Is there an actual initial weigh in at the ramp for events, like the classic was this year and other years, where the weigh in is a long way  off from lake?  I would be ticked if i had 5 good fish live and kicking when i got to the ramp, and then after driving 1.5hr from guntersville to birmingham, and then sitting in the parking lot another hour or better and unable to recycle water in the livewell with fresh for a fish to die and incur a penalty for it. As good as the livewell systems are in the new boats i can see it potentially happen

I wondered about this as well. At the Classic this year, those final guys to weigh in had their boats out of the water about 4 hours until they actually weighed in. Obviously they have aerated tanks behind the stage for the guys, but this is not good for the fish. 

They’ve been doing it for years. Seems they have a pretty good system going. 

I asked about what happens to the fish for long Classic weigh in drives in the 2020 Classic thread.  Found my answer with Google search in this article from the 2016 Grand Lake Classic.

 

https://www.bassmaster.com/news/what-happens-bass-after-classic-weigh

They do have a pretty good system, thanks to @moguy1973 for linking it. The only thing that bothers me about that whole process is what if a female bass is caught off a bed? 

Each time I've fished the Bassmaster Classic where it included a long drive (1hour plus or minus) to weigh in (example BJCC - down town Birmingham or Lake Hartwell to Greenville.)  BASS has checked livewells at the official take off ramp. They would look to see total number of fish angler caught, how many were alive and I think even "eyeballed" an approximate guess on total weight before the long drive back.