Six hours just doesnt feel right!

[biteme]

Yes I know its the law. That said I really wish during these summer months the six hour tournament says would be two day events. Just so much invested in travel to fish six hours and be back on the road by 1pm. Anyone else feel like this?

[rmd]

Steve yea i know what you mean most of with gas price?

[Revoke36]

Why not go back out and fish after the weigh in?

[barse41]

Yes I know its the law. That said I really wish during these summer months the six hour tournament says would be two day events. Just so much invested in travel to fish six hours and be back on the road by 1pm. Anyone else feel like this?

Agreed. not worth it

[biteme]

Steve yea i know what you mean most of with gas price?

For sure. Im still pretty new to Tournaments. This is my first year fishing a circuit so I didnt know how it would really be. It just shocked me when I looked at the graph and noticed we had a hour left. I was like woah!

[jloo283]

It sucks. I don't believe the extra 2 hrs have fish killing affect in well designed and propery used livewells, which are pretty much in all of today's bassboats. They die for other reasons.

James

[CN]

It sucks. I don't believe the extra 2 hrs have fish killing affect in well designed and propery used livewells, which are pretty much in all of today's bassboats. They die for other reasons.

James

I quit fishing tournament's but I agree. Used properly the livewell's are great. Freeze 1 gallon milk carton's and put them in the livewell along with these chemical's that help. But put the chemical in first thing even before you start fishing and add more thru out the day. But with thing's going like they are in the once great state of California we may all be sitting on the bank someday.

[Cooch]

It sucks. I don't believe the extra 2 hrs have fish killing affect in well designed and propery used livewells, which are pretty much in all of today's bassboats. They die for other reasons.

James

James, I have to disagree with ya here buddy.

First off, it's more than two hours, closer to 3-3.5 depending on which month and how early the tournament org perceives "Safe light" ta be, with 3:00-4:00p weigh ins, depending on field size and flight times. Less than 20 minutes, in a stressed situation, is all it takes ta kill the fish in yer live wells. The oxygen content in our 35-60 gallon livewells, can disipate that fast with a big fish or multiple fish in the box. It only takes one slight lil brain fart, while we're deep in concentration on making that next catch, that typically causes 90% of our summer time mortality failure in tournaments. In as much as oxygen is a huge factor, tempurature comes into play as well. We have absolutely no way of controlling the temp in our livewells, that is conducive to us fishing and not having to think about it. Sure, we can put ice in there ta cool it off, but really, how many anglers in a 25-90 boat field actually do this? The number is small, really small.

It's not about the boats, the manufacturers have given us some purty damn good tools. But **** happens, especially when we're in the heat of competative battle and take that livewell for granted. Fish die in our livewells in the summer, most in part because we the anglers, tend to neglect, overlook or fergit the lil things while competing. I'll be the first to admit, it's not just tournaments and has happened to me while guiding. Let's hold her fer a picture later with a couple biguns. Next thing ya know, she's floating and golden eye'd. So we now catch, forgo the ego thing, take that picture and turn em loose right away in the Summer & Spring. That's on me, easy enough ta fix.

CA DFG's decision to impliment this many years ago, was indeed a smart move in an effort to protect the fish. We as anglers, don't like shortened fishing days, especially in tournaments. It works, as we see far less dead fish in our summer time tournaments than we did back in the 80s before this was implimented. Besides, most of us catch our fish during the summer time in the first two hours, right? Heck I vote for 4 hour tournaments! HAR! HAR! HAR!

[dwise]

I use ice bottles in the summer and Rejuvenade in my livewells. I'm even installing a thermometer in the livewell to help me keep the water at an even temp.

With all the technology available today, you would think the boat manufacturers would figure out a water temp system to control the water temp in our livewells so we wouldn't have to use ice bottles.

[Gary Dobyns]

Water bottles with ice in them is a bad idea. If you get into rough water the fish get beat to death by the bottles. I have fished Lake Mead many times in tempatures more than 115 degrees. If the anglers will simply turn their livewells on to manual in the morning, your fish will be so lively they're hard to catch at weigh in.

Tournament anglers work hard at keeping their catch alive and most practice catch and release year around. If everyone killed as few fish as tournament anglers our waters would be over populated. Coochie, what the hell do you know. You can't even tell a 10 from a 2 Well maybe not that bad...okay a 3 then

[mark poulson]

Water bottles with ice in them is a bad idea. If you get into rough water the fish get beat to death by the bottles. I have fished Lake Mead many times in tempatures more than 115 degrees. If the anglers will simply turn their livewells on to manual in the morning, your fish will be so lively they're hard to catch at weigh in.

Tournament anglers work hard at keeping their catch alive and most practice catch and release year around. If everyone killed as few fish as tournament anglers our waters would be over populated. Coochie, what the hell do you know. You can't even tell a 10 from a 2 Well maybe not that bad...okay a 3 then

Gary,
I think you hit the nail on the head.
If there's enough oxygen in the water, bass can live in 90 degree water, and do.
I use a deep cycle battery for my cranking battery, so I can run the livewell on manual all day without running it down.
If you think about it, spraying the water back into the livewell all day is like waves churning the surface and providing oxygen.
Additives like Rejuvenade help, but they won't make up for no oxygen to breath.

[jloo283]

Cooch, you made some very good points. But 4 hr tournies, that's blesphemy
James

[clearlakeoutdoors]

come fish the WON night tourn this weekend 6-midnight weigh in then go back out and fish midnight -6 am.

[Turkeyman]

How many other states require this 6 hr rule for tournaments? If anyone knows please post.

[Ceaser]

Yes I know its the law. That said I really wish during these summer months the six hour tournament says would be two day events. Just so much invested in travel to fish six hours and be back on the road by 1pm. Anyone else feel like this?

Go back out fishing the commute never bothers me

[Cooch]

Coochie, what the hell do you know. You can't even tell a 10 from a 2 Well maybe not that bad...okay a 3 then

That may be true, but ya know, that's on you! We have been sitting here fer how many years now waiting on yer promise of that Custom Coochie Rod with the built in scale? Lay off the donuts ole man and git back in the developement lab! HAR!

[biteme]

My question is do other states have this rule? Places like Texas where its very hot.

[Noluk]

A few facts on this issue.

The amount of dissolved oxygen water can hold is directly affected by the temperature of the water. The hotter the water, the less oxygen there is. No amount of checmicals or anything else will change that. Oxygen adding systems will allow water to maintain peak oxygen given the water temperature hard limits.

Ice is a good system to cool the water, BUT the water should only be cooled 5-6 degrees and kept at a constant. Dumping a bag of ice in the livewell and cooling the water off 10 degrees all at once is bad.

The use of chemicals is a good practice BUT the biggest problem with livewells is the build-up of ammonia from fish. If you use chemicals in recirculate you should empty most of the livewell out 2 or 3 times a day, add fresh ammonia free water and readd your chemicals or ice. How many anglers actually do this during the day?

Delayed mortality is a big factor in fish kills. It may be as high as 10 times the number of fish declared dead at the weigh in. So 5 dead fish in a 50 boat tournament will likely result in an actual kill of 50 or so fish. Our feelings that we are taking care of our fish is a long step from doing everything we can to protect them. Other states have similiar laws for the same reason. Many places with large fish go to a 3 fish limit in the summer or big fish only tournaments. (Texas seems to do well promoting this, especially on Falcon)

Far too many fisherman are content that they have done all they can to protect the fish if they can present 5 alive at the weigh in. Wiggling a fin may be alive but far too often it is the fish saying goodbye forever.

[yjjustforme]

all i know is that when i fish a tourney and i know i have a bag that is close to a winning weight (if not a couple possible big fish money contenders) i cant wait for 6 hrs to pass so that way nobody else has the time to catch up almost like 6hrs cant go by fast enough lol.

[flipstar]

I would love to fish full tournys in the summer but California law says 6 hour is the max. The only option at this point is fish 6 hours or do two weigh ins which I don't think the tournament directors and staff would be too happy about. The law sucks but it is what it is.

[Gary Dobyns]

[quote="Cooch"][quote="Gary Dobyns"] Coochie, what the hell do you know. You can't even tell a 10 from a 2 Well maybe not that bad...okay a 3 then [/quote]

That may be true, but ya know, that's on you! We have been sitting here fer how many years now waiting on yer promise of that Custom Coochie Rod with the built in scale? Lay off the donuts ole man and git back in the developement lab! HAR![/quote]

I've been busy, I'll get back on it. It should be a top seller Hope you're doing well buddy.

[Ceaser]

A few facts on this issue.

The amount of dissolved oxygen water can hold is directly affected by the temperature of the water. The hotter the water, the less oxygen there is. No amount of checmicals or anything else will change that. Oxygen adding systems will allow water to maintain peak oxygen given the water temperature hard limits.

Ice is a good system to cool the water, BUT the water should only be cooled 5-6 degrees and kept at a constant. Dumping a bag of ice in the livewell and cooling the water off 10 degrees all at once is bad.

The use of chemicals is a good practice BUT the biggest problem with livewells is the build-up of ammonia from fish. If you use chemicals in recirculate you should empty most of the livewell out 2 or 3 times a day, add fresh ammonia free water and readd your chemicals or ice. How many anglers actually do this during the day?

Delayed mortality is a big factor in fish kills. It may be as high as 10 times the number of fish declared dead at the weigh in. So 5 dead fish in a 50 boat tournament will likely result in an actual kill of 50 or so fish. Our feelings that we are taking care of our fish is a long step from doing everything we can to protect them. Other states have similiar laws for the same reason. Many places with large fish go to a 3 fish limit in the summer or big fish only tournaments. (Texas seems to do well promoting this, especially on Falcon)

Far too many fisherman are content that they have done all they can to protect the fish if they can present 5 alive at the weigh in. Wiggling a fin may be alive but far too often it is the fish saying goodbye forever.

Studys on delayed mortality are conflicting. Some new studies out are finding that delayed mortality is lower than once thought. The problem is actual rates probably vary not only from season to season or state to state, but from fish to fish. Every fish is its own and will add its own variable to the equation. With so many things to add into the formulation, I dont think there can be a steady number or percentage that will cover all bases. I think as a whole bass fisherman do a great job keeping fish alive. but I just toss those trash fish on the bank with the carp

[mark poulson]

The DFG takes delayed fish mortality after tournaments very seriously.
At this year's SoCal DFG Jamboree, where all the tournament organizations get their lake permits for next year, Mike Guisti, the DFG biologist who actually designed and developed the Diamond Valley Lake fishery, spoke at length about delayed mortality, and specifically after summer tournaments.
I was there, but didn't take notes, so this is strictly from memory. Anyone who remembers different please feel free to chime in.
Mike said his responsibility, first and foremost, is to the fishery, not the fishermen, and so he and his staff will do whatever they feel is in the best interest of the fish, and the fishery.
He said he had his staff attend DVL tournament weighins, and hold the tournament fish for 72 hours after the weighin in holding nets, to check for delayed mortality.
He said they found the delayed mortality was much higher than previously thought, and his staff was considering a three fish summer limit at DVL, to cut down on the number of fish who ride around in the livewell for six hours, and, hopefully, cut down on the number of dead fish.
He also said DVL's largemouth bass population is down 50% from it's peak. While he acknowledged that the introduction of stripers might be partly to blame, he said tournament fishing pressure is a large factor in that decline, and one that he and his staff needed to address.
He stressed how the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water of the livewell is the primary determining factor in fish survival, assuming the fish are otherwise healthy when put into the livewell. He also stressed how needling fish immediately, instead of waiting until just before or after weighin, was critical in fish survival.
A fish that floats all day because it's swim bladder is distended, even if it's alive at weighin, will die from the stress to it's vital organs that a ballooned swimbladder puts on them.
Lastly, he recommended running your livewells on manual all day, starting when you launch, to keep the water as oxygenated as possible.
He's the "umpire", and fish handling is balls and strikes, so we can't argue with him.
He's also the "rocket scientist" of our fisheries.
But we can pay attention to what he says, follow his advice, and do our best to help the fish we love to catch, not kill, survive.

[biteme]

I must be missing something. In a sport where we are allowed to KILL five fish per outing why is DFG so concerned with how many hours we fish for them? I only fish catch and release, that said it is legal for a fishermen to take five home. Maybe they should start thinking about planting Bass if this is such a concern.

[mark poulson]

I must be missing something. In a sport where we are allowed to KILL five fish per outing why is DFG so concerned with how many hours we fish for them? I only fish catch and release, that said it is legal for a fishermen to take five home. Maybe they should start thinking about planting Bass if this is such a concern.

Tournaments are a different breed of cat than recreational fishing.
Fishing for prize money brings the element of commercial activity into the equation, and DFG views tournaments as businesses, so they are required to buy permits from the State, and to abide by the restrictions the DFG puts on them.
If every angler in a tournament killed and kept five fish the fish population would crash, and DFG knows that.
Their regulations concerning fish handling and their protection of the fishery is to prevent a commercial enterprise, in this case fishing tournaments, from abusing the resource.
I think their view is that, when there's money involved, people need to be watched. What a novel concept! Hahaha