You weigh in a dead fish or in the opinion of the tournament director the fish will not make it he hands you back the fish after they are weighed. The responsibility is then placed exactly where it belongs. If you waste it then it is on you.
Dead fish during tourny's what should we do?
I would like to hear some answers on this to see if maybe there can be a solution?
These pertain to the lakes we fish tournaments at.
Alamo
Bartlett
Pleasant
Roosevelt
Facts are this by law.
You can not waste game meat.
an individual Cannot have more than 6 bass in there possesion at anytime.
your only allowed to have 1 slot fish between 13"-16" on alamo and roosevelt.
in coming up with a solution keep in mind the above laws as they pertain to everyone wether you caught the fish or your just watching , are a tourny director, angler or spectator etc etc..
how do you prevent it? both individual and director
how do you deal with it when does happen? both individual and director.
Like I said maybe together we can find a solution?
Delw
These pertain to the lakes we fish tournaments at.
Alamo
Bartlett
Pleasant
Roosevelt
Facts are this by law.
You can not waste game meat.
an individual Cannot have more than 6 bass in there possesion at anytime.
your only allowed to have 1 slot fish between 13"-16" on alamo and roosevelt.
in coming up with a solution keep in mind the above laws as they pertain to everyone wether you caught the fish or your just watching , are a tourny director, angler or spectator etc etc..
how do you prevent it? both individual and director
how do you deal with it when does happen? both individual and director.
Like I said maybe together we can find a solution?
Delw
1 - 20 of 58 Posts
I think whomever weighs in a fish that is dead....or in all probabilty will die, that person must take the fish. What he/she does with the fish after that is their responsibility. Maybe have a unbiased person...yeah right....be at each weigh in and be the "judge"
Maybe the G&F should allow special circumstances for permits just like how they did for the FLW. For example, let someone take the fish home with a special permit after the tourney.
I'm not proud to say that most of us are turning a blind eye to the problem. However, we do have our hands tied. Can't take more then 6 home while wasted game fish are left dying or dead at the ramps.
Other then requiring that tourney anglers have extra ice to store fish (keeping them from going bad) or requiring them to keep their dead fish, there is really not much else we can do.
I'm not proud to say that most of us are turning a blind eye to the problem. However, we do have our hands tied. Can't take more then 6 home while wasted game fish are left dying or dead at the ramps.
Other then requiring that tourney anglers have extra ice to store fish (keeping them from going bad) or requiring them to keep their dead fish, there is really not much else we can do.
No matter if the fish are counted dead or not in my opinion the tournament should only take possesion of 5 fish, weigh them and immediately hand ALL 5 of them back to the person who brought them to the scale.
Doesn't resolve dead fish issue, but put responsibility where it belongs.
Doesn't resolve dead fish issue, but put responsibility where it belongs.
I agree. Just give the dead ones back to the fisherman and they can eat them. Why should a tournament director be dumping a bunch of dead fish where people can see them? It's your fish so you get to clean it and eat it.
This happened a couple times to me at Patty. Not my fish but some other guys that were dead. I asked them what they were gonna do with them, and there response was I don't know. Well I told them I'd take em cause I'm not leaving them on the dock to rot. Asked everyone there at weigh in for extra ice and the guys stepped up with multiple bags of ice. My neighbor at the time who was going through hard times was amazed when i knocked on his door that morning. He was grinning from ear to ear. I know it sounds like charity, but man he was fryin them up latter that afternoon. Maybe something like this would work, or hell all the guys that keep and eat bass here on the zone, give up your phone #s and we can hand out the fish or meet you somewhere so you could pick them up. Just a suggestion.
As a tournament angler... if I kill a fish I wrap it up in a plastic bag and put it in my cooler so the meat will not go bad. I consider it part of my bag for the day, and I weigh it in. My son and I like batter fried fish so if I kill one once in a while its not wasted.
As a tournament director... I weigh the fish and hand them back to the angler who caught them and its their responsibility to handle the fish properly. If I see somebody dumping dead fish at the dock I'll DQ them.
I used to have permission to possess more than my limit for the purpose of transporting fish away from the marina after weigh in, but I decided not to request to renew that permission due to anglers dumping their dead fish on me. My son and I only want to eat fish once in a while, and sadly other anglers do not take the time to chill their floaters like I do to keep the meat from going bad.
I think making anglers responsible for their fish is the best course. Still, some will be more ethical than others. Asking for an exception for tournaments might be counter to the goal of releasing as many fish back into the water alive and healthy as possible. I can see arguements either way here, but I know a lot of guys with a lot of respect for the resource. Its hard to say what any of us might do if we had $100K on the line, but for a couple hundred dollars I'll release my fish and take the loss if I am having livewell problems, and most of the guys I would fish with would do the same. I get more than one floater and I'll make sure I know why before I'll continue fishing too.
As a tournament director... I weigh the fish and hand them back to the angler who caught them and its their responsibility to handle the fish properly. If I see somebody dumping dead fish at the dock I'll DQ them.
I used to have permission to possess more than my limit for the purpose of transporting fish away from the marina after weigh in, but I decided not to request to renew that permission due to anglers dumping their dead fish on me. My son and I only want to eat fish once in a while, and sadly other anglers do not take the time to chill their floaters like I do to keep the meat from going bad.
I think making anglers responsible for their fish is the best course. Still, some will be more ethical than others. Asking for an exception for tournaments might be counter to the goal of releasing as many fish back into the water alive and healthy as possible. I can see arguements either way here, but I know a lot of guys with a lot of respect for the resource. Its hard to say what any of us might do if we had $100K on the line, but for a couple hundred dollars I'll release my fish and take the loss if I am having livewell problems, and most of the guys I would fish with would do the same. I get more than one floater and I'll make sure I know why before I'll continue fishing too.
How about this. Have a holding tank and fillet station right next to water and a holding tank "monitor". Make the person put their fish in the tank. Ones that swim, get let go. Ones that go belly up must be fillet and/or taken by that person. No dicking around jabbing em with a needle, lets face it, at this point if it's not swimming it's dead. If said person does not want to deal with them or are seen to violate a game law by tossing it in the lake they forefeit any earnings and are banned from fishing that tournament.
Some fish are going to die (fact of life). The concern is can we minimize the potential factors that increase the risk for this to happen (ie...scheduling tourney's in the middle of the summer day).
But more importantly is the "waste of meat" concern. Should we provide an opportunity to either donate the fish or enjoy the fish tacos (maybe the tourney director to provide a "solution" at weigh-in).
Throwing them in the dumpster after a tourney is not the best solution....
But more importantly is the "waste of meat" concern. Should we provide an opportunity to either donate the fish or enjoy the fish tacos (maybe the tourney director to provide a "solution" at weigh-in).
Throwing them in the dumpster after a tourney is not the best solution....
now we can throw this into the bunch.
Logistics wont allow you to have a weigh-in right on the water. too many people will block access off to the public and it would be a mess to begin with.
guys walking down with there fish from a distance in the heat is going to have some other problems.
fish dying during the walk, people stop and start talking then a few mins later they have dead fish, leaky bags, no water up at the tourny site etc etc.
on another note:
at one lake I have an Idea on to fix the problem that would be lake pleasant. (we have talked about it before) and that would be to get permission from the marina to build a weigh-in station right on the side across from the hook-up
then have a 10" or bigger piece of pvc pipe running from it all the way down to the water.
the angle of the hill would allow the fish to slide down and drop into the lake ( WOW what a ride).
have a portable pump pump fresh water from the lake up to the weigh-in site.
this would same the directors from having to drive fish down from the tank to the ramp as well.
I saw one at lake amistad, some other people had seen it also, when the water drops they add another section of pvc pipe to it. its a pretty awsum set-up
I am betting it can be built for next to nothing as there is enough of us to do the labor and supply the materials. pour a slab build a covered type awning etc etc. would be pretty cool. I think I have some pics of the amistad one.
The marina would have to make that spot avail. for tournaments at all times, there is also electricity there as well.
I am sure if we talked to them they would be more than happy to accomodate tournny guys after all there is always a ton of tournies in the marina.
Logistics wont allow you to have a weigh-in right on the water. too many people will block access off to the public and it would be a mess to begin with.
guys walking down with there fish from a distance in the heat is going to have some other problems.
fish dying during the walk, people stop and start talking then a few mins later they have dead fish, leaky bags, no water up at the tourny site etc etc.
on another note:
at one lake I have an Idea on to fix the problem that would be lake pleasant. (we have talked about it before) and that would be to get permission from the marina to build a weigh-in station right on the side across from the hook-up
then have a 10" or bigger piece of pvc pipe running from it all the way down to the water.
the angle of the hill would allow the fish to slide down and drop into the lake ( WOW what a ride).
have a portable pump pump fresh water from the lake up to the weigh-in site.
this would same the directors from having to drive fish down from the tank to the ramp as well.
I saw one at lake amistad, some other people had seen it also, when the water drops they add another section of pvc pipe to it. its a pretty awsum set-up
I am betting it can be built for next to nothing as there is enough of us to do the labor and supply the materials. pour a slab build a covered type awning etc etc. would be pretty cool. I think I have some pics of the amistad one.
The marina would have to make that spot avail. for tournaments at all times, there is also electricity there as well.
I am sure if we talked to them they would be more than happy to accomodate tournny guys after all there is always a ton of tournies in the marina.
could we make it a 40 inch pipe so after thoose hot days we could follow this fish down to cool off :lol:.now we can throw this into the bunch.
Logistics wont allow you to have a weigh-in right on the water. too many people will block access off to the public and it would be a mess to begin with.
guys walking down with there fish from a distance in the heat is going to have some other problems.
fish dying during the walk, people stop and start talking then a few mins later they have dead fish, leaky bags, no water up at the tourny site etc etc.
on another note:
at one lake I have an Idea on to fix the problem that would be lake pleasant. (we have talked about it before) and that would be to get permission from the marina to build a weigh-in station right on the side across from the hook-up
then have a 10" or bigger piece of pvc pipe running from it all the way down to the water.
the angle of the hill would allow the fish to slide down and drop into the lake ( WOW what a ride).
have a portable pump pump fresh water from the lake up to the weigh-in site.
this would same the directors from having to drive fish down from the tank to the ramp as well.
I saw one at lake amistad, some other people had seen it also, when the water drops they add another section of pvc pipe to it. its a pretty awsum set-up
I am betting it can be built for next to nothing as there is enough of us to do the labor and supply the materials. pour a slab build a covered type awning etc etc. would be pretty cool. I think I have some pics of the amistad one.
The marina would have to make that spot avail. for tournaments at all times, there is also electricity there as well.
I am sure if we talked to them they would be more than happy to accomodate tournny guys after all there is always a ton of tournies in the marina.
Seriously its a good idea that I would have never have thought of. What would be the cost of the pump to get the water from the lake to the hookup and more importantnly who would pay for it and the be responsable for repair costs etc. Not trying to be a A$$ we are working on budget at work so its on the brain.
Your 10" tube would need a continuous supply of water running down it. This would work for plez, but others...?
You could have a weigh in boat on the water to do the same thing. Only allow one boat to moor and weigh at a time. Put em in a tank. Swimmers go back in the lake, floaters go back in the hands of the person weighing them.
You could have a weigh in boat on the water to do the same thing. Only allow one boat to moor and weigh at a time. Put em in a tank. Swimmers go back in the lake, floaters go back in the hands of the person weighing them.
I'm sure there are enough cheap pontoons out there to modify into a weigh in boat. It would make cut off easier to. Scale closes at X:XX time period end of story.
Having a boat would also allow you to have an open scale all day. Allow culling of weights, allow unlimited trips to the scale.
I firmly believe the responsibility for the condition of the fish relies with the angler. Their management of the fish is critical to the overall mortality rate. However, the tournament director can also greatly impact the mortality rate. The fish management or lack there of by some tournament directors is cause for concern. I am not here to bash other directors. I am simply suggesting that anglers should look at what their respective directors do to help the survival of the fish. I can tell you since I went to a live release trailer, I have seen a significant decrease in fish lost once presented to me alive. In fact, I have not lost a single fish that was presented to me alive and not in distress. There are other things done to assist in this process and I am happy to discuss our findings with any tourney director. I think that SOME anglers need to take better care of their fish, and SOME anglers need to be more vocal as to their expectations of the tournament directors as it relates to fish care and this means in person or over the phone. Anglers handle the fish for up to 8 hours. Tourney directors usually handle them less than one hour. However, each must do their part.
Once the fish die, I agree with everyone else here, give them to the angler. JMHO. Feel free to call if you have comments or concerns. 602-690-0803
Once the fish die, I agree with everyone else here, give them to the angler. JMHO. Feel free to call if you have comments or concerns. 602-690-0803
We also tell everybody that they must bring their fish to the scale in our weigh bags, and we only put out five bags at a time. I'll keep a sixth bag for somebody who says they need two bags to carry their fish. This helps with the heat etc. Obviously different places will have different issues.
on another note:
at one lake I have an Idea on to fix the problem that would be lake pleasant. (we have talked about it before) and that would be to get permission from the marina to build a weigh-in station right on the side across from the hook-up
then have a 10" or bigger piece of pvc pipe running from it all the way down to the water.
the angle of the hill would allow the fish to slide down and drop into the lake ( WOW what a ride).
have a portable pump pump fresh water from the lake up to the weigh-in site
Thats why I said portable pump. other lakes it wouldnt work due to the location of the weigh-in sites.Your 10" tube would need a continuous supply of water running down it. This would work for plez, but others...?
You could have a weigh in boat on the water to do the same thing. Only allow one boat to moor and weigh at a time. Put em in a tank. Swimmers go back in the lake, floaters go back in the hands of the person weighing them.
Randy and Rich and i am sure the other directors have them as well have portable pumps they use to fill there holding tanks they are gas operated.could we make it a 40 inch pipe so after thoose hot days we could follow this fish down to cool off :lol:.
Seriously its a good idea that I would have never have thought of. What would be the cost of the pump to get the water from the lake to the hookup and more importantnly who would pay for it and the be responsable for repair costs etc. Not trying to be a A$$ we are working on budget at work so its on the brain.
trust me I know what you mean rody, I have thought of that as well.
weigh in boat wouldnt work that great either. as your still tieing up the public from using the ramp especially when everyone weighs in at the ramp or the boat.
the boat would only be good for is to distrubute the fish in other parts of the lake.
remember some of these tournies get 50-100 boats and take up to 2 hours for weigh-ins
Dead fish
Saw this @ a couple lakes in Oklahoma, works like a charm. I believe it would work great for most of the lakes we fish here in the AZ, just need to get the logistics worked out.
What we need to do thought is get more anglers educated on the proper way to keep fish prior to the weigh-in. Yes fish are going to die, but being educated on the process(es) to minimize this is where we need to focus our efforts!
JMHO!
+1now we can throw this into the bunch.
Logistics wont allow you to have a weigh-in right on the water. too many people will block access off to the public and it would be a mess to begin with.
guys walking down with there fish from a distance in the heat is going to have some other problems.
fish dying during the walk, people stop and start talking then a few mins later they have dead fish, leaky bags, no water up at the tourny site etc etc.
on another note:
at one lake I have an Idea on to fix the problem that would be lake pleasant. (we have talked about it before) and that would be to get permission from the marina to build a weigh-in station right on the side across from the hook-up
then have a 10" or bigger piece of pvc pipe running from it all the way down to the water.
the angle of the hill would allow the fish to slide down and drop into the lake ( WOW what a ride).
have a portable pump pump fresh water from the lake up to the weigh-in site.
this would same the directors from having to drive fish down from the tank to the ramp as well.
I saw one at lake amistad, some other people had seen it also, when the water drops they add another section of pvc pipe to it. its a pretty awsum set-up
I am betting it can be built for next to nothing as there is enough of us to do the labor and supply the materials. pour a slab build a covered type awning etc etc. would be pretty cool. I think I have some pics of the amistad one.
The marina would have to make that spot avail. for tournaments at all times, there is also electricity there as well.
I am sure if we talked to them they would be more than happy to accomodate tournny guys after all there is always a ton of tournies in the marina.
Saw this @ a couple lakes in Oklahoma, works like a charm. I believe it would work great for most of the lakes we fish here in the AZ, just need to get the logistics worked out.
What we need to do thought is get more anglers educated on the proper way to keep fish prior to the weigh-in. Yes fish are going to die, but being educated on the process(es) to minimize this is where we need to focus our efforts!
JMHO!
I will pass on this question since there is no shortage of on-lookers standing around the weigh ins out here that will take a dead fish for the frying pan!
1 - 20 of 58 Posts
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