My opinion, If the major bass tournaments are going to preach "catch and release" (and pat themselves on the back for doing so) then they ought to be doing everything they can to release those bass in as healthy a condition as possible. Wouldn't hurt to show the professionals taking extra care of their fish so the general public can see and understand proper handling. If they are going to swing that bass around, jack and dislocate the jaw, that bass may swim away at release and then it will just die later. Might as well keep and consume those fish.

 

The tidal potomac river, just south of me, probably hosts as many tournaments as any body of water. Unfortunately I see bad handling practices down there all too frequently. A bag of bass (with no water) lying on the blacktop in the heat of August waiting to be weighed and then "released". A tournament director "releasing" a bag of bass from 10 feet high into 6 inches of water (if he had walked 40 feet he could have released them at water level but apparently he did not feel the need). I'm sure most of the competitors take good care of their fish but their actions are not as evident to the casual observer. There is an opportunity for the televised pros to set and promote a good example here.

The problem here is not with the pros. Yes, they do need to do everything possible to put the fish in the boat, but they also have to keep the fish alive. If you look at most pro tournaments usually every fish is released alive. At the Bassmaster Open I watched the people working the live release boat, and they know what they're doing. The problem is weekend anglers fishing smaller club tournaments who couldn't care less about what happens to the fish after the weigh in. I'm not saying everyone's like that, but in some of the tournaments I fish back at the dock other anglers are not releasing the fish properly by just throwing em in. I respect the bass that I catch and I think that everyone else on this site respect their catch like I do, but not everyone understands what they doing or they just don't care.

Thanks for the replies.  Lots of wisdom and food for though here.

To be honest, I resented posting this thread the second I hit "post"...but now I'm glad I did because I've learned a few things.

The replies also show what a great group of folks we have here...I was worried my post would step on a few toes but it looks like all is well and I'm very happy about that.

 

I got started fishing relatively late in life in 1996 at age 20.  I became addicted and was soon fishing almost every day...even before morning classes at college very early in the morning.

 

I had no mentor.  I learned from just talking to the anglers I'd meet at the lakes and ponds I fished.  I learned a lot one day talking to a bow-fisherman.  Another day I met a guy with a 15 foot cane pole fishing with crickets.  

I learned to keep the lake shores clean, picking up piles of tangled mono line, hooks, sinkers etc that were left by previous anglers...I learned that from a fly angler.

My fishing ethics were picked up over the years talking to and observing these other anglers.

 

Anyway I appreciate the feedback.  I was very curious to hear other peoples thoughts on this.

Thanks my friends.

dont get me wrong; I always do as much as I can to keep a fish as stress free as possibly, and do anything I can to keep from injuring them.

 

at the same time, the way some people baby these fish is a little funny. there are people that i fish with that will hook up with a fish, net it from shore, unhook the fish in the net, and take the fish back to the water to "revive it", even though the fish has been out of water for maybe 25 seconds. Then they give me a hard time for lipping a fish, un hooking it, bending over and giving it a light toss from maybe a foot and a half above water. I do not feel that im abusing these fish at all. I think a lot of people forget how hardy this species actually is. 

 

The one thing people do that does bug me is cocking their neck to the side when lipping. 

Barbless hooks and rubber nets are easy things everyone can do to keep the fish healthy and not injure them. I have been seriously considering removing the hooks from my lures and fishing that way, getting hits and regarding that as a catch. Maybe I'm just a tree hugger.

I  enjoy the Major League Fishing format, The fish landing penalty for the fish hitting the deck shows me that the others who let the fish flop around do it because they can! No more fish are lost because you took a minute to ensure it wasn't abused.

So none of you guys set the hook with enough force to rip a fish from cover? Never set the hook so hard the fish comes out of the water? I bet you don't use treble hooks either? Don't want one of those crank baits swiging around and hooking the fish in the gills, back, or side. Zoom down the lake with a livewell full and let them pound around in there?

 

I thought we were bass fishing. Not trout fishing.

 

I'm a light tackle angler so a hard hook set would snap my line.

All of the cranks (1/16-1/8oz) I use have only one or two small treble hooks so it's not usually a problem for me.  I flatten the barbs on many of my hooks as well.  And I fish from the bank, so I don't have a livewell.

 

I understand your point though. 

Accidental injuries do happen, but I just try to do the best I can to avoid carelessly harming a fish I plan to release. 

Words of wisdom right here.  I hate to see fish mistreated as well - held wrong, flopping around in the boat, etc.  For me personally, I never kiss my fish (that's just gross and may be mistreating the fish as well? ha-ha), but I always say "Thanks buddy" as I gently set them back in the water and watch them swim away. Species and size doesn't matter, they all get the same treatment.  My son does the same thing and I chuckle every time he thanks his fish.

 

It's funny but I talk to the fish as well haha.

I'll say things like "easy there big guy", or "just relax bud" as I remove the lure 

That's cool you and your son thank the fish.

When you watch Bill Dance's show you can tell he's on his own ponds/lakes.He pampers the fish he catches and talks about them like they're his children.

When you watch Bill Dance's show you can tell he's on his own ponds/lakes.He pampers the fish he catches and talks about them like they're his children.

 

Dance has always been one of my favorite anglers on tv.

Yeah he definitely pampers his fish

I have probably been guilty of mistreating bass in the name of making the catch. I mean, we are conditioned to think that if it's not in the boat, we have failed somehow. Most of the smaller fish I catch will go to the deep fryer, so they're going to get abused badly at some point. But this thread reminds me to do a good job with those tiny and large fish I'm releasing.

 

The kayak to me makes this easier because you're at water level. You have to lip that bass and you're at the right level to release it as unharmed as possible

For me personally, I never kiss my fish .

Smart. Its a good way to pick up stomach irritating bacteria

_{Ive put multiple flipping hooks right between the eyes of some bass with a mag heavy flipping rod in trees, docks, thick matts and everything inbetween. I feel like if they can take a yanking in the jaw like that im sure they will be fine. Pros and amateurs have been yanking bass into the boat for many many many years. Don't see much of a decline in bass. Or a ton of floating bass after a tournament. It will be fine.}

It seems like at least once a year this topic pops up.  I believe in getting a fish back in the water as soon as possible.  Yes holding a big fish up by just the jaw is not a good thing.,  But I have also caught fish with there jaw spit from the front to the back of the mouth and he was eating and doing fine.  I know because I caught him two years in a row.  Bass are tough creatures living in a tough environment.  They can be dropped in the water, tossed back in, and as long as you know how to remove hooks, the catching process has little effect.  I don't like leaving bass in a live well in real hot weather, and tournament rules may have to change under hot weather conditions.  Bass are not that fragile a creatures, or they would not have succeeded the way they have.

I'm pretty sure as long as your not purposely an ass to the bass they will be fine. Every once in a while one gets gut hooked and you try to save him, but you can't. It happens. Just take precautions and do what you can, but don't freak out about it. Maybe new tourney rules like MLF?

Anybody ever "fizzed" a bass? I think it's to release air from their bladder after pulling them up from deep water. I wouldn't attempt this for fear of killing the fish needlessly.

Anybody ever "fizzed" a bass? I think it's to release air from their bladder after pulling them up from deep water. I wouldn't attempt this for fear of killing the fish needlessly.

 

I remember reading an article in In-Fisherman years ago about that.  Smallmouth being pulled up from the depths of the Great Lakes would be "fizzed" before being released.  I'm guessing most of the deep water guides out there know how to do it.

Fortunately I've never had to do that  

Anybody ever "fizzed" a bass? I think it's to release air from their bladder after pulling them up from deep water. I wouldn't attempt this for fear of killing the fish needlessly.

What's fizzed?

My biggest gripe is "sight fishing" the bass while they are spawning, catching both the male and female, then taking them 30 or more miles away to the weigh-in site. Kiss those bass babies goodbye with mom and pop now gone!

 

Also during the Classic this year a couple of guys were fishing in deep water, watching their lure on their fish finder, and when they saw a bass approach moving it toward them...this isn't fishing it's playing a video game!

What's fizzed?

 

Here you go Jakob. I hope this helps.

 

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/how-to-fizz-a-bass.html

No fizzing in Florida, lakes are not deep enough. At least where I fish. Salt water is another story.

Bass catch and release in tournaments is getting better and better, although some can still be cringe worthey... The last tournament I entered weighed fish in a laundry basket on a scale and held fish down with a plastic pallet while they were weighed, then all dumped back in the lake it once.

Better than back in the day where the fish were drug around on a stringer then weighed in half dead.

My biggest gripe is "sight fishing" the bass while they are spawning, catching both the male and female, then taking them 30 or more miles away to the weigh-in site. Kiss those bass babies goodbye with mom and pop now gone!

That's not how spawning works.

If the female lays her eggs she will leave. There is no attachment to mate or bed. She can spawn elsewhere and possibly multiple times. Just because there are bass on a bed doesn't mean they are protecting anything.

Smart. Its a good way to pick up stomach irritating bacteria

Man, you sound like my grandma

I agree 100%!!!!! I am 18 and I understand if the fish ends up on the deck floor sometimes you cannot control how they come in. But my biggest peatpeve fishing is when people "throw " the fish back in from 8 feet.

One I see pros do a lot is hural a culled fish off its stringer back into the water.

They say time is money but no fish equal no money ..... We must treat the fish with respect so we gave this great sport for years to come

I wonder if they have tagged fish or done some kind of scientific study to where they can actually determine mortality after a tournament.