WWBT2017 Clear Lake Teams Info

[WB Staff]

172 Boats competing | Five Flights

Weigh-in 3 p.m. Konocti Vista Casino

[coyote268]

Why don't they use a release boat? Doesn't cost that much and less strain on the fish and saves the fishermen from having to go out and then return.

[dmac7332]

No release boat can handle that many fish and the fish will be back in the lake faster by the fishermen.

[Fred Fullerton]

[Catmantwo]

7 x 172 = 1204 good size fish as opposed to 5 x 100 = 500 similar sized fish, almost 2 1/2 times as many????

[kb]

Fred you are wrong on that one with 170 boats weighing in 7 fish limits and the total weight of the fish they are going to catch there is no reason to put that many of them in the live release boat. Oxygen content is going to be low in a release boat tank and there is no reason to keep the fish on the dock and in a tank for that long. How is it better to leave the fish in a release boat for 3 hours instead of taking the 7 fish 1/4 mile out and release them 10-15 minutes tops after they hit the scale......

There has never been a ABA TOC in October that has seen the numbers, limits and weight that they will see up there in one day. Why would you propose a release boat when the fish can be returned to the lake immediately following being weighed and only 7 of them in a well...... IF every boat has a limit that is 1197 fish.......with the average tournament fish on Clear Lake usually averaging about 3.5 pounds that is over 4000 pounds of bass....in one release boat? NO hats off to WWBT for taking care of the fish and getting them returned in a timely manner.

Having the teams take their fish out clears out the docks, it will free up the slips and make the weigh in go faster and with 170 boats they need that. Sorry bud but you were off for calling b.s. on them...... Last year at the ABA TOC there were 17 boats that weighed over 40 pounds for two days and there were only 105 boats......if you guys put 500 Clear Lake Fish per day in one release boat someone needs a headlock!!!!!!

kb

[jiggin4bass]

Will Fred now what

[Ben520]

[kb]

1/4 mile out does spread the fish out and I don't believe there are 2 available boats anywhere in Nor Cal.

[birdman920]

any results up yet ?......

[jiggin4bass]

Kb 1 Fred 0 Oh wait the fishing results my bad

[jiggin4bass]

Hats off to Gary and his staff for the great turn outs at all there tournaments keep up the hard work

[coyote268]

First I want to say I thought the weigh in went very fast and efficient. But I think we need to realize that California has the two top tournament fisheries in the country, Clear Lake#1 and Delta#2 (sorry Delta guys) and the importance of keeping the fisheries healthy is paramount. I got there with my Daughter about mid weigh in yesterday and as guys left the weigh in site they were told to put water in their bags. Within ten minutes three guys walked away without doing so. Daughter Sandi looked up Game Warden Tim and advised him of this and he jumped on it. Point being how many did this before it was noticed? Would a release boat have prevented this, I don't know. But it might of helped getting the fish back into water quicker, In addition to this the fellows that run the release boat have the knowledge to deflate deep caught fish and the oxygen that other stressed fish receive is a great help. Now KB, you say to many fish for one boat to handle. Correct, but when they have what they deem a capacity load they take it out and release them and then come back. In the mean time the fishermen can do their own release until the boat returns. My whole point in this is you have a fishery with 6 fish over ten lbs, and you don't even weight 9 pounders in the big fish category you have one heck of a fishery and I feel everything should be done to protect it including release boats. Sorry for so long a reply and I hope I didn't insult anyone but with over 40 years of tournament fishing I have see the good, the bad and the ugly as Clint says.

[Stratos278]

On the subject of release boats:

I fished a few of the FLW Everstart/Stren/Costa/Rayovac tourneys as a co-angler back in the mid-to-late 2000's (2003-2009), when they used to go out of the old Konocti Harbor Resort. Potentially, each boat could bring 10 fish to the scales (5 each per co and pro). With a field of 120 - 150 boats, this could have been as high as 1500 fish per day, assuming everyone limited (which didn't happen). And guess what...they had RELEASE BOATS!! I know of two local boats that used to be around, one belonging to the old BBAC, and the other belonged to (I think) Clear Lake Bassmasters. I believe that FLW used these boats, it would be too much to ask for them to tow their own clear across country when local boats were available. As Fred said, there is one boat in Lakeport, and it shouldn't be too hard to track down the other one.

I have seen that channel into/out of the casino. It's kind of narrow, and if you get 170 boats trying to get in and out at the same time, you're asking for trouble. Not to mention that nowhere near all boaters will go the full 400 yards out and 2 miles down lake to release their fish. A lot will just motor out and say "This looks good, close enough for government work" and motor back in when they may have only been 300 yards out and maybe a mile down lake.

I know that WWBT is all about fish care and boater safety, so maybe they SHOULD look at using release boats

[kb]

Jim please explain to me the advantage of putting the fish into the release boat as opposed to back into the same livewell that has kept them alive all day? The oxygen in the release boat is only needed due to the large number of fish held in one tank. None of these boats are bottom dump boats so these fish are netted once again and dropped back into the lake, removing the slime layer and stressing these fish even longer when they have been put into a tank with 400-500 or upwards of 750 as many of you have said. How is s this better than the fish that get put back into the same livewell right after they are weighed and put back into the lake several minutes later. Probably not many of the fish at Clear Lake needing a needle in a mid March event and yes I agree that on lakes like Shasta and Oroville that is a factor.

There are some lakes that will not permit an event without a release boat and I don't think any of us want that here in Nor Cal. Funny that there is no release boat at all on the best most fishery in the West.... The Clear Lake club does a great job with it and it costs $250 Plus to rent it.... Most of the other boats are not in any shape to make long trips and the only other one I am aware of is in Oroville but I may be wrong.... let's be more concerned with the 8-10 club level events per day with 20 boats that they are doing proper fish handleing with their 150 to 170 boats that will be up there. And if an angler doesn't put water back in the bag they need to be dq'd period but why wouldn't you talk to the director before going to the observing warden. Oh and the circuit usually has to pay for that observer as well!!!

[Colebass]

Seriously, what is wrong with you people?! You are trying to do battle with Kent Brown and his resources about protecting fish? That is just Dumb!

And why does this bother you? people catch and eat fish EVERY day in many of our lakes, yet tournament guys keep them alive and you are bothered by it?

Whatever!

DC

[coyote268]

hey kb, if what you say is true, doesn't (and I might be wrong) the Triton owners tournament use a release boat? The bottom line is I think Gary's wild west tournament is the best think that has happened to tournament fishing in CA. and I applaud him for it and the efforts he has taken to put it on with the great payback, but maybe I'm old and set in my ways but I still like release boats.

[Colebass]

Coyote, you are right. Old and set in your ways... Seriously? Don't you remember who we didn't have those boats? We went back in the water and released them ourselves!!

DC

[Gary Dobyns]

Thanks KB and a couple of others.

I have seen massive kills in release boats 3 times and twice in round trailered tanks where they were basically cooked because water was so hot. It was my call to have anglers take the fish out. I personally do not like live release boats and I own one. I prefer to get fish back in the water ASAP. This also gets guys off the docks to make room for the next group. The docks hold 90 boats, we had 172 !!! We pay OVER 100% at every event. Anyone calling "cost" here as the reason is way off base. If we wanted a release boat I would of rented one.

I am the person that asked all of our anglers to take their fish "out past check-in boat" at Clear Lake. I never had a single complaint, question, or issue from any of our anglers. So what's the deal with you guys here? There's a HELL OF A LOT more to running an event than most of you realize. Decisions have to be made at events and prior to the events. WWBT will make decisions for what we consider is best for the fish and then best for our anglers!! As a fisherman over the years I can't count the number of times "us" anglers have released our own fish in events. It was never a big deal to me or the anglers I know. We were simply told to take them out and we did, never thought much of it except I figured it was better for the fish.

Fred, you run you events however you choose to do so. I'm fine with it and you'll not hear a comment out of me. We'll run WWBT event how we choose to!!

Again thanks for the positive comments and thanks to all the anglers that fished Clear Lake and even released your own catch!!!

[kb]

Due to the low water and low oxygen content in the bay at KVC we have not used the release boat in the past 3 years but we did cancel one of those events due to the fires. We asked all the teams to fill wells outside of the harbor and run pumps in recirc while in the harbor in the fall and then they take their fish out to release at the Triton Owners Tournament. Not positive but I think we lost 1 or 2 fish last year

[clearlakeoutdoors]

Long as live wells are working right i see no problem having boats take their own fish out. Ive worked the Clearlake Bassmaster release boat.It does have a bottom board dump in each well.When there is to many fish in the tanks you can see them struggling. All of the guys that work the boat do what they can to save the fish and if the tanks are full we will stop putting fish in and take them out and dump them. Most of the time there is a few floaters and we do the best to revive or fizz the fish.
This time of year there should not be any problems keeping them alive.Summer is a whole different story.
Guys need to make sure their pumps are working properly and keep them running and use some kind of live well treatment.
I would like to add Directors if you want to use the release boat let the club know way ahead of time.To many times the club gets the call the week before the event and its hard to staff it correctly at the last minute. We have had to change club events at last minute.
Dave

[AndrewMartinBass]

I think I've fished almost every circuit in Northern California at least once or twice and I have been very impressed with the way WWBT has run their events. The numbers of boats that are showing up are evidence that others feel the same way. The launch and weigh-in process has been extremely efficient and fish care has been excellent, getting them back in the water and out of tanks as fast as possible.

It has been really cool to see 160 plus boats at each team event this year and the payouts are awesome! $10,000 plus for a one day event on a $325 entry fee is too good to pass up.

[jiggin4bass]

May I ask a question here by letting the boats rake there own fish they weighed back out to release of the 172 boats that weighted fish how many were released alive. We're there any weighed in that were deceased. And why was the release boat brought up again.

[Fast 492]

Thank you Andrew/KB and the others that Support what WWBT it trying to do do here in Ca. I was ecstatic to see the weigh-in of 172 boats start at 3:00 and end with the last team weighing at 4:34. For me being a rookie Tournament Director to have 3 events surpass 150+ boats and to have a weigh-in with 2 teams per minute come across the stage (with water tanks at the other side) shows I am doing everything I can to take care of the resource we all so dearly love.

I talked with DFW officers prior to weigh-in as well as after, and he was pleased with the rules we set forth and the overall running of the weigh-in. Sometimes not everyone follows rules and they slip through the cracks, but rest assured, as most know, if I catch people breaking tournament rules, I will not hesitate to correct the problem following the guidelines given to me by WWBT.


I always have and always will except constructive criticism from anyone, but please (especially if you are participating or watching the event) come to me to resolve issues instead of posting first. I will always strive to run Safe/Efficient/Fair & Fun events for all to fish, I own and operate the Live Release Boat on Lake Oroville and will always do everything in my power to protect this natural resource we all cherish.


Thanks again, good luck and good fishing.

[Fast 492]

May I ask a question here by letting the boats rake there own fish they weighed back out to release of the 172 boats that weighted fish how many were released alive. We're there any weighed in that were deceased. And why was the release boat brought up again.

Hey Jiggin, we had 1 Fish brought to the scale dead. The checkin boat did not report any floaters as far as I know, fingers crossed.....When I was calling around (Lake County Tackle Shops) for some help with the event, I was told that the club that runs the release boat had an event that weekend. That is NOT why we didn't utilize the boat because we believe that most of our anglers will do as requested releasing fish at the check-in boat.

[Gary Dobyns]

WWWBT lost ONE 14" fish in this Clear Lake event. It was brought to the scales dead. All other fish were released alive. Just a side note. We ran our Team TOC last June in high temps. Fish and Game was there to monitor live well oxygen, holding tank oxygen, release water oxygen, weigh bag oxygen, and the marina oxygen. They also checked our water temps and condition of our fish. WWBT passed with great comments. We lost a hand full of fish in that June event. The test results for that event were discussed this past July on our permit drawing day. We shade all of our tanks, we add ice throughout the event, we add “Please Release Me” from Sure-Life Industries, as well as have aeration running in our holding tanks. We limit the number of bags to keep a flow of anglers but this also limits the amount of time the fish are in the bags. Those of you at Clear Lake this past weekend saw normally less than 6-7anglers with bags of fish in holding tank. Many times only 2-4 anglers. We maintained a great flow and our anglers simply waited for bags. This process really helps the fish. As I said in earlier post, most of you guys have never ran an event and don’t realize all that goes into it. Then throw in 172 boats and it’s nothing like running a 20-30 boat field.

[jiggin4bass]

Why don't you posters let Gary and his staff handle the tournaments the way they are being handled now I'm sure they know better than most of the people that have posted as for Fred if your going to come on a thread like this I know after a long day at your tournament of 22 boats post something when your sober going after the wwbt to my point of view was wrong catch and release boat or not your not running there tournaments and Fred try Death wish Coffee in the morning you'll give up drinking trust me

[AndrewMartinBass]

It gets really tiresome to hear the negativity all the time, particularly when something is being done extremely well.

I think Gary and Jason need to be commended and should be held up as an example of how tournaments should be run. 172 boats (7 fish limits!) completely weighed and back in the water in an hour and a half is INCREDIBLE!! Major props to you guys!!!

[scott h]

WWBT runs a great circuit, There isn't anything negative about it. I fish the team circuit and I have absolutely no issue with taking my fish out to be released. As has been said multiple times above they were in my live well all day and in great shape, in the weigh bag with sufficient water for less than 3 minutes from the boat to the bump tanks with several oxygen stones in each of the tanks to keep in the bags as we progressed to the scale, then from the scale to running water on the other side of the trailer enhanced with additives to refill the bag and right back to the boat with running live wells. When I idled out to the drop point not a single fish hesitated when released, they immediately swam down out of sight. Great Job WWBT, I am happy to have the option to fish this circuit as are many and the numbers are showing who is doing it right!

[jiggin4bass]

OK you guys give out all the right answer too the questions
I'm wanting to know if Fred tried the coffee yet .

[lfg]

to jiggin4bass
I think the real answer that you want to know is does everyone still think your a jerk for your comments about another board member. And the answer to that is yes! Go back and read the registration rules about bad mouthing fellow board members.

To wb moderators how about doing something here!!

[jiggin4bass]

Well let see he draw 14 boats at his tournament and wwbt draws 172 he come in here and says bullsh@#! on the catch and release boat comment let who know better OK you got on the jerk thingy but really I'm and a#! H%#? maybe the question did Fred use a catch and release boat at his event or better yet did the teams take there fish 1/4 mile from the marina and dump them I betting they dump them at the end of the dock they were using in the marina after the event I'm sure I'll get told by the board to lay off him Fred I'm sorry if I caused you grief

[jiggin4bass]

lgf don't worry about me ill be fine Fred on the other hand a td of American bass and he come on this thread saying bulls%&t on the c&r boat were all guilty at some point of saying something we shouldn't have it called overloading your *** over your mouth. Gezzzzz

[kmah]

any results up yet ?......

[jiggin4bass]

Those are some outstanding results all the big bass that crazy wow is the a pro /am in April there ?

[kmah]

Those are some outstanding results all the big bass that crazy wow is the a pro /am in April there ?

https://wildwestbasstrail.com/clear-lake/

Televised Pro/Am April 21-23, 2017