New PB Smallie

[saygrace]

I thought all the bass tourneys - local and professional - were c&r. Very unhappy about the loss of all those fish. I was fishing around Henderson this week and the bass boats were all over the place. Obviously this is big business so all involved have to protect the resource. I also see no need to keep 5 per person as well. 3 per person would be plenty. The bass already have enough pressure on them from cormorants and gobies!  

[justtracytrolling]

Just heard today that bass pro shops has partnered with major league fishing offering a 300% increase in payouts. Presumably they will be using the live scoring with immediate release. This may put BASS down a peg as participating anglers will be required to sign a 3 year exclusive contract to fish only the new Bass Pro Tour. Let's all cross our fingers as this would be great for all bass anglers if tournaments went in this direction. It's big business but some changes are coming even at club levels.

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[BP Swing]

This is great news! Hats off to Bass Pro! I wish all tourneys were immediate catch and release. With the technology available, its possible. Sometime I hope the days of transporting bass 50 miles away in a livewell after banging around in it all day with a culling marker attached and then being fizzed will end. There must be so much post release mortality that we dont even know about. I keep thinking about how many of the 2 1/2 tons of Smallmouth that were released by BASS after the tourney in the St Lawrence died after coming out of 45 feet of water. Stupid having a tourney where the bass are so deep. You would think the biologists on staff would know better but I guess its all about the almighty buck. Bass Pro gets my business. All tourneys should be immediate release.

[FishHardDave]

In tournaments, safety & fish care should always be priorities! As far as I'm aware virtually all bass tournaments on the Canadian side are catch & release! Fizzing does work as I've caught numerous released fish that were tagged!

[BP Swing]

Just because they were tagged doesnt mean they were fizzed. How do you know they were fizzed? Any way you look at it, to have BASS or any other catch and keep in the livewell tournament come up here when the fish are in 35-45 feet is a bad idea. Means lots of dead bass.

[FishHardDave]

19 hours ago, BP Swing said:

Just because they were tagged doesnt mean they were fizzed. How do you know they were fizzed? Any way you look at it, to have BASS or any other catch and keep in the livewell tournament come up here when the fish are in 35-45 feet is a bad idea. Means lots of dead bass.

Actually, the tagged fish that I have caught were all tagged by Dr. Bruce Tufts and his Queens University lab and they were all fizzed! They are amongst the world's foremost expert on Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River Smallmouth, check out some of their videos and studies-very interesting stuff-https://www.facebook.com/fisheriesqu/

I'm not saying that there is no mortality in these tournaments but educating anglers whether in tournaments or not will definitely reduce the losses!