11-29-2007, 08:26 PM
Aw, you just had to come and put an end to our fun didn't you, PBH? haha. [
] jk
The only point that I was trying to make with the whole livewell thing is this...live weigh in tournaments have not seemed to hurt the country's best bass fisheries...nor has increased fishing pressure. You can give numbers all you want, but what matters to me is what I actually experience out on the water. My best days of bass fishing, and most of the biggest bass I have caught have come from the most pressured bodies of water in the country. My best day of bassin' ever was on Lake Okechobee in FL...a lake where MANY big tournaments have been held for several years. I caught 115 bass from 2-7lbs in just 3.5 hrs. Many of my bass over 8lbs have been caught from the California Delta and Clear Lake. They have tournaments nearly every weekend. This is the only point I'm trying to make and I just keeping getting numbers and studies back in response. Now would these fisheries be even better if live weigh in tournaments were NOT held on them? I personally don't think they'd get much better...they're already great. Anyhow, pretty sure that's all I have to say on that topic...
Now with the tagged fish contests...it is most definitely dependent upon the body of water and the species of fish being targeted. In my mind, the only reason to have a tagged fish contest is in order to promote the harvest of a certain species. For example, years ago when they had the million dollar fish contest with Stripers in Lake Powell. I think that was a totally appropriate thing to do. That place was swarming with stripers and there was some definite harvesting that needed to take place. I think the next million dollar fish contest needs to be for Carp on Utah Lake. har har!
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] jkThe only point that I was trying to make with the whole livewell thing is this...live weigh in tournaments have not seemed to hurt the country's best bass fisheries...nor has increased fishing pressure. You can give numbers all you want, but what matters to me is what I actually experience out on the water. My best days of bass fishing, and most of the biggest bass I have caught have come from the most pressured bodies of water in the country. My best day of bassin' ever was on Lake Okechobee in FL...a lake where MANY big tournaments have been held for several years. I caught 115 bass from 2-7lbs in just 3.5 hrs. Many of my bass over 8lbs have been caught from the California Delta and Clear Lake. They have tournaments nearly every weekend. This is the only point I'm trying to make and I just keeping getting numbers and studies back in response. Now would these fisheries be even better if live weigh in tournaments were NOT held on them? I personally don't think they'd get much better...they're already great. Anyhow, pretty sure that's all I have to say on that topic...
Now with the tagged fish contests...it is most definitely dependent upon the body of water and the species of fish being targeted. In my mind, the only reason to have a tagged fish contest is in order to promote the harvest of a certain species. For example, years ago when they had the million dollar fish contest with Stripers in Lake Powell. I think that was a totally appropriate thing to do. That place was swarming with stripers and there was some definite harvesting that needed to take place. I think the next million dollar fish contest needs to be for Carp on Utah Lake. har har!
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