Bass Fishing Forum - Westernbass.com

john zillig wrote:Their web site shows 20 dead fish for the tournament. It shows the winners with all 5 dead fish. Never heard that before. Am I reading this right? I know its hot, but really?

MichaelB wrote:NewJen Rules:
"All boats must have an aerated live well suitable to sustain a tournament limit in releasable condition"

CLEARLY obvious this did not occur.

Dave Brabec wrote:Dont need an oxygenator if live wells are working correctly. Ive fished New Jenn in Past and they run a good circuit. They have had drive by live well checks in past . We used to have to drive by with lids open and live wells running or you went to back of line until they were working.I think in summer we should go back to that kind of a check and maybe a bigger penalty for dead fish and guys will make sure their pumps are working.

MichaelB wrote:

Dave Brabec wrote:Dont need an oxygenator if live wells are working correctly. Ive fished New Jenn in Past and they run a good circuit. They have had drive by live well checks in past . We used to have to drive by with lids open and live wells running or you went to back of line until they were working.I think in summer we should go back to that kind of a check and maybe a bigger penalty for dead fish and guys will make sure their pumps are working.

That is a good idea ..... but when you are checking-in, there is no water in your livewell.
Does this "drive-by" livewell check occur after you have launched ?

Mark 1 wrote:Dave, when your livewells are operating properly that's all fine. But how is recirculating 90+ degree water for the day compare to pumping in oxygen? Some fishermen don't seem to understand that it isn't the water temp alone that is the cause. It's because there is no oxygen in the high temp water. Fish trying to jump out of an oxygenated livewell filled with hot water tells the story. It is still the better system to use.

kmah wrote:Really you all are blaming the organization for:
1) anglers catching fish during the day
2) anglers retain the fish during day
3) the anglers care for the fish during the day
4) The anglers have them for 6-7 hours.
5) the anglers livewell going out
6) the anglers decisions to not weight in early
7) the rules

245 fish weighed 20 deceased=.08% rate. One team accounted for .02% which bring it down to .06%. I’m not saying any level is acceptable just putting facts out.

The organization has the fish for all of about 5-8 minutes. If they show up dead that’s not the organizations fault.

Fish care is everyone responsibility but to blame the organization. That’s like blaming the school when someone shows up and does bad things.

Maybe more strict rules could help some, you do know there’s strict rules, laws, and penalties for committing murder in CA correct. You know that murder still occurs everyday in our world. It’s the individuals decisions to do something. People want to blame the gun and not the shooter. Ultimately we the anglers have the biggest responsibility to care for fish.

I carry extra pump to back up my main pumps, add additives, and RUN my livewells on highest setting, and constantly check on them. The organization has nothing to do with these actions.

Ken Mah

DanIsaac wrote:You read that right! What a joke! Here we go again...NO RESPECT for the resource...NO supervision NO bump tanks and TOTALLY inexcusable. Lines of anglers holding fish in bags while waiting in line....IMHO RIDICULOUS and extremely POOR example......on everyone's part! Weigh in 5 dead fish and get rewarded with $3500? REALLY? Who checked for working livewells in AM? Answer...NOBODY! JOKE!

Dan

birdman920 wrote:wonder how the WON Bass is gonna pull off a 200 boat ,3 day event “ with no bump tanks ?....

Mike wrote:

DanIsaac wrote:You read that right! What a joke! Here we go again...NO RESPECT for the resource...NO supervision NO bump tanks and TOTALLY inexcusable. Lines of anglers holding fish in bags while waiting in line....IMHO RIDICULOUS and extremely POOR example......on everyone's part! Weigh in 5 dead fish and get rewarded with $3500? REALLY? Who checked for working livewells in AM? Answer...NOBODY! JOKE!

Dan

Wow.... A little harsh don't you think Dan?

As NJ explained.... They can't have "bump tanks" per the COVID regulations. At the Delta tournament (the next day) we were instructed to wait in our boats and Not bag our fish until Newt was ready at the scale. We bagged them, weighed them, and were back in our boat in 3-5 minutes. I didn't see ONE Dead fish. Livewells WERE checked at blast off. As our numbers were called we drove past the blast off boat for a visual inspection. Same as the bigger Pro-Am's that come to town. So exactly how could have NJ made you happy?? To blame the Org is totally ridiculous! They are doing everything in their power (and then some) to keep us fishing tournaments during these very tough times and the Majority of us appreciate it! When you get on a public forum and blast them, its bad for the sport. Your anger is misplaced.. Maybe you should be blasting the anglers?? J/s

You didn't even fish the tournament.. Did you just show up to complain?

Bayarea-bassin wrote:4D2807B5-6B00-44D6-952F-A116711EC79D.png

I understand how fisherman can be upset by seeing dead fish floating after a tourney whether it be during the summer or because fish were improperly fizzed and can’t swim back down, but we need to take the steps to learn from these mistakes and move forward. Bashing orgs or putting the blame on them isn’t the way to go about it imo. I totally agree a team shouldn’t win if they have a limit of dead fish, but I’m positive all fisherman that fish tournaments want to release 5 fish alive and would never intentionally cause harm to their fish or the fisheries. $hit happens that is out of our control or we overlook sometimes in the heat of the moment when we’re catching fish or making a long run. I personally carry two cheap bass pro shop aerators just in case my livewells go out ever since it happened to me before during a tournament. I still had 4 hours to fish but decided to release the fish since I noticed my livewell stopped working and didn’t have a bucket or anything to keep putting fresh water in the wells. I’m sure the winning team wasn’t entering a tournament knowing their livewell wasn’t working and most likely didn’t realize it went out until it was too late already. Everyday life is a learning lesson and the more we learn from our mistakes the better we will be off in general. Make it a habit to check on your fish, add additives, check on guthooked fish often or release them right away, carry cheap battery powered aerators for emergency, a small bucket and most important carry a good attitude because we are the face of the sport. Keep up the good work newjen and let’s keep doing the thing we love. FISHING!!!!! Tight lines boys!!!!!

Champion206guy wrote:I’m curious what circuit checks to see if the live wells work before the event?? I’ve fished many and have never seen that happen

Champion206guy wrote:I agree that it is a bad deal with the fish that died but you can’t disqualify a team by a rule that doesn’t exist. Now moving forward if they want to change that rule then do be it but you can not make up rules as you go