Tips for big bass tournaments

[Oldschool]

The following instructions are a result of the fiasco that occurred at Lake Flacon during the Elite Series tournament. Our lakes surface water is generally cooler during pre to post spawn, however the information should be followed regardless when ever handling big bass.
http://www.sure-life.com/pdf/bass_champ ... n_tips.pdf
Tom

[Robert F]

Hmmmm. Says nothing about just blaming it on the Co-angler and lowering the bag limit to three. When I saw that weigh-in and heard them refer to the penalty adjustments I didn't expect that it was from dead fish. Every organization should take it upon theirselves to provide conservation supplies and education. I always thought it would be a good idea for each organization to provide some of these supplies like Catch and Release or ice. Glad to see BassChamps has made this effort. Most lakes have their own conservation issues to address. Traveling anglers may not be aware of all. BASS needs to step up with a real plan and quit moving the blame off their "stars" and placing it on the others shoulders. BTW I have a question for Lane about the Hydrogen Peroxide. I have heard that it is bad for the fish. I guess your opinion is not? Thanks for the help. No tournament angler wants to see a bunch of floaters. Just most of us need more education on the best procedures.

[ash]

I see too many fallacies in that excerpt example 1 25lbs of ice - Ice has chlorine, floride etc... too much chlorine =bad. I know that I for one will keep frozen water bottles in the livewell to cool it down and drink the water myself later Also too put a white cloth over the livewells to keep the temps down. Fill up in the AM when water is at its coolest. NO HYDROGEN PEROXIDE! A small amount 3oz per 10-15gallons is correct, but this is used on Hatchery fish that are living together suffering bacterial diseases and fish eggs to keep bacteria from affecting the egg and this dose is introduced daily.

This is an excerpt from ESPN

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bass ... e_livewell


Chemicals

As noted in an earlier section, fish under stress take in more water than normal, diluting their blood. This creates an osmotic imbalance in their systems that can cause delayed mortality. By keeping the salinity of the water in the livewell near what their blood should be, you reduce the effects of stress. To achieve this, make a 0.5 percent solution by adding non-iodized salt at a rate of 1/3 cup per 5 gallons of water. It may be convenient to pre-measure the salt into plastic bags and carry several with you for use during the day. Remember that every time you flush half the water from the livewell and refill with fresh water, you will need to add more salt.

Some commercial water conditioners that are reported to calm the fish, reduce stress, replace lost mucus coating, help regulate salt balance, and fight infections, contain chemicals that are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use on fish that may be treated, released, then caught again at a later date and possibly eaten by humans. State and federal fisheries agencies cannot recommend the use of these products, not because of ineffectiveness, but because the ingredients have not been certified as safe for human contact or consumption.

Use noniodized salt at a rate of 1/3 cup per 5 gallons of water.

Another chemical that has sometimes been used to treat livewell or holding-tank water is hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Hydrogen peroxide breaks down into oxygen and water in the presence of organic material. However, this chemical can injure fish and should not be used. Most people have used this colorless, odorless, tasteless liquid to disinfect a cut or scratch. You can see it fizzing and bubbling on the skin as it oxidizes. Now imagine what it does in a livewell full of bass. The bass' mucus coating protects its skin from the oxidation reaction, but there is no such protective coating on the delicate gill filaments. Unfortunately, anglers who use hydrogen peroxide often think that if a little is good, a little more should be better. Wrong! Damage to gill filaments, suffocation and death may result.

Do not use hydrogen peroxide in the livewell!

[Lane]

Robert, Hydrogen Peroxide is H2O2. In the presence of organic
material it reacts to create O2. The dosage rate that we recommend is right in the middle of the safety range. It is the best
insurance policy that we have found when batteries drain, or other
unexpected problems occur. It will boost DO levels by approximately 4ppm regardless of aeration,etc. In emergency situations we have kept large bass alive without the benefit of
oxygen or aeration using the regular 3% hydrogen peroxide, ice
and Catch And Release.

BassChamps is a team trail with a five fish limit per team, which makes a BIG difference. Most livewells can't handle over three
big fish per side.

[Robert F]

Another chemical that has sometimes been used to treat livewell or holding-tank water is hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Hydrogen peroxide breaks down into oxygen and water in the presence of organic material. However, this chemical can injure fish and should not be used. Most people have used this colorless, odorless, tasteless liquid to disinfect a cut or scratch. You can see it fizzing and bubbling on the skin as it oxidizes. Now imagine what it does in a livewell full of bass. The bass' mucus coating protects its skin from the oxidation reaction, but there is no such protective coating on the delicate gill filaments. Unfortunately, anglers who use hydrogen peroxide often think that if a little is good, a little more should be better. Wrong! Damage to gill filaments, suffocation and death may result.

Do not use hydrogen peroxide in the livewell!

That is what I heard and it makes sense. You are not supposed to swallow the stuff so a fishes exposed gill plates would seem suseptable to damage from improper use. Problem is I am not a Chemist, Biologist or any other "ist" for that manner. As are most of the people out fishing tournaments. Somebody needs to step up and be responsible for these fish. One trail out here actually charges a 5 dollar "conservation fee". (No secret who it is). That 5 bucks should go to conservation rather than making the entry fee look like it is cheap as they pocket all the add-ons. Lowering the fish limit in non-shared events will kill the format. None of us will put up with tournament fishermen being discriminated against. Anybody can go on these lakes and kill 5 fish. These border lakes are full of gillnetters from Mexico. Why do we have to compromise our format? I will pay and do anything within my power to not kill a fish but I will not be treated as a lesser citizen.

[Lane]

Hawghunter, Don't believe everything you read, especially if
Dr. Hal Shramm wrote it! Hydrogen peroxide has been USED FOR
YEARS in commercial aquaculture for many purposes including boosting DO levels.

Dr. Shramm believes that anglers are TOO STUPID to properly measure the peroxide. He would rather anglers purchase pressurized oxygen bottles, HELLO! How safe it that? BTW,
we did file a formal compaint with the USGS on Dr. Schramm and
he is under federal investigation that is still pending.

As far as the chemicals, we are an FDA registered facility. There is
NO SUCH thing as FDA approved water conditioners, including
the Aqua-Haul salt mixture that they use. The FDA regulates the use of harmful or banned chemicals, good manufacturing practices
and label claims. Mr. Horton has advised us that they will be revising their manual, to state accuracies instead of inaccuracies
as it relates to us.

Maybe, they should start following their own procedures during
tournaments.

[Robert F]

What about those oxygen generation units? Why is it safer to recirculate the water rather than introduce new fresh water when the temp is at an acceptable level? I understand the reasoning when you are running temp conditioned water with ice but wouldn't fresh water have higher DO levels than conditioned?

[Lane]

Robert, I have only tested one of the oxygen generation systems with our YSI dissolved oxygen meter. The livewells temps in the three livewells tested were between 78F and 84F and DO levels were at or below lethal levels, 3ppm to 5ppm. Water temperature is the key factor with any supplemental oxygen producing unit. Cooler water holds more dissolved oxygen. Oxygen will not dissolve in the water when the temperatures are too warm. That is why it is a BAD idea to recirculate water from the surface when the water temps are above 70F. The purpose of water conditioners are to provide optimum water quality, create sanitary
conditions and calm the fish so that they can recover from the fight.

There is so much misinformation and out and out disinformation
that it is ridiculous, ie, "the peroxide damaging gills". Too much of
anything is BAD including oxygen, CO2, salt, etc.
35% hydrogen peroxide has been used for YEARS to treat BACTERIAL GILL INFECTIONS and recently was approved for such
and more. Don't take my word for it, read for yourself!


http://www.chemlin.net/news/2007/mar2007/perox-aid.htm

http://www.lascrosstribune.com/articles ... sh0315.prt

Of course there is a BIG difference between 35% peroxide and 3%
peroxide, and we would never recommend that anyone other than
a professional use the 35% peroxide or that anglers exceed our recommended dosage rates.

[Lane]

One more thing, it is a MYTH that gill nets kill a lot of bass. Only on
occasion will you see largemouth bass in gill nets, they are smart
enough to avoid the nets. The Mexican gill nets are made to catch
Tilapia and Carp. They do NOT hurt the fishery, and in fact
the reduction of VEGETATION eating Tilapia and Carp IMPROVE the
fishery for the bass. The nets can do some damage to your prop.
Another example of misinformation.

[ash]

Lane,

Believe it or not I actually read several case studies on this matter prior to my post. As I stated that the use of Hydrogen Peroxide is used in Commercial Hatcheries to stop the spread of disease and Gill infections. The introduction of Hydrogen Peroxide on the Hatcheries is daily doses over time and there is still a fish mortality rate.

It is not for us to treat fish or administer dosages as Biologists, it is our goal to ensure that the fish are safely released.

If there are studies that show that bass treated with Hydrogen Peroxide in an areated Livewell have a higher survival rate then those that are not treated, then by all means please let me know. However, I could only find studies that involved commercial hatcheries.

Thank you for your posts, I move forward cautiously with an open mind, as I am just a redneck fisherman.