How does Tournament Fishing Affect a Lake? 2024
fishbear reply :
If this is in the wrong spot, mods please move it to where it should be.
I have a question... how do tournaments affect the bass in a lake? I am just curious, as there seems to be a backlash from the ordinary fisherman against tournament fisherman.
Now I am fishing a jon boat tournament trail this year, and I have heard some rude comments about tournament fisherman ruining a lake for everyone else.
How so? Because there are 15-20 more boats on the lake on any given weekend? We all practice catch and release. What is the difference between a two guys in a boat fishing and two guys in a boat competing in a tournament?
Am I missing something?
Or is it because the average fisherman is not skilled enough to catch fish that have been pressured some by more anglers on the water?????
I would love to hear what you all think about this...
dizzy5868 reply :
Opinion. Thats all it is. Tournaments actually help a fishery. As you stated we are catch and release unharmed, most states require catch reports so they can track how a lake is doing and if it needs stocking or new regulations. Some people just think tourny anglers are plain ignorant and sometimes we are. I'm not saying I am but there are some anglers that take the attitide that their in a tourny and they should have the spot over somone who is not competing. It has nothing to do with the catching it's about the fishing. The easy way to describe it is regular anglers think of tourny anglers the same way we think of jetskiers and water skiers, an annoyance.
Dan: reply :
I am not sure if it's true or not, but I have heard reports of a high percentage of bass released from larger tournaments dying shortly after they are released. If that is in fact true, then I don't like tournaments (at least until they can remedy that situation) other than that, I have no idea why people would have something against tournaments, unless it's just for the sheer commotion and crowded nature of the larger tournaments.
blanked reply :
i have never been in a tournement but only what i see on TV here is my problem. one is the way the fish are dispalyed and handled out of the water. holding them up and smiling while everyone takes your picture for what seems like an awful long time. weighing them in on the scale waiting for all the fish to hold still. supporting the fish by the jaw. no way can this not harm the fish. they may swim away but how many end up floating on the banks a few days later???
and them taking them off there beds during the spawn for a weigh in.
bassboy1 reply :
Quoteand them taking them off there beds during the spawn for a weigh in.
That is the one thing I hate about tourneys. It is okay if it is a small club tourney where they take a pic with a fish on a digital scale then release it, but it doesn't seem right in a tourney with a weigh in.
fishbear reply :
I have heard that taking a fish off the bed, does minimal harm.... I believe that there is very little impact on the fishery though. So if that is correct, then where does the theory come from that it does affect the fishery???????
flyphisher # reply :
Here's what I think and have learned, I am sure i am gonna catch some heat, but i dont care.
People that go out and cant catch fish on a given day, love to blame tournament pressure. Unless its an FLW tournament(200-400 anglers prefishing and 3 day tournament) on a small body of water, the fish really dont get that pressured and beatup...If you fish alot, you will start to notice that most fish move on and off areas where they can be caught almost in shifts.....You may catch fish on one spot only at certain times and then it may go dead a little while and then you might catch a few more there a few hours later. Fish 200 days a year and you will notice this stuff. Most Tournament directors will not release dying fish, I have found that most complaints about tournaments are over exagerrations of people that live on the lake complaining, because they think they own the lake too. With a 100+ events a yr on the lake where i live, the landowners most who dont fish complain about everything. The same ones bombard the DNR main office complaining about the noise at blast off, the people fishing around their docks, and whatever else they can think of.....Which nothing is going on illegal, they just dont like people on "their lake." We had one guy shoot at guys fishing his dock during a night tournament. Its ridiculous, we even have people protesting boat ramp upgrades, because they think it will bring more people to "their" lake and more tournaments that they dont want.....Yet they dont want to pay the extra tax money they would have to make up the revenue generated by fishermen and tournament anglers....
Other than being able to see fish in clear water, bedfishing is tougher most of the time than any other type of fishing. These fish are not hungry and most times will not bite without alot of harrasment. Amazes me how people cling to and repeat ignorant things that they hear others say. Unless you are fishing in a lake with low fish numbers or streams, catching a bedding fishing and weighing it in a tournament isnt going to really affect anything. No different than hunting deer while they are in the rut, turkeys during the spring, etc....if we interfere with an animal at all, we are hindering its ability to reproduce, live normal.....And in my experience, 9 times out of 10, the fish that you really want passing on their DNA are the female hawgs that spawn in 6-12ft of water, that you will never see and rarely get to bite.
cart7t reply :
I'm not going to get into the specifics of the effects of tournaments other than the effects it has on me.
They've just about run me off the major reservoirs in my state from March - May.
I'd love to see my States water patrol set a limit on the total number of boats per day that they'd issue regatta permits on. Once the limit is hit, no more tourneys can run that weekend on said body of water. There's nothing more aggravating than putting up with waiting lines in coves on weekends when a couple 100-300 boat tournaments go on not to mention the club tournaments. Worse yet is the inability to use public use areas due to lack of parking because 1 major tournament is going on or a couple smaller tourneys are there. I'm a taxpayer who paid for that ramp just like the traveling road show that's come to town. I'd like to be able to launch my boat and not have to drive a 1/2 mile away or more just to park.
bassmaster8100 reply :
The only thing us tournament guys do is add more fishing pressure. Not putting down on the normal fisherman but in my opinion those who are complaining dont know to catch those pressured bass. Us tournament anglers are forced to step our game up and make the proper adjustments in order to catch bass some of the normal fisherman havent learned to do that. I think if they make the proper adjustments and learn to fish when the bass are under alot of fishing pressure theyll quit complaining. I have caught myself saying before Im not gonna be able to catch anything with all these people on the water on days when the lake was crowded. I learned to adjust and fish with the pressure. Thats just my opinion on the matter.
flyphisher # reply :
Agree with you fully Bassmaster8100. If you want to complain about fishing pressure, go to a private lake or pond. Thats part of the challange of big water, is the fish are smarter.
Some people just need something to blame for their lack of fish. If its not a tournament's fault, its the jet skiers or the pleasure boats, or the baitfishermen's fault that were there the night before...... ;D
Then there are the people that live on or near the lake think they own the lake.....
The ignorance and intolerance is going to cost everybody in the end......
If fishing gets like they are trying to make hunting here, its gonna cost a whole lot more just to get on the water......if we have the $.
cart7t reply :
QuoteThe only thing us tournament guys do is add more fishing pressure. Not putting down on the normal fisherman but in my opinion those who are complaining dont know to catch those pressured bass. Us tournament anglers are forced to step our game up and make the proper adjustments in order to catch bass some of the normal fisherman havent learned to do that. I think if they make the proper adjustments and learn to fish when the bass are under alot of fishing pressure theyll quit complaining. I have caught myself saying before Im not gonna be able to catch anything with all these people on the water on days when the lake was crowded. I learned to adjust and fish with the pressure. Thats just my opinion on the matter.
It has nothing to do with not adjusting methods to catch fish as far as I'm concerned, I just don't like dealing with the hassles an average large size T or a couple smaller size T's inflict on a lake as far as lodging, public use areas and over crowding on the lake.
USACE lakes were bought and paid for by ALL the taxpayers, not just tournament fishermen. I'm merely hoping the state decides to limit the number of boats allowed in tournaments on my local reservoirs so non - tournament anglers can also enjoy the lake.
senile1 reply :
There have been instances of major fish kills after bass tournaments. We actually had a very good thread about this last summer. I did a quick search and found a couple of links. See below.
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3652/is_200607/ai_n16634741
http://grda.com/News/july1305c.html
I'm not saying this is the norm but it has happened. Logically, it would seem that keeping bass in a livewell for hours, and carrying them around for a few minutes in a plastic bag at the end of the day would create more of an opportunity for harm than immediate release.
Regarding the remarks from some posters that the people complaining are recreational anglers who don't know how to fish for pressured bass, I suppose there could be a few of these, but I think most are like Cart7. They don't want to deal with ridiculous waiting times at the boat ramps, poor parking situations, etc. There are certainly plenty of recreational bass anglers who know how to fish for pressured bass.
bassmaster8100 reply :
Most of the lakes that we have our tournaments on are owned by the state and while true they are paid for by taxpayer , us tournament anglers pay our taxes too and have as much right as anyone else. I understand where your coming from I used to have to deal with this before my days as a tournament angler but the answer for me was to adjust and become a better angler learning to fish under any condition. I dont know about the # of fish kills after a tournament but I do know it is rare with the club that I fish with that there are dead fish.
senile1 reply :
Bassmaster8100 stated:
Quotebut the answer for me was to adjust and become a better angler learning to fish under any condition.
How does this solve the problem that Cart7 was talking about above? He didn't say he couldn't fish for bass who were pressured. I fish Smithville Lake, a 7200 acre lake 20 miles from downtown Kansas City. It is always packed whether there is a tournament or not. The Lake also has numerous tournaments throughout the year. Missouri Game and Fish magazine calls it a small Lake of the Ozarks because of the crowds there. Fishing this lake, you either learn how to fish for pressured bass or you go somewhere else.
I think the assumption that recreational anglers don't have the ability to fish for pressured bass is offensive to those of us who can. And there are a number of us on this forum.
bassmaster8100 reply :
It was not meant to be offensive, I deal with these issues when Im just doing recreational fishing myself yes I am a tournament angler however I still do alot of recreational fishing that was just the answer for me, like I said in the first post I made that is my opinion. Im not saying thats just the way it is just was stating what worked for me and my OPINION on the matter. We're all entitled to our opinions you, me and everybody else. Didnt mean to offend anybody and apologize if I did thats just how I feel about it.
cart7t reply :
QuoteMost of the lakes that we have our tournaments on are owned by the state and while true they are paid for by taxpayer , us tournament anglers pay our taxes too and have as much right as anyone else..
I'm by no means wanting tournaments banned, I'm merely wishing my states water patrol would simply look at each of the more popular lakes, like LOZ or Table Rock and determine a cutoff point where the lakes resources are being overtaxed by a tournament(s). Then set a limit, via the issuance of regatta permits for the total number of tournament boats on a lake on a given weekend. This not only applies to large tournaments but the smaller club tournaments as well. There are plenty of non-tournament fishermen that would love to fish a lake but are basically turned off to it due to the resources of said lake being overtaxed by a large tournament or many smaller ones. Looking at it another way, for profit tournament trails are using this resource to make money, I think I might add a specific users fee for any T that has more than 50 boats involved. Said monies could go to fund our sorely underfunded water patrol and if anything, could help cut back on T's by discouraging some organizers who don't want to pay the user fee.
senile1 reply :
QuoteIt was not meant to be offensive, I deal with these issues when Im just doing recreational fishing myself yes I am a tournament angler however I still do alot of recreational fishing that was just the answer for me, like I said in the first post I made that is my opinion. Im not saying thats just the way it is just was stating what worked for me and my OPINION on the matter. We're all entitled to our opinions you, me and everybody else. Didnt mean to offend anybody and apologize if I did thats just how I feel about it.
Thanks for the clarification bassmaster8100. There's a lot of older recreational anglers, and former tournament anglers who have the skills but prefer not to fish tournaments at this point in their life. And my attitude is similar to Cart7's. I haven't had any troubles with any tournament anglers per se, but I do think that sometimes a limit needs to be set on how many tournaments a lake can support at any one time, and throughout the year.
roadwarrior reply :
Want to eliminate 90% of the criticism about tournament fishing?
Instigate a system for certifing or qualifying bass caught and IMMEDIATELY released. Registering "length" only rather than weight might be a consideration and relatively simple: Standard yardstick, certified at the beggining of the event and a required HIGH quality photograph, dated, timed and witnessed.
cart7t reply :
QuoteWant to eliminate 90% of the criticism about tournament fishing?Instigate a system for certifing or qualifying bass caught and IMMEDIATELY released. Registering "length" only rather than weight might be a consideration and relatively simple: Standard yardstick, certified at the beggining of the event and a required HIGH quality photograph, dated, timed and witnessed.
Which would work, saltwater tourneys do it all the time. Problem is the tournament organizers will argue that it ruins the meat show at the weigh-ins. No anglers dragging in sacks of fish and hoisting lunkers in the air = no interest on TV or spectators at weigh=ins.
Unfortunately, it's the need for a meat show and dragging those fish around in a livewell all day that causes all the mortality in the first place.
flyphisher # reply :
People would cheat and even if they didnt other anglers would be to worried about other anglers cheating to go along with that type competition. Too compilcated, cost intensive.
These are only bass. they are not endangered or even threatened. The tournament die-off is miniscule compared to how many fish are in the lake. Loss of habitat and habitat quality would be biggest concern.
Look at all the conservation activites Bass and the bass clubs and all do.Anti-tournament crowd always leaves that out. Just want others to think tournaments kill fish/ do harm...Laughable, like anti-gun/peta crowd propaganda.... If people would stop whining about tournaments and put that effort into conservation of habitat etc. we would all be better off.
wickyman reply :
I am going to agree to both arguments. One, a tournament is good for revenue, and is going to make a town, or towns around a lake, much more money in the months to come. Then again, with that comes a price! We lose our fishing grounds, and have to move on, and/or park some 1/2 miles from the ramp, just to park! I happen to live in a house, where we have a parking/launching permit at a state park, here in California. It allows us access to the larger, almost always empty, parking lot! It cost some 165 dollars, but seeing as we fish a lot, or go out for recreation, it was worth it!
However, I do not mind a little challenge of catching a fish, that is what fishing is all about! I might catch some, I might lose some, either way, it is great to be on the lake, at all! I think the land owners are bupkis, and need to find another place to live, if it bothers them! I mean, if you live next to the lake, expect noise, if not from us, from jet skiers, and other motorboats! I see no point in actually fighting a cause, but rather taking part in it! I am living in the lake area, and would like to use it! If someone wants to complain about me fishing in their area, all they have to do, is ask, and I will leave without argument!
I don't hear a lot of complaints from anyone on this lake, as most would rather know if we are catching anything, rather than whining at us for getting too close to their property! People who are afraid that we are there to hurt their docks, or whatever, are usually old people with too much money, or arrogant, and pompous jackasses whom have no lives... If you can't fish, it's not my problem, I am out here no catching anything either! but you know what? I do it anyhow!
Root beer reply :
I fish boat docks all the time. And I was once asked to leave. It was an empty dock for a private gated community that was still under construction. A guy was on the dock working on something. And he was like my little hook was going to mess up the docks. I was like "what?" then said "You think a little hook going to mess up tons of steel cable?" I pretty much got tired of fishing the area and hearing him shout so I just left.
I have no complaint for tournament angler seeing that I'm a club angler. ;D. These guys do everything with common sense and courtesy so I havn't had any problem. While i'm fun fishing I've been on lake with tournament anglers no problem, execpt I alway find 4 boats near and around my favorite area. >
But I really hate lake front owner that think they own the lake. But I'm fish there dock anyway. I've never had any problem with lake front owner up to date. 3 times included today a person that lives on the lake has watch me fish and not say anything. One guy just said "dont walk on my dock, we wont have a problem." and I respect that.
guest reply :
I'm not a tournament fisherman, but I recognize that tournaments have contributed hugely to the sport.
Yes there are some annoying things, like showing up at the ramp on the morning of a tournament. That is a pain.
Then there are guys who want you to move from a spot because "I'm fishing a tournament"
like that gives them some special priveledge.
but there are jerks who aren't tournament anglers, and I'm not even talking about the jet skiers and the water skiers.
Josh Gann reply :
I fish some small local tournaments, but mainly just recreational. I wish we would all use the MLF format , weigh pic release , at EVERY tournament level . I understand the complications, but there's no way you can tell me that it wouldn't be better for the fish. While I do fish the occasional tournament, and have nothing against tournament fishing , I have been affected by some of the ridiculousness that comes with the bigger Ts , it was either the BAIT or BITE series . Had my 4 year old daughter out one morning crappie fishing ( I'm a bass man through an through but much easier to get kids interest with panfish) anyways these guys were there to practice on one of my local lakes ( Douglas east TN) apparently they only get certain practice days because a ton of them were there. Never have I been more disappointed in a group of folks in my life. I grew up bassin an love it , some of the finest folks you'll ever meet, but the rudeness , arrogance , an for lack of a better word assholism of these guys was sickening . No way to represent the sport coming to a body of water an acting that way
billmac reply :
I've said this in other threads, but one thing that got me excited about the MLF format was that after watching countless FLW and BASS tournament videos, one thing that became clear (at least to me) was that the anglers did not respect the resource (fish). Clearly the MLF organizers think so too.
WildmanWilson reply :
I think tournaments can do major harm on some lakes. I fish Ky and Barkley lake and the pressure is unreal. I see most harm in disrupting the spawn and in the stress of summer. Depending of the stage of the spawn, a female can be taken miles from the nest. A buck bass can be caught and he's the one that guards the eggs and fry and if hes caught they are pretty much lost. As vast as these lakes are, there is really a small part of it that holds most of the fish. With electronics now its not any secretes or hiding spots. You can watch boat after boat hammer these spots. I agree that the catch and release tournaments seem to be a possible answer but its a huge undertaking to get enough people to handle the logistics of it all.
Jleebesaw reply :
I dont think it has any effect on the actual lake. Unless its someplace that gets a lot of tourneys on it. A few busy days a year aren't going to hurt it. Catch and release. Regardless of what anybody says, I have to think most of the fish survive. I'm sure more bass end up in the grease every year than die in tournaments.
Big tournaments have pretty big effects on the area around the lakes. We get the elite series up here on the st lawrence. Everybody loves that. Its normally the highest attended event the series has every year. There are many people coming up here for that event. Theres not a lot of hotels around here. Tournament folks and spectators fill the rental cabins, campgrounds, and people rent rooms out for the week. All these people spend some money while they are here and it adds up quick. The tournament is based in a very small town and its huge for the local economy there. It's a big help for nearby towns as well.
Of course, the small tourneys dont provide that. Theres no big benefit from it so it gives people the opportunity to focus on the negatives. People are pretty negative these days and seem to always have a complaint. If you think about the number fish caught on a popular lake in a given year you really have to admit that a couple tournaments a year aren't going to cause any problems. Ramp congestion is probably the worst part of it.
I've never heard anybody complain about ice fishing tournaments. We have hundreds of them every year around here. Every fish weighed in an ice derby dies. Nobody cares. I think the fish mortality issue is a convenient talking point for people who dont like open water tournements for other reasons that dont have any gravity. They dont like all the boats, the speed some of them run their boats, ramp congestion, people fishing their spots, and God knows what else. All of these complaints can be countered with a simple, "it's a public lake". They think if they can convince people that it's bad for the fish, others will start looking down on tournements with them. They dont care about ice derbies because they aren't drinking margaritas and cooking dogs on the dock during them so it doesnt effect them.
OCdockskipper reply :
It depends on the lake & what the fishing pressure would be if there were no tournaments.
If the lake is a destination of anglers whether or not they fish tournaments, then you would have the same (or near the same) amount of pressure. In that case, the tournaments do not affect the lake.
However, if the lake is not a #1 destination folks choose to fish, but you get tournaments there every week because the tournament trails or clubs don't want to fish the same lakes every time, then yes, it would have a negative effect.
related Tournament Talk topic
previous topic
next topic
© 2024 - fishing.qciss.net. All Rights Reserved.