What do people here think or feel about "Fishing contests"?

I see these frequently on the Tele, 100 speedboats roam into the lake at 7:00 sharp ,outfitted with the latest and greatest fishfinding and catching equipment from NASA,all duly sponsored of course.Then the sportsmen "sportfish" for ?4 hrs,race back to dock,have all the fish weighed,the skilled "sportsman" with the most pounds in bass is the winner.A beautiful blonde kisses him,he smiles - knowing all along that he is THEE best" - he picks up a few more sponsorships from tackle and boat manufactures,wins 1 Mill and everyone goes home recovering from the "sports event".
The lake is now empty,not a fish left to sports fish for by the general fisherman.
How can the sports stoop so low?


Score : Commercialism 1, sportsman 0

sheephunter

I don't see it completely the same way.



The fish are released back into the same lake and the anglers are penalized for having dead fish.



After bassmasters is over at 8am sharp then comes all the fishing shows with all the retired bass pros and they are fishing the same lakes!



I think these guys will make sure that these lakes keep healthy populations of fish in them. Thier paychecks depend on it. < !--color--> The industry needs fish in those lakes to keep having contests < !--color-->

Sounds like a dream career to me!!! Bass fishin for a living, gotta love it!!!
Fordfreak

I have a distinctly unfavorable opinion concerning fishing contests. For food, okay; for fun, yes. For money? BS. Seen all sides of the sport, I'll take mine w/o money.

What Dan Says roger

I know you're referring to Bass tourneys for the most part, but we have a Muskie tournament on "my" lake this summer, I guess the biggest M. tourney ever, top prize being $100,000.
This lake used to be such a sweet secret and now everybody fishes there because of attn. like this. I suppose I could go with the flow and say sure, I'll fish it, but the entry fee is 1,200 bucks or something like that, with boat and radio requirements...all things my boat doesn't have. For those of you that don't know, muskies are very susceptable to handliing and stress the bigger they are, and during summer (even late August) you have to be careful and usually not even take them out of the water.

We get a couple smallie bass tourneys up here too. Concerning catch and release/dead fish. I've been out during tournaments and seen smallies floating dead afterwards. You don't get penalized for fish that never show up to the docks. It's easy to just toss a bass out that dies, rather than take it in and get penalized.

I have my bias I guess, and they're lucky I don't have the money to be in it because I'd want to win just for spite.

I've had dreams put-putting up to the dock with my old 20HP Johnson tiller among all the Merc 225s and taking home the 100K. Oh, what sweet justice that would be.

I forgot to mention that this very issue of tournaments has been discussed with owners of property on the lake. Those for it say the anglers put money back into the area--BS. They stay at the hotel, and eat at the hotel, that's it. They also gas up their boats before they get to the area because it's cheaper.

They can have tournaments, but I don't like when they say they contribute to anything positive because they don't. They're takers. So they buy a candy bar or two, WOW...they don't spend 4K in taxes per year to own a place on the lake though.

Ethics: When people don't like tournaments it usually is in response to an act that rubs someone the wrong way. Example: When someone is trying to relax on their dock under the sun don't come by in your Ranger boat and Ranger shirt and hat and barrage their dock with worms and cranks. Find another dock. I know...particulars, but they matter to people up there to relax. I have many other examples, noise pollution, etc. but you get where I'm coming from.

Having done it on a regional level several years ago, I'll chime in in defence of the tournaments:
1) there is a significant amount of money spent in the local economy. besides the hotels and the resturants, the angles might gas up before hand but after a days fishing they will have to gas up again. You do not go out the next day with out a full tank of gas as the conditions just might dictate a hundred mile run for 3 hours of fishing and then the return run. I've done it in a local tourney.
Night life.... 'nough said.
Tackle shops and other equiptment lost or broken.

Lastly most of the larger tourney's are several days long and most anglers WILL make at least 1 trip to fish the area prior to the tourney.

Yes dead fish do leave a bad taste in the mouth of the locals and yes a hot lake featured on "name your station's" outdoor extravaganza will generate quite a bit of pressure but then again in what activity does this not occur?

It is really the local/regional tourneys that can cause a bit of an uproar on the "local hot spots" but that vast majority of major tournements are held on high quality LARGE bodies of water for a couple reasons; space and carrying capacity. Again running in a boat for 2 to 2 1/2 hours flat out to get to a spot to fish for 2 to 3 hours to try to catch a 5 fish limit that averages 4 or 5 pounds or more each is not for the faint of heart or the desire for a relaxing day fishing.

just my 2 cents worth!

amosgreg,
I respect your opinion and for the most part tournaments don't bother me, but I just don't like the idea of tournament muskie fishing, especially on a lake that's just now coming into its own as a quality fishery.

The tournament regs for this comp. are: If you catch a muskie you're required to call it in on your cell phone to report it. At this point the people at the base then have a judge drive to your location in a boat to officially measure the fish. Have you heard of such a thing?
---I just don't think it's a great idea to be holding onto a muskie while some judge drives out to the spot. All of this is just added stress to a big fish, and I don't know many livewells that will handle a 50" muskie if one were caught. Muskies aren't like bass where there are high numbers. Muskies are predators, like a grizzly, and bass are more like deer. Bass can easily be transported around and if you lose a few fine, but muskies take quite awhile to grow to legal size (40").

This lake was stocked w/muskies about 20yrs. ago, and only in the last 4 years has it become a sustainable fishery. Maybe I'm overly protective having grown up summers fishing there, but they're only fishing it because its the "new hot spot" and when it gets pressured down to average they'll cease using it to make money.

300H&H,
I agree with what you are saying as being slightly out of whack!!!
The answewr is to have a draw with the call being made and the partner confirming the length on the call and or digital photos taken of the measuring.
I do know some salt water tourneys are verified by an observer.
Also you do raise a good point as I was speaking about my experiance with Bass tournaments.

One additional thought, In the big pro Bass areana releasing dead fish is (I believe) a violation of the rules with either a major penalty or disqualification. They are not fishing with a "buddy" but another competator or a media observer who is watching for rules violations.
Agina not to make light of the problems as they are real, but I think they are more prevelant at the more local level where the truly "Professionals" are not involved.