in my live wells and that stuff works great. What are you talking about a day or two later? Usually if they are gonna die they die right away or a few minutes later. I dont know what weigh in Location you go to but I fish a lot out of Berrys on Jackson and They have atleast 3 tournaments there a week and I never see dead fish there.


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## bigbass07 (Aug 10, 2009)

yea i agree marks 500 we fish alot of summer t-ments and we have never had a fish to die NEVER. i use rejuvenate and lots of frozen drink bottles thru the day. another thing if you use culling balls of any kind ,this will put stress on them . i have a ranger and so do my partner those are the best wells on the market they located the cooler in front of the wells this helps to cool the water also. we have never lost a fish and have had up to 24 #'s in them in 90 degree water, just as fresh when you weigh them as when you catch them.


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## sasquatch hunter (Aug 10, 2009)

*ok*

there are waaaaaaaaaaaay to many uninformed tournament anglers these days...why do you think you don't see all of the FLW weigh-ins??? they can them because they have so many dead fish brought in.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/12/mueller-big-tournaments-big-problem/

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/news/story?page=b_cons_bass_alive_why_bass_die

http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3685723/1

Guess there is good current near the weigh-in areas ya'll fish.  Otherwise, if you go back a day or two later, you will see many dead fish floating, unless someone has already cleaned the mess up.

I've got plenty more reading material, if you care to take the time.


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## Marks500 (Aug 11, 2009)

sasquatch hunter said:


> there are waaaaaaaaaaaay to many uninformed tournament anglers these days...why do you think you don't see all of the FLW weigh-ins??? they can them because they have so many dead fish brought in.
> 
> http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/12/mueller-big-tournaments-big-problem/
> 
> ...



No one is saying you are wrong, Some of us just dont have the that problem when we fish. I guess it depends on your live wells, Like I said I leave mine running the whole tournament.


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## sasquatch hunter (Aug 11, 2009)

*10 4*

I understand where you are coming from.  But I also don't believe that fish kept in 85-90 degree livewells for 8 hours just swim off and live to fight another day.

That is too much stress being placed on them.  Especially if they are fish that are caught deep.

Everyone here was swam in a lake and felt how much cooler the water at your toes is.  That's just 5-6 feet of depth. 

Think about fish that are caught 20-30 feet deep and are then placed in a surface temp livewell.  There is no way those fish recover from that shock.


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## bigbass07 (Aug 11, 2009)

i got some info on the coolwell from the flw cup and that thing is a joke, you loose one whole storage compartment and its big as a school bus. i just can't see paying that kinda $$$$ for it when you can do the same with frozen bottles of water, black livewells, and some rejuvy or release me. 

past weekend 5 in the well water was 89 degrees, added the frozen bottles and it was down to 80.1 all day. fish was aok at weigh in . now there was a sack full of dead ones brought in bout 15 or so. i hated to see it one was almost 7#. but as anglers we all know that gonna happen. heck i have been to the lake on days that there had not been a t-ment for  a week or more and see 5 - 10 floating even crappie, cats and others, so explain that . we as t-ment anglers aren't as bad as everyone makes us out to be.

as far as the deep fish everyone needs to learn the blatter trick. at least it raises the odds of survival.

last note if t-ment anglers was as bad as everyone says they are then the state and federals would step in and band t-ment fishing. it has not hurt any lakes around here as far as numbers and quality cause it seems every year it gets better and better.


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## sasquatch hunter (Aug 11, 2009)

*thanks*

you obviously haven't taken the time to read those articles I posted.  The ban you're talking about is not far off if some big changes aren't made soon.  Just look at whose in office.

You looked at the wrong product cause Koolwell is spelled with a K! you obviously didn't get much info cause you would know how to spell it if you did.  The pros that have it installed so far sure don't think it's a joke.....they love it.  Along with Champion boats, and Ranger, and the National Guard Team......should I continue.  Do a little more research before you reply.

All the components weigh less than 5 lbs.  Bigger than a Bus????  Come on man, do you work for oxygenator or something.  

The coil is less than 2" thick and mounts to the bottom of your factory cooler, where you can still put your drinks after installation.  You don't have to give up storage.  It is just recommended on some boats that have teeny tiny coolers.


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## Marks500 (Aug 12, 2009)

sasquatch hunter said:


> I understand where you are coming from.  But I also don't believe that fish kept in 85-90 degree livewells for 8 hours just swim off and live to fight another day.
> 
> That is too much stress being placed on them.  Especially if they are fish that are caught deep.
> 
> ...



I catch my fish first thing in the morning and they sit in the live well for 6-7 hours and they are fine. I sometimes have trouble getting them out they have so much energy. But like I said I leave my livewell running the whole tourney. But at Berrys They do have a Aerated live well tank they keep the fish in till they are released. They never release and fish that are dead or on the verge of dieing.I know my fish swim off to fight another day. What others do with there fish and how they take care of them, we cant all control that. Some Tournaments dont have the accommodations like others do,  such as holding tanks etc.As far as deep fish, I dont think it as much the water temp, Its not deflating there air pocket that kills them. They have a tool for that.


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## riprap (Aug 14, 2009)

State law says you can keep 10 bass a day. I don't like seeing a fish die, but if a couple die during a tourney then I don't see a problem. If you have a 20 boat tournament and everyone takes their fish home then you lose 100 bass. That would be a problem.


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## Marks500 (Aug 14, 2009)

riprap said:


> State law says you can keep 10 bass a day. I don't like seeing a fish die, but if a couple die during a tourney then I don't see a problem. If you have a 20 boat tournament and everyone takes their fish home then you lose 100 bass. That would be a problem.



Exactly, No Tournament Angler Likes to see fish Die. All the Fish that are brought in Dead to weigh in, If they are not to old, Usually someone takes them home for food. I think some tournaments throw back fish whether they are dead or alive.


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## sasquatch hunter (Aug 14, 2009)

*True*

Lot's of folks don't see a problem with a "couple" of fish dying....that means 2.  I don't see a problem with that either.

Believe me...I'm not trying to start an argument or fight here.  I'm just trying to raise awareness.

That's great if you can fish a tournament in the heat of the summer and keep fish caught the first hour and release them alive and healthy.  I'm not talking to you.  

I'm talking to the people that think they are doing the right thing but aren't.  The ones that dump five stiff fish on the scales or release five fish that are on their sides just wiggling a fin.

I've sat by the water trying to revive those peoples fish before......and I was alone.

All I am saying is that if you are going to release fish......do it right.

Our tournament last month...it just so happened that the three koolwell boats weighed in back to back.  All three bags of fish splashed water on the tournament director.  He also remarked about how kool the fish and the water were.

There is NO DOUBT in my mind that every fish I have weighed-in the last 2 years has swam off strong and healthy to be caught again.  Except 1 or 2 that got a deep hook.

Everyone of us can make the choice to be inactive or proactive.  There is a problem, there is no doubt about that , it might not be your trail, but it is gonna effect your trail sooner or later.  Those articles I posted have some great and scary information in them.  That's the washington times for crying out loud......you know how many people read that thing....I guarantee you all the ones that like that billboard showing the dog with a hook in his mouth read it.  And they are doing everything in their power to shut down the sport that we love so much.

I'm not trying to be the enemy here, just trying to expose the truth, and the problem.

shameless plug........ http://www.getkoolwell.com


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## Rattlecrap (Aug 24, 2009)

rockwalker said:


> I have never fished a tournament but want to real bad just have to get the kitchen pass to do so! thats the hard part!
> 
> but i was wondering when you guys fish these tournaments is each team responsible for releasing their fish and if so do they take them to their spot or are they all released at the docks????
> 
> reason I ask is a few weeks back we were at little river on sinclair and seen 6-8 dead bass floating along the sea wall and 1 of them looked to be about 8-9 lbs and I noticed that the board that day showed big fish at 8.6 lbs. just didnt know and since i started back fishing and looking  at different tournaments that one question just got in my head!




I fished a club tournament at Oconee last month and saw a bunch of dead bass also but they were kinda randomly out there, I also noticed Georgia Power was moving water back and forth several times throughout the day, does this negatively effect bass?  I have caught several bass close to what were probably drop off points and it's not hard to tell they had already been caught and released they looked pretty beat up.  I think for the most part tournament fisherman do everything in their power to save fish 1. because of the deduction 2. because I like to believe that tourney anglers care about their sport.  I might just be naive.


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## Dobi (Aug 26, 2009)

gahunter12 said:


> I think all tournament fisherman try there best to keep fish alive. Some times things happen. I use frozen coke bottles and please release me. I also leave my pumps running all day non stop in hot water. Also once you fill your live wells up flip your wells over to recirculate instead of empty. If you recirculate fresh water from the lake the water will stay hotter. I will usually fill my wells up in the morning when the water temp is a couple deg cooler and switch over to recirculate to keep my water as cool as possible. This has worked for me and I have been lucky to not have a fish die on me in over 5 years in my boat.



Yes, if you do pull more water in, also make certain you do it in deeper portions. We stuck a fish pretty bad and it blead out something fierce in the livewell so we pumped in fresh water. Unfortunately we weren't thinking about it and were in less then a foot of water that was about 95 degree's vs the 85-88 degree average... needless to say we were only a bowl of batter away from a fish fry.

there are a couple places where people fish off docks and bridges where we fish and if some of ours die, we'll give'm to the folks fishin for food.


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