01-19-2011, 08:16 PM
[quote ifishutah]Th interesting thing about bass tournaments is that all the fish are released. So what hurts the fishery more: 5 bait chuckers that keep 6 big fish each during the week? OR 1 tournament that 10-15 boats attend releasing all but 1 or 2 fish?
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Just to make things clear, those 5 bait chuckers that keep and kill 6 fish each may cause the death of 30 fish...BUT, 10-15 boats catching and releasing fish can easily kill a lot more. Many fishermen--and it seems bass fishermen especially--don't seem to realize that a released fish can and often do die. To put things into perspective, think this way--let's say that those 15 tournament boats catch 10 fish apiece for a total of 150 fish caught and released. Studies show that the delayed mortality of released bass from bass tournaments are often in the 20 percent range and sometimes much higher...one study showed delayed mortality rates as high as 52%. If 20 percent of those 150 bass died after they were released, that is 30 fish...add on the 1 or 2 that were kept and your tournament has had a bigger impact that the bait chuckers! Also, FWIW, most tournaments shoot for delayed mortality rates less than 25%...if 25% is the goal, wouldn't that mean that many are higher? Also, BASS tournaments usually have around 5% initial mortality.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassm...y_bass_die
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[/quote]
Just to make things clear, those 5 bait chuckers that keep and kill 6 fish each may cause the death of 30 fish...BUT, 10-15 boats catching and releasing fish can easily kill a lot more. Many fishermen--and it seems bass fishermen especially--don't seem to realize that a released fish can and often do die. To put things into perspective, think this way--let's say that those 15 tournament boats catch 10 fish apiece for a total of 150 fish caught and released. Studies show that the delayed mortality of released bass from bass tournaments are often in the 20 percent range and sometimes much higher...one study showed delayed mortality rates as high as 52%. If 20 percent of those 150 bass died after they were released, that is 30 fish...add on the 1 or 2 that were kept and your tournament has had a bigger impact that the bait chuckers! Also, FWIW, most tournaments shoot for delayed mortality rates less than 25%...if 25% is the goal, wouldn't that mean that many are higher? Also, BASS tournaments usually have around 5% initial mortality.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassm...y_bass_die
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