post tourney bass - eat or release???

[mrprincedog]

I have always wondered this and hoping you guy/gals on the bass forum can answer. Whenever I see bass tourneys on tv the fish are live at weigh in. I assume that must be a rule, but what ever happens after? Is there a big fish fry or do they toss em back in the lake? Excuse my bass ignorance. :excited:

[jbooth]

They always go back alive. The foundations that host the big bass tournaments are conservation foundations, so it wouldn't make sense to not release them. Same thing for local tournaments!

[otisdog]

people still have to eat though:shrug:

[flippinbaits]

yup of course they release them :) otherwise, why would they bother with livewells or keeping them alive at the weigh in??

[Dave Smith]

Years ago bass tournament fish were kept and killed like they do in salmon and sturgeon tournaments today. Didn't take long to realize that catching fish and releasing them was better than not catching them at all. I think this concept is barely starting to sink in with other fisheries.

[mrprincedog]

Thanks guys, I figured as much, just wasn't sure.

[Duckwheat]

Maybe there is a new opportunity out there for a secondary tournament. A catfish tournament with post tournament catfish fry. I never hear of anyone crying for catch and release catfish.

We could call it the Good Old Boy, Redneck and Bubba Catfish Tournament. The Finale could be in Huntington, Oregon the Catfish Capital of the world. Sort of like the Daytona 500 of fishing tournaments.

WE could go after deep fat fryer manufacturing companies for sponsorship $. Maybe even a propane sponsor. Big and Husky clothes companies could be a niche endorsement for the tournament stars.

Could have a Hushpuppy contest to broaden our appeal to the Mrs. Bubba's out there. I smell potential.

Pondering in ID.

DW

[MacFish]

Most bass tournaments will not only just release the fish, they will go to the trouble of taking them back out in the lake and scattering them around, rather than dumping them all at the dock. The bigger tournaments even keep the fish in oxygenated holding tanks treated with compounds like rejuvenade, that calm the fish, kill human borne bacterias and soothe any injuries they may have incurred. Some even lower deep water caught fish, whose air bladders have distended, back into deep water in special baskets. If they didn't use techniques that cut fish mortality to such a small amount, the large number of tourneys fished by a lot of really good fishermen would soon decimate the bass population

[BassBuster]

people still have to eat though:shrug:


That's what salmon are for:D Leave our bass alone:excited:

[Super Fluke]

Usally if the bass dies when your in a tourney, you'll have some weight taken away from your overall weight.

[pitchnboy]

CATCH and RELEASE...thats like BASS biggest moto. only catch and release for me and forever and hopefully for everyone else.

pitch

[BaitStop]

I'm pretty sure they have a penalty for weighing in dead fish.

[McSteelie]

I practice catch and release for the majority of bass I catch but occasionally keep a couple if a fish fry is in order.

[FelonFinder]

There is usually a catfish tourney at Brownlee in the spring and I bet most are eaten.

[Stowaway]

I usually would take them back to the spot I caught them. I did read an article that most bass will actually swim back to the spot they were caught.

[sealgal2008]

Where I come from its always catch and eat fishing. The more fish you catch the more fish you eat - EASY!

Betty

[FelonFinder]

Money can be hard to come by for many. When I realized my hobby involved throwing groceries into the water, and then thought about my small income, the solution to feeding my family and saving some money while still doing my favorite hobby was obvious. I don't eat everything. Only if there's enough meat to justify cleaning fish that night.

[tnj8222]

bass go back for me. i have been known to keep them if they will die, but if i want food i go crappie perch and bluegill fishing. they taste better anyways. bass is pretty good, but imho not much compares to panfish out of a lake.

[Tar Heel]

Most of the best LM bass fisheries would have been ruined long ago if tourney fisherman and sport fishers alike didn't practice C&R.

[FelonFinder]

LMB are kinda gross anyway. SMB are better. Of course, that's an opinion.

[built2fish]

Well..... most people don't eat their tourney fish. The trick is to volunteer to be the boat that takes the fish back out and release them and have the wife meet you with a cooler and put them in there. I always do that!

P.s. I would never kill a bass, had to say something though, that question cracked me up for sure.

[giovanni72]

If you like heavy metal contamination, try bass out of the columbia or the Willamatte these are waters that are moving. Can you imagine how the lake bass taste yummy. Please release Bassfor the sake of the sport. All tournement fishermen release bass alive! practice catch and release, if you don't, at least eat smaller fish and not big spawning females. Taking a female that is over 3Lb. is a mistake if you want to continue to catch bass. Tight lines! Eat pink meat!~

[haulin'bass]

When I first started bass fishin' up at cascade locks years ago we would keep them but now all I do is C&R. I have had people ask why do you even fish for bass if you not going to keep them? Well for most of us that is a simple question and for others they just don't understand what would happen if we kept all the fish we have catch over the years would do to the great sport of bass fishin'.:passout: