Bass Tournaments Need Restrictions for Small Lakes

[Flyfish4thrills]

I was wondering what your opinion is of bass tournaments being held on small bass waters? I have read that there is the obvious increased mortality from hooking. However, what about the such effects as releasing the fish all in the same area, large numbers of boats from foreign waters possibly contaminating/introducing harmful intruders (such as quagga mussels, ...yes, with most lakes in Utah you are not asked about this..only at Powell, Sand Hollow and Quail, to my knowledge, and you can simply lie about it anyway), instant pressure to the fishery, etc? It is also enjoyable to be there when there are so many boats on the water (always on a weekend). There should be restrictions as to have them on non-weekends. Most tournament fisherman I have been around during the tournament are rude (move within 50 feet of your fishing spot/ cut you off or not follow "right of way" to speed to a fishing hole, etc).
I also wonder how it affects a small fishery when it is hammered this way 3 months in a row? Yes, I know of one such lake. Many others are hit at least 2 times here in Southern Utah. Shouldn't the DNR put restrictions on the number of boats allowed, the number of tournaments, how frequent, and days of the week on small lakes?
I am not against tournaments (I'm sure you tournament fisherman disagree). However, I think they should place restrictions for such things at small lakes. What do you think?
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Not many tournaments target "small lakes". There needs to be a consensus on the potential for a good tournament, with adequate fish and facilities before a club will include a lake on the tournament list.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Also, you are wrong about little concern for quagga mussels. Virtually every Utah Lake has instituted an education program and many are setting up inspections. You get flyers going in and forms to fill out to verify that your boat is in compliance. And it is a citation if you don't have the proper papers when approached by a ranger or other official.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The southern Utah lakes are probably most at risk, but even small northern Utah lakes are taking it seriously.[/#0000ff]
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[fsh4fun05]

I have to agree with Tubedude. I know of one So. Utah lake that too me seems to small to hold tournaments but that refers to size, not mortality or stress.
With smaller water bass being released in the same area will have no affect on them, in my opinion, they will find where they want to be. Larger bodies of water is another question.
Everywhere I have been this year I have been 'interviewed' about where I have been, has my boat dried, been cleaned, etc. Everywhere from Gunlock to Hyrum. Plus I have seen ads and billboards about preventing aquatic nuisances.
I understand what you mean about having the tourneys on non-weekends. It would be better for all but unfortunately just because someone is in a tournament does not mean they aren't a weekend warrior as well. I can't miss (afford to miss) work during the week or I'd be more than happy to comply with weekdays.
As far as "Most tournament fisherman I have been around during the tournament are rude (move within 50 feet of your fishing spot/ cut you off or not follow "right of way" to speed to a fishing hole, etc)." Give me a break! That's like me saying that non-tournament fisherman do the same thing. In general, can't speak for all, fisherman respect each other. Especially in a tournament where you are there as a professional upholding tournament rules, state laws, and just using commen sense.
You talk about these small lakes being hammered by tournament fisherman. Let me remind you that these tournament fisherman release all fish caught. It is to their advantage to keep the fish alive and healthy to be released unharmed, compare that to the impact of the person out to get a limit of big fish and release the small ones or just throw back the small ones that won't make it.
Perhaps you should be more specific on this small lake to which you are referring and why you feel this way about tournaments.
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[zgambler]

wow just a minute dont start slamming bass tourneys untill you know the facts. I fish tourneys all around the west from huge lakes like powell and the cal delta to hyrum and pv. The big tourneys the realese rate is 98% ,the little ones there is little info on them. I will tell you this,the stinkin meathunters do far greater damage to the lakes than bass tourneys do. As far as rudeness I have run into a few that are kinda bad,but when you plunk down your hard earned cash it kinda makes you fish harder. One more thing its only from Ray Scott and B.A.S.S that you have the 400 dollar orvis rod and all the hightec stuff you are fishing with now,from bassboats to new flyline,It all started with the first tournements. If you think otherwise you must be living in a cave
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[fsh4fun05]

Are we related? ROTFLMAO!
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[zgambler]

give me a buzz
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[Bassin_Blitz]

FYI-The Utah Division of wildlife is very restrictive towards Bass tournaments. Bass tournament fisherman paid the same for their fishing license as you. If it werent for Bass fishing clubs, and tournament Organizers you would have Damn few bass to fish for in this state. Bass tournament anglers feel really bad when a fish dies, which rarely happens. Releasing all the fish in the same spot in a small lake is a joke, fish can move many miles in a day, many studies have been done a small body of water will not be affected by releasing all the fish in one area the fish will quickly redistribute back to the best structures in the reservoir. All of the tournaments I fish we redistribute the fish more than a 1/2 mile from the weighin site, as required by the state DWR. All you hook and cook fiends however can absolutely reek havoc on a small body of water.

You guessed it I am a tournament Angler, and have been for 20 years

deep breath LOL

Peace out

Blitzz
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[bassrods]

My two cents worth....

You don't know what your even talking about....

I don't think you have even ben to a big bass tournament...
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[Flyfish4thrills]

You all have some valid points. Also, I am not against bass tournaments or tournament anglers. My issue is will tourneys on small lakes. I guess I should have qualified what I meant by "small". Take a look at this list of tournament lakes and their acreage:

lake powell 162700 flaming gorge 42020 yuba 10905 jordanelle 3300 deer creek 2965 pineview 2874 starvation 2760 pellican 1680 echo 1394 sand hollow 1000 east canyon 684 quail 590 hyrum 428 gunlock 266 newcastle 162 wide hollow 145
Compared to Lake Powell, they are all small. However, look at the bottom of the list. Note how many lakes are in Southern Utah. Wide Hollow and Newcastle questionably shouldn't even have tournaments. Even Quail and Sand Hollow are dwarfed in size in comparison to Pineview (5 and 3 times smaller). These lakes are the ones that are hit the hardest and the most frequently (at least 4 tournaments at each this season). What would you think of Pineview having 20 tournaments this season or 5 times the number of anglers at each tournament? There are studies that show that there is a potential for up to 25% of fish caught and released to die. The average is lower than that at around 5 - 10%. On a small lake, this could be very detrimental to the population, especially if it gets more fishing hours in 1 day than it does in a month, and this happens multiple times a year. The studies also show an increase mortality when the water temperature is over 65 degrees. see here for one of the studies: https://research.idfg.idaho.gov/Fisherie...e%2002.pdf
Also, if the fish are released, yes, eventually they will return to suitable habitat. I would assume that happens in minutes to hours. However, how concentrated are the fish near the drop zone weeks later?
On a small lake, the large numbers of anglers make it very undesirable to fish. Yes, some tournament anglers are very rude. In all of my years of fishing, I have never been offended by a regular joe-fisherman. However, I have been offended multiple times by tournament anglers. I'm sure that none of you are them. =)

As for quagga mussels education, I fish every weekend on a different lake, and I have only been asked about my boat and quagga mussels at Quail, Sand Hollow, and Lake Powell and the first time at Sand Hollow was only 2 months ago. The checking and certification is inadequate. It is just a matter of time when all of the lakes will be infested. I know of lakes back East that are for municipal water supplies. In these lakes you are only allowed to use a boat that is registered for that lake. It can only be used on that lake. You cannot bring a boat from another lake to fish there. Maybe the same thing should be done with Powell and Meade to keep contaminated boats out. Sure, they check some of the lakes. But what if I travel to a lake that isn't checked and contaminate it, or simply lie about cleaning it or where I have been?
This post should make a lot of you really happy. =)

If I had to choose between a bait chucker and a tourney fisherman, the bait chucker would be cast overboard. I myself would prefer more slot limits and more catch and release fisheries.

Once again, I am talking about regulations for SMALL lakes.
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[bassrods]

Like I said you DON"T KNOW WHAT YOUR TAKING ABOUT....

Have you ever fished a bass tournament???

Do you know or have seen the rules they have???

And if any of those un wanted mussels or weeds get spread around look at some of the sky boats with the water tanks in them so they can make bigger waves, they have water left in them all the time....

And you say you was did some wrong by a bass tournament fisherman, what did he do?????????

You say your not against tournaments???
sounds like you are to me....

And what is wrong with 25 people fishing a tournament or 25 people just fishing????
I can tell you, the 25 people just fishing are keeping the fish, and the 25 tournament fisherman are putting them back so they can be caught again....

So if you have a fishery like bass who is hurting it the most, I would have to say the 25 who is keeping the fish....Because bass are not replanted in this state...

Like I said you don't know what you are talking about....Go find a bass club and fish a tournament and see what is what, if you want come to our bass club meeting this coming wednesday the 4 of June and then you can fish one of ours and see what it is and how its done....
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