I have a Big fish tournament at a local reservoir tomorrow from 6 A.M. to 12 P.M. and it's for the biggest overall bass. My concern is that it's supposed to be 81 degrees for the high and I'm concerned how far I should go on the lake if I'm on foot and happen to catch a big fish and how I should take care of it and keep it alive until I get to the weigh station at the concession stand.

I'm considering just fishing around the weigh in, there are boat docks, lily pads, and piers right in front there. Should i take the chance and go far on foot, or should I stay close? I have weigh in bags from BPS, But i also have a large orange home depot bucket I can take.

You can weigh in fish all day, there is no set time, they always have the scale open.

Any suggestions?

What about one of those collapsible baskets that you toss in the water?

What about one of those collapsible baskets that you toss in the water?

was thinking the same thing. i think the one i have is called crappie cage or something like that. my only concern with using this, you throw this basket back into the water with the fish in it. while its in the water the fish may beat itself up pretty good trying to get out. may even kill itself. it may work. ill try to find one online and post a link to what we are talking about.

I would agree that the basket is the bes method. To bad they didn't do a catch measure, record, release tourney. Live wells are hard enough at this time of year even with ice.I would guess there will be lots of dead bass penalties.

Not sure this was a well thought out tx. Not sure the overall health of the fish has been taken into consideration for this event.

Not sure this was a well thought out tx. Not sure the overall health of the fish has been taken into consideration for this event.

Too bad u can't fish in pairs and draw names out of a hat to get ur partners. That way u could do it on the honor system like lots of the club events. I'm a shore bass fisherman and don't think keeping the bass til weigh in is a good idea.

-b

My suggestion would be, if you are going to be fishing aways away form the scales, bring a cooler and wagon to drag it around. Otherwise, go with the sack, keep it filled with water and get to the scales as soon as you can after you get a fish you are comfortable weighing.

A decent sized bass won't fit in a 5 gallon bucket without its tail being in its face, on top of which water weighs around 8lbs per gallon. 30-40 lbs isn't much, buts its not fun to lug any distance. For those reasons I would not recommend a bucket.

A tournament like this should be conducted like a PGA tournament. Catch a fish, blow a whistle and an official comes over and weighs it, the fish has a better chance of survival IMO. Or weigh it, take a picture with time stamp with gps indicator, and go on the honor system.

Under the present form I don't think I would participate with this format, it's inconvenient and more harm than good will come to the fish.

This might be useful. Use at your own risk though if you manage to catch a big fish. I'd hate to keep a big fish captive for any length of time more than absolutely necessary.