Bass Fishing Forum - Westernbass.com

I’m sure this is a sensitive topic “How to minimize post tournament bass fatalities.”

As you may know, NewJen hosted a tournament on CL without bump tanks because of social distancing fears. Huge number of fish died that day! Billy from WONmade proper adjustments to the infrastructure of the weigh in to not repeat Newjen’s mistake. Unfortunately, hundreds of massive bass were seen floating in front of Vista and Redbud after the week of tournaments in July.

Brought these concerns to NewJen’s attention only to be blocked on social media!

“Blocking user/deleting posts after asking questions about NewJen preventative measures to prevent post tournament dead fish is concerning! Just fix the problem and you won’t need to censor social media!”

I have had dialogue with Brabec on this topic! I’m sure he’ll chime in! Many Quagga inspectors who fish the tournaments will also tell you the nightmares many of the visitors fail to see after leaving! Can’t complain about CL turning into the Delta/Okeechobee if we don’t want to have painful discussions without finger pointing! Let’s make changes to insure we don’t decimate the health of this fishery in the Summer! Stay safe! -Chris

What are you trying to accomplish here? Seems to be a some sort of smear campaign. If you have such genuine concerns for certain organizations practices, maybe emailing them privately would be a good option.

When a user blocks your communication attempts, dialogue ceases to continue ultimately leading to zero change. No ulterior motives here, except for wanting to keep tournament directors accountable! Reporting first hand knowledge and observation of anglers and tournaments not respecting this amazing fishery!

https://www.record-bee.com/2020/07/28/d ... -tourneys/

How about tournaments change their summertime practices? Hopefully we can get NewJen, BBT, WWBT to implement a Catch Photo Release model in the Summer Months! Many of these tournaments are already practicing this model with their kayak tournaments! Problem Solved!

I personally appreciate our first amendment and being able to use this forum for discussion of this topic. Clear Lake as you know was rated recently the top bass fishery in the country for the past decade. I would like to see it remain that way and prefer that tournament directors make whatever adjustments are needed to make certain the summer tournament fish catch is kept healthy as possible with a safe return to the lake to live another day and keep it sustainable for future fisherman.

I think everyone is struggling to find a successful way to adjust to the new normal of social distancing. Sounds like Billy Egan is on the right track.
Drive-thru weigh ins another way to keep fish wet and healthy. We did that for years at Mike Iljin's Anglers Choice Castaic tournaments.
Let's give folks a chance to get their footing in this new normal. No one wants dead fish.

So newjen has one of the first tourneys since the lake reopened. No bump tanks but angler’s were instructed multiple times to wait to bag fish, then bring them to scales evenly spaced as to not keep fish sitting in the bags without bump tanks. Seems pretty simple instructions to follow.

Billy has a massive line of bump tanks a couple weeks later and I bet they were used 1% of the three days. With flights spaced better angler’s bagged fish and literally brought them straight to the scales because there was little or no lines at bump tanks.
Fished died at the tourneys before and after so what’s your point??
Have a huge line of bump tanks, stack more guys in flights so everyone has to stop at bump tanks for a couple minutes before weigh in?
The winner at Won bass weighed in a flight early cause his fish were dying, was that because there were too many bump tanks? Haha
I think putting the blame on organizations is maybe something personal. As an angler that fished everything since the lake reopened the biggest problem I’ve seen is guys just not taking care of fish. Personally I’ve never weighed a dead fish at clear lake this year. I’ve fished 9 tourney days since it’s open. Did they die after ? I don’t know.
Guys are taking bad water into their livewells to start the day, not putting in additives, not adding ice or frozen bottles, and I’m sure guys are adding more bad water later on in the day.

So again what do you want done? Is bashing organizations gonna solve the dead fish ?? I think they did a great job personally

mark poulson wrote:I think everyone is struggling to find a successful way to adjust to the new normal of social distancing. Sounds like Billy Egan is on the right track.
Drive-thru weigh ins another way to keep fish wet and healthy. We did that for years at Mike Iljin's Anglers Choice Castaic tournaments.
Let's give folks a chance to get their footing in this new normal. No one wants dead fish.

This is NOT the new normal
Why are people pushing a temporary response to this virus as permanent? I myself will not be muzzled like a dog from here on out.
I suppose people think it will remain for years since Bidden is certain we will need mask
Beyond nov
This is the longest 14 days ever

DFW should not issue any tournament permits, from June 15th to Sept 15th ! , that would solve the whole problem! .......

mark poulson wrote:I think everyone is struggling to find a successful way to adjust to the new normal of social distancing. Sounds like Billy Egan is on the right track.
Drive-thru weigh ins another way to keep fish wet and healthy. We did that for years at Mike Iljin's Anglers Choice Castaic tournaments.
Let's give folks a chance to get their footing in this new normal. No one wants dead fish.

Sorry Mark. No free pass for the anglers or the orgs. Fish have been dying during summer time tournaments long before covid 19.

birdman920 wrote:DFW should not issue any tournament permits, from June 15th to Sept 15th ! , that would solve the whole problem! .......

Yes better yet no fishing until the government knows we are all safe from
COVID 19

birdman920 wrote:DFW should not issue any tournament permits, from June 15th to Sept 15th ! , that would solve the whole problem! .......

Just on Clear Lake?

Wormin wrote:

birdman920 wrote:DFW should not issue any tournament permits, from June 15th to Sept 15th ! , that would solve the whole problem! .......

Just on Clear Lake? or any other fisheries that suffer from a very low dissolved oxygen levels ‘ in the summer!......

all waters

Once again every year someone brings up about the fish dying I clear Lake Majority time to fish are dying because anglers are not running Their live Wells throughout the whole day. hot water, dead fish! That's funny how PETA always comes on this forum and points iout how tournaments are killing fish.But it's OK for clear Lake to have a massive die off every summer because of the killing of all the Weeds. No weeds equals no oxygen.

birdman920 wrote:DFW should not issue any tournament permits, from June 15th to Sept 15th ! , that would solve the whole problem! .......

THERE YA GO! This lake is #1 lake of last decade despite the abuse and lack of management by DFW...IMHO.

Just imagine if it were managed for what it is.....

Dan

The Problem as I see it of legislating tournament specific closers is where does it end? First it starts with summer, next someone gripes because now all of the orgs have events stacked in the spring and we are moving fish off of beds. Or a new governing body comes in and says its not just tournaments its all of the anglers - This is the progression of things.

The reality is that Tournament Anglers are what helps feed and grows the local economy. Fish care is paramount to the sustainability of tournaments in general. Orgs and TD's need to make that fish care a priority and communicate that to the anglers. During COVID BBT had 103 boats 4 dead fish. We had a live release boat, reminded anglers on proper fish care, live well operations and working with the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce handed out ICE bags to anglers to help bring down the water temps.

This is an education thing across all lakes and orgs it shouldnt be special to one lake because it happens to be in ones backyard.

Ash...excellent, well thought out response.
Tree

ash wrote:The Problem as I see it of legislating tournament specific closers is where does it end? First it starts with summer, next someone gripes because now all of the orgs have events stacked in the spring and we are moving fish off of beds. Or a new governing body comes in and says its not just tournaments its all of the anglers - This is the progression of things.

The reality is that Tournament Anglers are what helps feed and grows the local economy. Fish care is paramount to the sustainability of tournaments in general. Orgs and TD's need to make that fish care a priority and communicate that to the anglers. During COVID BBT had 103 boats 4 dead fish. We had a live release boat, reminded anglers on proper fish care, live well operations and working with the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce handed out ICE bags to anglers to help bring down the water temps.

This is an education thing across all lakes and orgs it shouldnt be special to one lake because it happens to be in ones backyard.

WOW....how short sighted .....FISHING does play an intricate factor in how did you put it, in helping to "grow" the economy?

You are correct in the "fishing" part but across the full spectrum tournament contributions are not as much as they once were, though in reality it is all about the $$$$.

Personally Im tired of beating this "dead fish" with stick. From what Ive witnessed BBT does try and does make every effort to do the right thing pertaining to weigh-ins , still everyone quotes their low mortality statistics and each faction points at the other, when something isn't Whether its orgs, anglers, or CDFW. However, bring up DM (delayed mortality) rates and everyone has a flippin excuse and points to "anglers" or "education" or this or
that. As a matter of fact the Monday of your last event there were more than 4 fish floating off the pipeline times 6 or 7, which is no where near the calamity back in July where hundreds of trophy quality fish could be found everywhere up north.

Did anyone in either instance do anything "wrong"?
NO, I DO NOT believe anyone did. The facts are known, DM rates on this lake soar in the summer months to devastating levels despite everyone's best efforts, yet CDFW continues to issue permits. Why? $$$$.

Whether it's spraying or summer tournaments, or general lack of management, this lake gets abused big time, which leads to die offs of one type or another, which leads to poorer fishing, which actually hurts the local economy......"fishing" in general is the larger contributor not "tournament fishing specifically" despite what any org publishes....and hey, I make a living in this industry, and still jump in here and there, and as someone that does I take my responsibility to speak out
very seriously, and YES, as a local I am forced to see it firsthand, so I will continue to "complain" about my backyard!

The facts are known. They are not secret.
Ultimately this is the responsibility of CDFW, but I under stand that managing Clear Lake is hard to do when your more interested in busting growers....

PLEASE manage this lake for the fishery it is! It's not Berry, it's not the Delta, it's not Shasta. It's Clear Lake, and summertime tournaments can hurt it dramatically especially if run out of the northend.

Dan

Don't look to CDFW to manage this or anything else regarding bass fishing. Not bass friendly. Teyre more likely to manage Clear Lake for suckers and stuff. Anyone who thinks F&G should come in and handle anything is probably sorely mistaken. Best thing is to keep them out of it. I like that people are willing to say something when the tournament guys or anyone else is killing numbers of bass, wherever it happens.

Sounds like BBT is experiencing fewer mortalities than other tournaments. What gives? Maybe stricter oversight and better infrastructure? NewJen had 12 times that number and WON was just as high.

WOW....how short sighted .....FISHING does play an intricate factor in how did you put it, in helping to "grow" the economy?

You are correct in the "fishing" part but across the full spectrum tournament contributions are not as much as they once were, though in reality it is all about the $$$$.

Personally Im tired of beating this "dead fish" with stick. From what Ive witnessed BBT does try and does make every effort to do the right thing pertaining to weigh-ins , still everyone quotes their low mortality statistics and each faction points at the other, when something isn't Whether its orgs, anglers, or CDFW. However, bring up DM (delayed mortality) rates and everyone has a flippin excuse and points to "anglers" or "education" or this or
that. As a matter of fact the Monday of your last event there were more than 4 fish floating off the pipeline times 6 or 7, which is no where near the calamity back in July where hundreds of trophy quality fish could be found everywhere up north.

Did anyone in either instance do anything "wrong"?
NO, I DO NOT believe anyone did. The facts are known, DM rates on this lake soar in the summer months to devastating levels despite everyone's best efforts, yet CDFW continues to issue permits. Why? $$$$.

Whether it's spraying or summer tournaments, or general lack of management, this lake gets abused big time, which leads to die offs of one type or another, which leads to poorer fishing, which actually hurts the local economy......"fishing" in general is the larger contributor not "tournament fishing specifically" despite what any org publishes....and hey, I make a living in this industry, and still jump in here and there, and as someone that does I take my responsibility to speak out
very seriously, and YES, as a local I am forced to see it firsthand, so I will continue to "complain" about my backyard!

The facts are known. They are not secret.
Ultimately this is the responsibility of CDFW, but I under stand that managing Clear Lake is hard to do when your more interested in busting growers....

PLEASE manage this lake for the fishery it is! It's not Berry, it's not the Delta, it's not Shasta. It's Clear Lake, and summertime tournaments can hurt it dramatically especially if run out of the northend.

Dan[/quote]

I have to agree with Dan. Whether it’s education, event timing, or stricter regulations, something needs to be done! The fact remains that if you have high continued mortality due to tournaments, Clear Lake’s fishery will decline. There will no longer be great limits for tournaments & the reason for bass fishing here will be greatly reduced! Then where will we be?

Csuhchris wrote:Sounds like BBT is experiencing fewer mortalities than other tournaments. What gives? Maybe stricter oversight and better infrastructure? NewJen had 12 times that number and WON was just as high.

Once again what did won bass or newjen do wrong other than hold a tourney in the summer?

Maybe use major league fishing format?...It's what I do in my boat for myself every trip with the same scale. All you need is a a ref. to fish in a summertime(determined by lake water temp) event with a scale that passes calibration and tagged as such by the weigh master at sign in ? If you didn't have to bring them to the scales the mortality would be non existent in comparison. I can't remember the last fish I killed.

Big topic, complex topic and not trying to be too reductionist about it, but... A good immediate step all tournaments could take is to penalize dead fish much more heavily. You take the CDWF out of it, you evenly split responsibility between the tournament organizer (who has to make an unpopular change) and the anglers (who will be much more incentivized to take good care of their fish).

Or use the MLF format, but I doubt that will happen.

Wormin wrote:

Csuhchris wrote:Sounds like BBT is experiencing fewer mortalities than other tournaments. What gives? Maybe stricter oversight and better infrastructure? NewJen had 12 times that number and WON was just as high.

Once again what did won bass or newjen do wrong other than hold a tourney in the summer?

These masses of dead fish in the heat of summer were predictable, a lot of people were afraid that it would happen and warned about it, and neither organization cared enough about the concerns to address them. You cannot paint yourself as a victim of circumstances when the circumstances are under your own control.

Ultimately, both WON and NewJen are responsible for the fact that so many trophy bass died. That's the American way of attributing and taking responsibility, right? If they hadn't had the tournaments, or had changed the rules to prevent dead bass more conclusively, these bass wouldn't have died at the record numbers that they did. That's why it's ultimately on them.

This is nothing new guys. Its been happening for years. Every summer guys lose fish in tournaments. DFW wont even respond to emails about it. Ive ran the release boat in summer and theres more delayed mortality than most people think.Guys need to learn their live wells better. Maybe switch to a 1 big fish event or even a 3 fish limit would help .FLW coming end of Sept. Its still hot and they will have 10 fish in each boat.Not good , something needs to change.

Why not have 2 weigh ins from June to Sept. Fish from safe light to 11AM and 12noon to 3PM.

bob tratar wrote:Why not have 2 weigh ins from June to Sept. Fish from safe light to 11AM and 12noon to 3PM.

We already have a 6 hour limit in summer . Hundreds of dead fish with a noon weigh in.

OK, 7 to 11am. Fish are in the livewell max of 4 hrs. 12 to 3pm max of 3hrs. Only a total of 5 fish brought to the scales. Should equal less dead fish.

Mountain out of a mole hill. Other environmental factors affect the fishery far more than angling.

There are far more bass in Clear Lake than what tournament angler egos believe they catch and how they perceive they affect the population. Clear Lake, is largely what it is because of the consistent pressure it receives and associated non-harvest oriented angling mortality. NO ONE keeps a bass for consumption anymore, making the size/bag limit regulations largely obsolete. Tournament derived indirect, direct or delayed mortality now provides the necessary "thinning of the herd" to promote growth in the billions of babies that are spawned every spring and the tens of thousands of adult bass that are not caught and/or killed under a traditional "harvest" scenario.

I thought the same about people not eating fish out of Clearlake until I started working in the shop in 07. Not bass boat guys for the most part but I couldnt tell you how many people stopped at the shop wanting me to weigh their fish laying in the trunk . Lots of people keep and eat everything they catch .
The lake has alot of fish in it but that doesnt make it right for hundreds of dead fish floating after a event.

BigBassDaddy1190 wrote:What are you trying to accomplish here? Seems to be a some sort of smear campaign. If you have such genuine concerns for certain organizations practices, maybe emailing them privately would be a good option.

No SMEAR Campaign needed! NewJen makes calling them out too easy!!! #sorrynotsorry

No bass tournaments on everybody of water and the delta in ca. From June1st til oct1st

Use TourneyX for tournaments between June 15 and Sept 15. Problem solved.

Csuhchris wrote:

BigBassDaddy1190 wrote:What are you trying to accomplish here? Seems to be a some sort of smear campaign. If you have such genuine concerns for certain organizations practices, maybe emailing them privately would be a good option.

No SMEAR Campaign needed! NewJen makes calling them out too easy!!! #sorrynotsorry

Seems to me like you are calling them out and working on a smear campaign. I really would like to see how your "blocked" post was worded. Negative or positive wording? Makes a big difference. I'm not bashing ya...trying to keep it positive..

There is not a org out there that wants something like this to happen...and everyone I have dealt with trys to do what is best for our fishery and the fish and I been fishing bass tournaments since mid 1980's

We don't need to bash orgs, they are here for us, our enjoyment and we don't need bad press either, we "all" should be working on positive input so things like this don't happen...... Care of fish is as big of a responsibility of the angler as it is of the organization...IMO of course.

Mistakes are going to happen.....dealing with all this covid bs is a whole new game for everyone ! Sounds to me like NJ was trying to do the right thing and it didn't work out....lets all learn for it.

Dave Brabec wrote:

bob tratar wrote:Why not have 2 weigh ins from June to Sept. Fish from safe light to 11AM and 12noon to 3PM.

We already have a 6 hour limit in summer . Hundreds of dead fish with a noon weigh in.

Hundreds of dead fish...???? Hundreds ???? come on man...really ?

CDFW doesn't really seem to care about black bass, if anything they probably consider it an invasive species on some of our waters. Do not expect them to make an effort let alone spend any portion of their budget on a solution.

Also, Cant speak for all tournaments orgs as I personally have only fished with a few here in socal but I sure do wish they emphasized a bit more on conservation and less on the $$$.

Good luck on your quest to blocking tournaments on your home lake, I think the though has crossed the minds of all recreational anglers at some point.

Hey stickbait, I live here and I am not against tournaments. Age is the only thing keeping me from enjoying and doing them now. You don't think hundreds died last year? You should of been here as it was a pretty horrible sight. I know as I saw it. This plus the delayed mortality took a good bite out of the population. Why do you think the winning weights for tournaments has gone down? The bigger fish that were kept and weighed in suffered the most mortality. I can remember when it wasn't unusual to see half a dozen fish brought in that were over 8 lbs or more. You haven't seen that this year. The bottom line is that many of the organizations do their best to ensure the health of the fish but mother nature says when it is 100 degrees and the water temperature is 85 fish are going to die. Two things need to happen, either no tournaments in this time period and it behoves the fishermen to also do everything they can to protect the fish they have caught.

coyote268 wrote:Hey stickbait, I live here and I am not against tournaments. Age is the only thing keeping me from enjoying and doing them now. You don't think hundreds died last year? You should of been here as it was a pretty horrible sight. I know as I saw it. This plus the delayed mortality took a good bite out of the population. Why do you think the winning weights for tournaments has gone down? The bigger fish that were kept and weighed in suffered the most mortality. I can remember when it wasn't unusual to see half a dozen fish brought in that were over 8 lbs or more. You haven't seen that this year. The bottom line is that many of the organizations do their best to ensure the health of the fish but mother nature says when it is 100 degrees and the water temperature is 85 fish are going to die. Two things need to happen, either no tournaments in this time period and it behoves the fishermen to also do everything they can to protect the fish they have caught.

Agree with some of that...I don't think we have hundred(s) die though out the year. IF the fishermen and orgs were loosing that many fish I would surely think DFW would be stepping in...
I was not at clear to to see this nightmare...and I'm sure it was a very tragic thing to see...

I was replying to DB...his post kind of indicated that every summer tournament with a noon weight in...hundreds of fish die..HUNDREDS is a big word...

Anyway you spin it...its so so sad....

https://www.fishermanswarehouse.com/



Pretty interesting video about fish mortality.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.record ... rneys/amp/
Problem was last year all spring events were canceled. Then they had events all on top of each other. Wasn’t just one organization. Like I said last year it’s nothing new. Every summer. And yes there was hundreds dead all in the same week