Grew up bass fishing Neely. Ever since the late 70s. Neely used to have bigger average bass and more per acre than guntersville now. 4 and 5 pounders all day. Especially from Hokes Bluff and up.
He’s never went to a USA Bassin classic tournament on KY lake I’ll tell ya! One of the main 18:16 reasons why I quit tournament fishing, it was sickening to see all the dead fish next day after the weigh in
Let's get real here, cat fisherman spawn camp bass tournaments for cut bait, tons of dead bass after the weigh in. The solution here is already happening in kayak tournaments, you get a code at the start of the event. When you catch a fish, you measure it on an approved board, take a photo of the catch with your code in the frame. Of course you do this with your phone with geo-tagging enabled. You release the fish and then you submit the photo of your catch via an app, updated in real time. You can make handing out the trophies entertaining without having a weigh in.
I live on Lake Weiss, which is the lake above Neeley. Any Saturday you could have 200 to. 500 tournament boats. I fish. I'm in a Bass Club. But the big fish is not there like it used to be. There needs to be permits issued to have a tournament. And then they need to be limited. It's gotten out of hand.
You are soooo correct ! I use to catch 5 lbers every time fished Weiss . I've fished it since the early 90s every week . They are just not there like they use to be . Fishing pressure , land grabbers changing the shore line and wake boats are taking its toll . Nobody likes to hear about the problem , they just like to turn the other way . Fact is nobody is going to like the fix , it would have been much easier to fix it before it was a problem .
@Natureboy1607 Weiss used to have a bundance of 4 to 5lb males in it. I haven't caught one that big in years. 400 plus tournament boats every weekend is unreal. They have got to issue permits and limit tournaments.
One thing I know for sure , putting fish in a live well , carrying them around for 8 hrs and beating on them during the boat ride is not healthy for them . I don't care who you are you can't prove that these fish live or die afterwards . As stewards we have to do better . If you can afford 100,000.00 on rig you can afford cameras on that rig to catch weigh and release . I can't believe as many of us fisherman that there is we can't resolve this problem . Tight lines !
You ever go to a release point after a tournament 24-72 hours after the tournament? Lotttttttts of dead fish. Tournaments should be banned in my opinion. I realize that's a minority position but it would be better for everyone involved.
@@yingyang-hl4tu According to the Department of Natural Resources the majority of bass fisherman do not fish tournaments and most express the same opinion you do. The best way to ruin a good fishery is to start having tournaments on it.
Bro we have been catching bass and putting them in a wet well for decades. The population has not declined, and there is evidence for that matter of fact all of us tournament fisherman I can’t say all, but a lot of us give back to the waters. Enter the face population. So whatever you are on please see a doctor
its not the elite series its all these small tournaments there is one at hart well every weekend needs to be a limit of the number of tournaments on a lake
I believe all states that host tournaments should ban them during the spawn. Ripping fish off of beds is disruptive. Tournaments should also be changed to weigh on the boat format.
I live here on Lay Lake full time. The state of Alabama is the problem. They put stripe and hybrids in the Coosa River. Ever since the state fisheries folks did that, the bass and crappie population has gone down. It's almost like they don't want bass fishing anywhere on the Coosa River. I do not fish any tournaments, but I have no problem with the tournaments. The DNR did not ask the residence for input.
I live on Neely Henry Lake full time. I am convinced Non native salt water stripe is a major problem. I am 69 years old and have been fishing here since I was 9 years old. They first stocked striped bass in the 70’s. I have seen first hand the problem they have caused. This used to be a very good Crappie lake , not anymore. Department of Conservation will not talk about it. Tournament anglers are not all the problem. I feel non native strip bass are a much larger problem.
In NJ /NY/PA they close the spawn season to catch and release for 2 months 4/16-6/16 . We have healthy fisheries here. They may try that for a 3 yr period and see if they get better results. Some clubs do a catch/weight/release tournaments.
Yes, but all these people come to MD to fish. Countless NJ and PA tournaments at Potomac and upper bay. Maryland should also close during spawn. Or have yearly stocking 5000-10,000 14 inch fish to compensate for deaths at areas where there are multiple tournaments.
I am a coosa river fisherman. What i have seen is that since the late winter to early spring flood, that hit the entire river system in 2016 or 17. Ever since this flood, the number and quality of bass dropped and has been on a comback since then. That flood happened at the most inopportune time when all bass were heading for the backwater shallows to spawn. The water was then pulled down so quickly that literally killed a large portion of the bass population. The entire river system is on a comback but slowly.
I noticed the same thing here in middle Tennessee after that big flood that hit downtown Nashville and everywhere else, here locally. It affected not only the population. It, like Helene, wiped out all the land we could see, that flood changed the underwater structure of almost everything. Not just the shoreline. If the fish didn't have something they could safely hide behind, you know they got washed down steam if not killed in all the debris. I know it was hard to catch a fish for the next couple years after.
We have tournaments here in Wisconsin that have 1 fish over 18 inches limits. We have normal 5 fish limit c & r tourneys with permits from the DNR and they use data from the tournaments.
I did fish Logan Martin this past year and never had I saw so many boats fighting over water.... want to help the lake, manage the amount of tournaments in a given weekend and how many boats should be allowed in the tournaments. I think that'd be alot more effective for results of bigger fish.
I also live on Weiss . I fish the Coosa River Team Trail which consists of tournaments on Weiss , Neely , Logan Martin and Lay and as said in an earlier comment the big fish are just not there . During a tournament on Neely my partner and I actually caught an Auburn tagged fish and a fish with a transmitter sewn in it . The Auburn tracking boat actually starting following us . I told them that the transmitter fish was in the live well and they waited for us at the weigh in to recover those two fish . I asked them about the study but they more or less gave generic answers.
Thanks for the video, John. I’m looking forward to finishing it tonight. I did a video on the study but the numbers did seem pretty high. In your experience, what would you say the post tournament mortality rate is?
I have seen some of the "results" all the information is sketchy at best, but the study was just done in the summer, just on Neely Henry, no other lakes, and was done for six weeks. They are making these regulations up off of six weeks of data on one lake, not on any of the others. So they want to make this huge change on all six lakes based on one lake. The real reason is so the lake home owners can not deal with bass tournament fishermen.
The study lasted 3 years not six weeks. They studied the effects of bass tournaments, recreational angling and harvest; so it wasn't just tournaments that they were looking at.
@@martymooney8099 The information they sent to me via e-mail showed one year, 2023, and one time frame of six weeks in July and August. The Alabama DNR normally does a good job with this type of stuff, but this plan is just a farce. They only did it on one of six lakes, but want to apply it to all the lakes. That is not a study, that is an agenda. I am not against trying some things like a slot limit of 14-16 inches, but it should apply to everyone, not just tournament fishermen.
What about tournaments during the spawn? Without the million dollar study. Common sense should say that it’s bad to take thousands of bass of the nest and keep them in live well for the day and release in different area with good percentage dying including post release.
BASS is full of Sh$t. You can’t trust any research from a company that benefits from a specific outcome. Pro fishermen like John are the problem. They are greedy and unwilling to see the truth the rest of us easily see.
My only wish is more studies like this were done on our southern lakes. Bass tournaments across the South are completely out of hand. There's not a weekend that goes by starting in the early spring through the fall where there's not multiple tournaments happening on Southern reservoirs. If one fish dies in a tournament, that's one fish that would have lived had there been no tournament. Nothing good comes from ANY Bass Tournament, PERIOD! The very little money a bass tournament brings to a community is miniscule in comparison to a rodeo, softball, baseball, basketball, soccer tournament, etc. held in that same community, and these events do not harm the fisheries or take away natural resources. John it's really disappointing when someone with your platform takes this stance, when folks with far more knowledge than you have made their determinations in correlation with Auburn University known for their Fisheries Management. This study was done in direct correlation as to the effect of Bass Tournaments on the Coosa River chain of lakes, that was the study. Not a study of water quality, not lake levels. So there's absolutely no need to even mention that or bring it into the equation. Those factors are naturally going to occur anyway, and are studied on their own merits.
Do you are saying water quality and habitat have no effect on bass populations? Only bass tournaments affect populations? That is the worst argument on fish conservation I’ve ever heard
@JohnCrews not at all what I'm saying. That's what the study was about. The study was how are bass tournaments effecting the waters of the Coosa chain, full stop. This study say would be no different than how do water levels effect the spawn. When doing that study are the biologists bringing in tournaments into that equation? In any study parameters are set in the beginning of the study for the reason of coming to a conclusion on the topic they concluding.
The report I read sounded like an AI or Undergrad wrote a bad summary. I too question why they included the reference to MLF/BPT. I believe it also says something about the fact that tournament anglers are part of the problem because they try to catch the biggest bass they can. If you put in a slot, aren't they still going to do that.
I live near Old Hickory Lake in TN. I know for a fact that when they spray for aquatic vegetation, it kills off fish. My nephe and cousin, who both got their first boats, noticed the difference when the vegetation disappeared, so did the fish. We were not only catching more fish. We were catching older and larger. As soon as the TVA sprayed to kill back the aquatic vegetation, we started to catch what Old Hickory has become known for. They started making comments about the fishery. I told them to wait. It'll happen to other lakes up and down the Cumberland and other river chains locally. As soon as the grass started to disappear. The fish die off began, too. All except the darn invasive carp species. The sad part is that in the old days, Old Hickory Lake had good grass beds, large grass beds, everywhere. This, as we all know, helps with filtration, oxygenation, and many other aspects of water quality. And, fish health and population health of ALL species in the lake. Right now, the lake, it continues to be a Barren waste land, which is the way the manager of the dams wants it. It keeps their cost of managing and cleaning the dams down.
no it's not. You can keep 5 for most tournaments some only 3. How does that change the fish totals? It doesn't. It just makes it some easier to catch fish.
How about you worry with lakes in Virginia and we will take care of our lakes in Alabama. I'm no marine biologist or pro fisherman, however I have lived in St Clair county and fished both Logan and Neely most of my life. Without question the quality and quantity of fish is down on both lakes. Alabama Power has done just as much to damage these lakes as anyone, but you can't ignore what tournaments are doing to these lakes. If you don't believe me go launch at Town and Country in Cropwell on a Sunday morning and see all of the dead fish floating from the Saturday tournaments.
How about someone from Alabama speak up? I’ve not heard anyone do that yet. I think we should see the study on water quality and as you said “what Alabama Power has done to the lakes” before effectively banning bass tournaments
Thank you for making the time/effort to research this topic - it's complex, no easy answers - you mentioned a 2021 study, that is 4 possibly 5 years old now depending on when they collected their data, a lot has changed in that time period - FFS, more tournaments then ever before, ect....are all putting more pressure on the fisheries - from the outside it appears that the current path/way of doing things is not sustainable - it seems it's not a matter of if damage is being done, just the extent/pace of the damage - we certainly do not want to have it get to the point where irreversible damage is done to the fisheries
Two comments: 1: The Coosa has a large number of spotted bass. They may even be the dominant species, mostly because they are more aggressive than largemouth. By nature, they are smaller and grow slower. Getting a stringer of five 20" spotted bass is unrealistic. 2: According to an Alabama fisheries biologist that visited our club in 2022, a slot limit does nothing if anglers don't harvest bass under the slot. Since bass fishing has become mostly catch-and-release, not enough of the small bass are being removed. So, this plan can only work if anglers actually remove the fish in the 12-14 slot, and don't just release them at the dock.
The cost to catch, weigh and release would be unreal. Then you have to have a Marshall to do the weighing and verify the fish. This would do away completely with the co-angler program also.
What about the recreational angler that is harvesting fish. If you are going to impose a slot limit, Why NOT impose the slot limit on all fishing... ???
So tournament fishermen should have all the say about what goes on at any particular lake. The local fishermen should have some say or opinion. The tournament argument is always about the money right. Never about the locals people, right . My opinion is that maybe not banning tournaments but I believe that there should be regulated on how many. There should be a three or four month break where there is no tournaments. My lake is Guntersville and the same should apply. Fishing isn’t centered around tournament fishermen cashing checks.
Lived on and fished the Coosa a long time. It needs something, maybe a rest would be helpful and water quality would help also. There been hours and hours and multiple days that I would zero. I would visit Guntersville and fish a half day and catch some fish to make sure I could actually fish.
Used to be that 22 to24 lb bags of spots was common in late winter and early spring. That does not happen anymore. 6 and 7 ponders happened those don’t happen. It’s about the big spots the system used to have.
Limit them. I’m all for it. Someone gotta stand up for the future of the sport in 30 years. If adding slots protects the future of the Coosa river in 30 years, so be it.
I find it funny that they decided that only tournament anglers are killing 70% of the fish. How many weekend anglers did they survey? How many times have I found 5-10 bass laying dead on the ground next to the ramp? If you’re going to put in a slot limit then make it for everyone.
B.A.S.S. used to be at the forefront of conservation. Why not continue that legacy instead of only caring about tournaments? Fisheries are not just for tournaments to take over and do as they please
There are too many club tournaments. It's every weekend on my home lake. Love the slot limit rule. Should be implemented on the Tennessee River system also. All tournaments with today's technology should follow the MLF format. Catch, weigh, and release for tournaments period.
are you a biologist, no. do you know all that data gathering they did, no. the reason they used MLF is they believe their weigh and immediate release is a better way for tournaments to help protect the quality of the fishery. Jason's big bass is in no way a factor in this issue. and you actually think a 45% delayed death rate is acceptable or normal? wow! And how do you know this man "has NO clue about tournaments?" Lastly, fish don't get stunted, they don't grow at the normal rate for lack of forage or too much fishing pressure and over harvesting It might be you that doesn't know what they're talking about.
As long as the angler is within the legal limit why does it matter? He could have just as easily put the knife to them. If they are worried about it, change the number you can keep for everyone.
John, thanks for your opinion. Auburn provided facts and the biologist will act on those facts not opinions. You yourself know how difficult it is to keep Bass alive in the summer when the water reaches up to 90°. That’s when most of the mortality occurred according to the study. Why did not the other organizations police themselves and not hold tournaments during those times of the year? What do they think is going to happen. Love your videos thanks.
The biggest problem is the fish and wildlife was taking one pound bass to 2 pound bass to be sold as restock pond / lake fishing for many year while running tests 3 to 4 time a year! With fishing pressure every year it hard to catch a fish over 14in when that is the average fish being caught by the average anglers! I just don't see a way for it to maintain big bass in a river that has no vegetation to little no structure in it to hold bait fish with the fish pressure on that river!
Fish for inches, or catch, weigh, release! There’s NO reason for BASS to continue with weigh ins! Like it or not the BPT has it right regarding fish preservation along with kayak tournaments fishing for inches! These organizations may do things as good as possible weighing these fish, but anglers are still carting around fish for a large part of the day! Delayed mortality of having weigh ins is unavoidable. The question is at what degree of the catch will die!
Logan Martin in the 90s you had to have 17 + to b in the top 10 but the fish are still there the lake just get pounded from spring to fall there 3 local tournaments a day but this crazy stuff they're trying to do sounds like some bs
I had 18lbs in a tournament at Logan last year and came in 8th...26lbs to win. There are still fish in Coosa. I fished today and had 14lbs but none of those fish could have been weighed with the slot. I do wish they would limit Summer tournaments.
I beg to differ John, studies show that tournament caught and moved fish have reduced fish that will spawn and just dump eggs, and if you real use common sense that is actually a HUGE MORTALITY BUT IT JUST CANT BE SEEN, I see small local and non local guys come to the lake near me and kill many fish, I go to watch tournaments sometimes and I saw it myself, a guy said his livewell was working in am then quit working when he had 2 fish, then continued to fish and brought 5 dead fish including a 5lber to weigh in, why if he did stop and release fish, why??? Because of tournament greed instead of conservation and common sense to release them. The uncertified tournaments and wanna be pro fisherman and the tournament attitude on this lake is that "we own the lake and everyone else is in our way" there's WAY WAY WAY to many tournaments on this lake and I hear the same in your comments on here people saying the same thing, TOURNAMENTS ARE THE BIGGEST PROBLEM PERIOD !!!!!
John that's just it.I live 5 min from Nelly Henry. We don't care if the Bassmaster come back or the ABT whoever. The Hotels and Restaurants were ( Full) this past Weekend in the Dead of Winter. I was having a Discussion a few Weeks ago with One of the Head Guys at the State. Why does Kay Donaldson act like We can't make it without Her? If the ABT shuts down Today Gadsden doesn't miss a beat. This is Pitiful
Fishing in general will greatly improve if they ban catch and keep tournament fishing. Catch, measure, and immediatly release has far less impact on the fish. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure this out.
Im not saying i agree or diagree but most bass fisherman dont know that for every bass tournament that brings fish to a scale to be weighed, a minimum of 25% of the fish die. Do the research, its acutally closer to 30%
The slot limit recommendation does not effect recreation fishermen that want to eat bass where there is 100% mortality. Sounds more anti tournament more than anything else.
Been fishing Neely Henry lake for 50 years because I love this lake when auburn did this study I went to every meeting they had each year for 3 years for the results of the study. Also talked to the people doing the study at boat ramps. They looked at all aspects from water quality bait fish numbers of bass and size of bass they banded bass at tournaments and tracked them after release and that is how they know the mortality rate of weight in tournaments.the reason you are not seeing all the results of this study is politics they are trying to stop the public from seeing the truth about weight in tournaments because they don’t care about the bass only money.something has got to change to help these smaller lakes before it’s too late.No tournament wants to fish a lake with 12 inch bass.also the 9 pound bass Jason caught on lay lake they done a DNA test and said it wasn’t a native fish and must have washed out of a private lake from the flood we had a few weeks before the tournament
I wouldn’t be whining about it. It’s about sustainment. They’re getting ready to screw everybody on the James River Lake Gaston Kerr lake everything that board is Virginia North Carolina think that if they win after your favorite Fish , the Bass Virginia is going after our favorite fish to catch the catfish so it’s wrong. It’s two boys but you know. We’ve been having tournaments and a legislator in Virginia gotta pay off.
People can say what they want, MLF is doing it right when it comes to preservation. Its crazy to me that guys that make their living bass fishing dont push for a catch weigh release because they dont want to spend the money lol
Why does no body ever look at what a creel limit is. In tn you’re allowed to catch 15 crappie per person per day. Remember that per day. During the spring when crappie are full of eggs and shallow and grouped up there is probably 200 people every weekend for about 3 months catching crappie. Is everyone catching limits no but say only 50 people catch 15 crappie every weekend for the next 3 months let’s say for 8 weeks straight 50 people out of 200 catch their limit of crappie that is 6,000 crappie there are people that fish for them year around so we’re not counting that that’s 6,000 crappie let’s say 3,000 of them had eggs that’s a lot of crappie that’s being killed. Put that towards bass fishing. In a 200 field tournament 5 fish limit 100 bring in a limit that’s 500 fish. 20% die so say 100 bass die for whatever reason that’s 5200 bass per year sure that number is probably higher because of other tournaments I’m just saying the lakes I fish in east tn. The crappie population isn’t what is use to be but neither is the bass population. What I’m getting at is if everyone that bass fish actually kept those bass to eat which according to state laws we are allowed to keep 5 bass per person per day if we kept them then it would be a problem but when. Most bass fisherman don’t eat bass catch and release 5200 bass dying a year is not hurting a population. The quality of the lake vegetation the rise and fall during spawning months the lack of stocking is the big issue. Not tournaments. 6,000 crappie in 2 months 5200 bass a year
I’d bet that there’s not a lake out there that hosts more tournaments than Clearlake, CA aka “The Bass Factory”. Fish cycle in lakes. Some years they’re up some years they’re down. Right now Clearlake is on a high cycle. The lake is pressured all year until a lot of bodies of water in the northern & southern parts of the country. Another body of water out here the CA Delta is another highly pressured fishery. It has definitely declined over the last few years. But still turns out big fish & big bags when conditions are right. Several of the highland reservoirs here in CA consistently produce big bass. Are we hosting 200 boat BASS/MLF tournaments, not anymore. To expensive to come out here. Gas, taxes on winnings, lodging are all high. I think climate change (not global warming) is effecting the fisheries more than anything else at this time. The tournament anglers keep the towns around Clearlake alive. Unfortunately it’s a catch 22. I know every local wants “their” home lake to themselves, but if it weren’t for all the money coming in from people wanting to fish these lakes there wouldn’t be the amount of conservation we have to maintain the resources. I’m no pro angler. But I do enjoy the competition of the tournaments and all the friendships, etc.
Well I'll say this they kinda brought it on themselves when you have 3 night tournaments during the week and EVERY weekend this is liable to happen nobody had tha many tournaments but bass fisherman the lakes do need a break cause you gotta add the fun fisherman to all that to
20 pounds on your five biggest used to be expected on most Coosa river reservoirs. That's a fact. Full of big fish. Then your eyes overrun the lakes and now it's dinksville. This content provider is definitely clueless on the history of the Coosa. It used to put out string of bass like gvill does today. For over three decades it was great. The quality went down at the same rate tournaments gained steam.
MY QUESTION IS WHY ARE THEY ONLY TARGETING TOURNAMENT ANGLERS.. THERE ARE LESS TOURNAMENT ANGLERS THAN THERE ARE AVERAGE JOE ANGLERS... By the way I really need that hat😂😂✌️
This means absolutely NOTHING!!!!!!! Oklahoma did it last year and guess what?????? They give a waver to EVERY tournament since the fish are catch and release.
The DNR could be seeing something that imay be posing a challenge to fish. Could be a lot of things. Limiting tournaments or changing the season dates may also help. Lots of things could be going on Asian Carp, FFS and increased delayed mortality. People are better anglers overall than ever. More fish catches usually means more fish dying. It’s just how it goes. I am ok with slots as long as they aren’t banning fishing. Plenty of other places to fish. I honestly would go there for a fun trip as I never keep fish.
What's the problem with you, FFS Pros? You all put so much faith in FFS saying that's a 5lb bass there. Well, it's time to prove it. Tournament rules need to change to. Nothing but 2lb and up is a keep for all FFS guys. Fact. Plus, we don't need tournaments catching 50lbs-100lbs to win a dam tournament, and also, there are too many days for a tournament. The max is 2 days five fish, and that's it. You don't wi. Take your but home. FFS is the mortality rate for bass because tobmany is being caught this way.
The DNR is trying to ban tournaments on the Coosa chain, period, for their own reasons. Instituting a slot limit is done for a specific scientific reason, for example, to retain a certain size of bass to control the gizzard shad population. Not because fish die after weigh-ins. Whatever, I'm sure the rule will be safe and effective. Wait...
In NJ /NY/PA they close the spawn season to catch and release for 2 months 4/16-6/16 . We have healthy fisheries here. They may try that for a 3 yr period and see if they get better results. Some clubs do a catch/weight/release tournaments.
I have lived on Neely Henry my whole life and I can tell our lake has been devastated by the amount of tournament and recreational fishing pressure
Grew up bass fishing Neely. Ever since the late 70s. Neely used to have bigger average bass and more per acre than guntersville now. 4 and 5 pounders all day. Especially from Hokes Bluff and up.
He’s never went to a USA Bassin classic tournament on KY lake I’ll tell ya! One of the main 18:16 reasons why I quit tournament fishing, it was sickening to see all the dead fish next day after the weigh in
Let's get real here, cat fisherman spawn camp bass tournaments for cut bait, tons of dead bass after the weigh in. The solution here is already happening in kayak tournaments, you get a code at the start of the event. When you catch a fish, you measure it on an approved board, take a photo of the catch with your code in the frame. Of course you do this with your phone with geo-tagging enabled. You release the fish and then you submit the photo of your catch via an app, updated in real time. You can make handing out the trophies entertaining without having a weigh in.
I live on Lake Weiss, which is the lake above Neeley. Any Saturday you could have 200 to. 500 tournament boats. I fish. I'm in a Bass Club. But the big fish is not there like it used to be. There needs to be permits issued to have a tournament. And then they need to be limited. It's gotten out of hand.
You are soooo correct ! I use to catch 5 lbers every time fished Weiss . I've fished it since the early 90s every week . They are just not there like they use to be . Fishing pressure , land grabbers changing the shore line and wake boats are taking its toll . Nobody likes to hear about the problem , they just like to turn the other way . Fact is nobody is going to like the fix , it would have been much easier to fix it before it was a problem .
@Natureboy1607 Weiss used to have a bundance of 4 to 5lb males in it. I haven't caught one that big in years. 400 plus tournament boats every weekend is unreal. They have got to issue permits and limit tournaments.
Tournaments are killing our lakes. Too many!
One thing I know for sure , putting fish in a live well , carrying them around for 8 hrs and beating on them during the boat ride is not healthy for them . I don't care who you are you can't prove that these fish live or die afterwards . As stewards we have to do better . If you can afford 100,000.00 on rig you can afford cameras on that rig to catch weigh and release . I can't believe as many of us fisherman that there is we can't resolve this problem . Tight lines !
You ever go to a release point after a tournament 24-72 hours after the tournament? Lotttttttts of dead fish. Tournaments should be banned in my opinion. I realize that's a minority position but it would be better for everyone involved.
@@yingyang-hl4tu According to the Department of Natural Resources the majority of bass fisherman do not fish tournaments and most express the same opinion you do. The best way to ruin a good fishery is to start having tournaments on it.
Bro we have been catching bass and putting them in a wet well for decades. The population has not declined, and there is evidence for that matter of fact all of us tournament fisherman I can’t say all, but a lot of us give back to the waters. Enter the face population. So whatever you are on please see a doctor
@@yingyang-hl4tuyeah and your opinion doesn’t matter. We put allot of effort on making the fish and waters better
@prideNwinning12
It amazes me how many people in this world have no common sense . Your comment proves that without a doubt .
its not the elite series its all these small tournaments there is one at hart well every weekend needs to be a limit of the number of tournaments on a lake
lol you realize what you just said? .. that'll NEVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR happen
You want a government entity telling you how many tournaments you can have? Think about that for a second..
I believe all states that host tournaments should ban them during the spawn. Ripping fish off of beds is disruptive. Tournaments should also be changed to weigh on the boat format.
I live here on Lay Lake full time. The state of Alabama is the problem. They put stripe and hybrids in the Coosa River. Ever since the state fisheries folks did that, the bass and crappie population has gone down. It's almost like they don't want bass fishing anywhere on the Coosa River. I do not fish any tournaments, but I have no problem with the tournaments. The DNR did not ask the residence for input.
I live on Neely Henry Lake full time. I am convinced Non native salt water stripe is a major problem. I am 69 years old and have been fishing here since I was 9 years old. They first stocked striped bass in the 70’s. I have seen first hand the problem they have caused. This used to be a very good Crappie lake , not anymore. Department of Conservation will not talk about it. Tournament anglers are not all the problem. I feel non native strip bass are a much larger problem.
In NJ /NY/PA they close the spawn season to catch and release for 2 months 4/16-6/16 . We have healthy fisheries here. They may try that for a 3 yr period and see if they get better results. Some clubs do a catch/weight/release tournaments.
Yes, but all these people come to MD to fish. Countless NJ and PA tournaments at Potomac and upper bay.
Maryland should also close during spawn. Or have yearly stocking 5000-10,000 14 inch fish to compensate for deaths at areas where there are multiple tournaments.
I agree this is what all states should do
@ there’s no perfect answer but it might be a better choice than slot limit . Also BASS could try out the catch weigh release format ?
Why not just do catch, weigh, release? What is the argument against that?
I think it’s perfect for club level tournaments if they will adopt it but they have not.
I am a coosa river fisherman. What i have seen is that since the late winter to early spring flood, that hit the entire river system in 2016 or 17. Ever since this flood, the number and quality of bass dropped and has been on a comback since then. That flood happened at the most inopportune time when all bass were heading for the backwater shallows to spawn. The water was then pulled down so quickly that literally killed a large portion of the bass population. The entire river system is on a comback but slowly.
I noticed the same thing here in middle Tennessee after that big flood that hit downtown Nashville and everywhere else, here locally. It affected not only the population. It, like Helene, wiped out all the land we could see, that flood changed the underwater structure of almost everything. Not just the shoreline. If the fish didn't have something they could safely hide behind, you know they got washed down steam if not killed in all the debris. I know it was hard to catch a fish for the next couple years after.
We have tournaments here in Wisconsin that have 1 fish over 18 inches limits. We have normal 5 fish limit c & r tourneys with permits from the DNR and they use data from the tournaments.
This is what all states should do
I did fish Logan Martin this past year and never had I saw so many boats fighting over water.... want to help the lake, manage the amount of tournaments in a given weekend and how many boats should be allowed in the tournaments. I think that'd be alot more effective for results of bigger fish.
I also live on Weiss . I fish the Coosa River Team Trail which consists of tournaments on Weiss , Neely , Logan Martin and Lay and as said in an earlier comment the big fish are just not there . During a tournament on Neely my partner and I actually caught an Auburn tagged fish and a fish with a transmitter sewn in it . The Auburn tracking boat actually starting following us . I told them that the transmitter fish was in the live well and they waited for us at the weigh in to recover those two fish . I asked them about the study but they more or less gave generic answers.
Thanks for the video, John. I’m looking forward to finishing it tonight. I did a video on the study but the numbers did seem pretty high. In your experience, what would you say the post tournament mortality rate is?
I have seen some of the "results" all the information is sketchy at best, but the study was just done in the summer, just on Neely Henry, no other lakes, and was done for six weeks. They are making these regulations up off of six weeks of data on one lake, not on any of the others. So they want to make this huge change on all six lakes based on one lake. The real reason is so the lake home owners can not deal with bass tournament fishermen.
The study lasted 3 years not six weeks. They studied the effects of bass tournaments, recreational angling and harvest; so it wasn't just tournaments that they were looking at.
@@martymooney8099 The information they sent to me via e-mail showed one year, 2023, and one time frame of six weeks in July and August. The Alabama DNR normally does a good job with this type of stuff, but this plan is just a farce. They only did it on one of six lakes, but want to apply it to all the lakes. That is not a study, that is an agenda. I am not against trying some things like a slot limit of 14-16 inches, but it should apply to everyone, not just tournament fishermen.
@@martymooney8099 Not according to the information they sent me, but that information was far from complete.
They should not allow people to build close to the water nor change the shore line . They are a problem that nobody wants to talk about .
What about tournaments during the spawn? Without the million dollar study. Common sense should say that it’s bad to take thousands of bass of the nest and keep them in live well for the day and release in different area with good percentage dying including post release.
They have studied spawn tournaments many times. They have no real impact on B.A.S.S. populations.
@ think of all the concerns you have about the study you just talked about.
BASS is full of Sh$t. You can’t trust any research from a company that benefits from a specific outcome. Pro fishermen like John are the problem. They are greedy and unwilling to see the truth the rest of us easily see.
My only wish is more studies like this were done on our southern lakes. Bass tournaments across the South are completely out of hand. There's not a weekend that goes by starting in the early spring through the fall where there's not multiple tournaments happening on Southern reservoirs. If one fish dies in a tournament, that's one fish that would have lived had there been no tournament. Nothing good comes from ANY Bass Tournament, PERIOD! The very little money a bass tournament brings to a community is miniscule in comparison to a rodeo, softball, baseball, basketball, soccer tournament, etc. held in that same community, and these events do not harm the fisheries or take away natural resources. John it's really disappointing when someone with your platform takes this stance, when folks with far more knowledge than you have made their determinations in correlation with Auburn University known for their Fisheries Management. This study was done in direct correlation as to the effect of Bass Tournaments on the Coosa River chain of lakes, that was the study. Not a study of water quality, not lake levels. So there's absolutely no need to even mention that or bring it into the equation. Those factors are naturally going to occur anyway, and are studied on their own merits.
Do you are saying water quality and habitat have no effect on bass populations? Only bass tournaments affect populations?
That is the worst argument on fish conservation I’ve ever heard
@JohnCrews not at all what I'm saying. That's what the study was about. The study was how are bass tournaments effecting the waters of the Coosa chain, full stop. This study say would be no different than how do water levels effect the spawn. When doing that study are the biologists bringing in tournaments into that equation? In any study parameters are set in the beginning of the study for the reason of coming to a conclusion on the topic they concluding.
The report I read sounded like an AI or Undergrad wrote a bad summary. I too question why they included the reference to MLF/BPT. I believe it also says something about the fact that tournament anglers are part of the problem because they try to catch the biggest bass they can. If you put in a slot, aren't they still going to do that.
I live near Old Hickory Lake in TN. I know for a fact that when they spray for aquatic vegetation, it kills off fish. My nephe and cousin, who both got their first boats, noticed the difference when the vegetation disappeared, so did the fish. We were not only catching more fish. We were catching older and larger. As soon as the TVA sprayed to kill back the aquatic vegetation, we started to catch what Old Hickory has become known for. They started making comments about the fishery. I told them to wait. It'll happen to other lakes up and down the Cumberland and other river chains locally. As soon as the grass started to disappear. The fish die off began, too. All except the darn invasive carp species.
The sad part is that in the old days, Old Hickory Lake had good grass beds, large grass beds, everywhere. This, as we all know, helps with filtration, oxygenation, and many other aspects of water quality. And, fish health and population health of ALL species in the lake. Right now, the lake, it continues to be a Barren waste land, which is the way the manager of the dams wants it. It keeps their cost of managing and cleaning the dams down.
Bingo
FFS is destroying the fishing
no it's not. You can keep 5 for most tournaments some only 3. How does that change the fish totals? It doesn't. It just makes it some easier to catch fish.
How about you worry with lakes in Virginia and we will take care of our lakes in Alabama. I'm no marine biologist or pro fisherman, however I have lived in St Clair county and fished both Logan and Neely most of my life. Without question the quality and quantity of fish is down on both lakes. Alabama Power has done just as much to damage these lakes as anyone, but you can't ignore what tournaments are doing to these lakes. If you don't believe me go launch at Town and Country in Cropwell on a Sunday morning and see all of the dead fish floating from the Saturday tournaments.
How about someone from Alabama speak up? I’ve not heard anyone do that yet.
I think we should see the study on water quality and as you said “what Alabama Power has done to the lakes” before effectively banning bass tournaments
Thank you for making the time/effort to research this topic - it's complex, no easy answers - you mentioned a 2021 study, that is 4 possibly 5 years old now depending on when they collected their data, a lot has changed in that time period - FFS, more tournaments then ever before, ect....are all putting more pressure on the fisheries - from the outside it appears that the current path/way of doing things is not sustainable - it seems it's not a matter of if damage is being done, just the extent/pace of the damage - we certainly do not want to have it get to the point where irreversible damage is done to the fisheries
Two comments:
1: The Coosa has a large number of spotted bass. They may even be the dominant species, mostly because they are more aggressive than largemouth. By nature, they are smaller and grow slower. Getting a stringer of five 20" spotted bass is unrealistic.
2: According to an Alabama fisheries biologist that visited our club in 2022, a slot limit does nothing if anglers don't harvest bass under the slot. Since bass fishing has become mostly catch-and-release, not enough of the small bass are being removed. So, this plan can only work if anglers actually remove the fish in the 12-14 slot, and don't just release them at the dock.
Tournaments should be limited on every fishery the problem is money always wins
The cost to catch, weigh and release would be unreal. Then you have to have a Marshall to do the weighing and verify the fish. This would do away completely with the co-angler program also.
Bingo
What about the recreational angler that is harvesting fish. If you are going to impose a slot limit, Why NOT impose the slot limit on all fishing... ???
BASS TOURNAMENTS & LIVESCOPE NEEDS TO BE BANNED ALL OVER AMERICA
So tournament fishermen should have all the say about what goes on at any particular lake. The local fishermen should have some say or opinion. The tournament argument is always about the money right. Never about the locals people, right . My opinion is that maybe not banning tournaments but I believe that there should be regulated on how many. There should be a three or four month break where there is no tournaments. My lake is Guntersville and the same should apply. Fishing isn’t centered around tournament fishermen cashing checks.
TRUE
Thanks John.
Exactly! What's the real motive? I have many questions also!
Lived on and fished the Coosa a long time. It needs something, maybe a rest would be helpful and water quality would help also. There been hours and hours and multiple days that I would zero. I would visit Guntersville and fish a half day and catch some fish to make sure I could actually fish.
Used to be that 22 to24 lb bags of spots was common in late winter and early spring. That does not happen anymore. 6 and 7 ponders happened those don’t happen. It’s about the big spots the system used to have.
20lb bags on the Weiss in the day wouldn't get you in the money. Still takes 20plus to win.
True !
Limit them. I’m all for it. Someone gotta stand up for the future of the sport in 30 years. If adding slots protects the future of the Coosa river in 30 years, so be it.
I find it funny that they decided that only tournament anglers are killing 70% of the fish. How many weekend anglers did they survey? How many times have I found 5-10 bass laying dead on the ground next to the ramp? If you’re going to put in a slot limit then make it for everyone.
Damn the new Bass Cat, is flat out hard
B.A.S.S. used to be at the forefront of conservation. Why not continue that legacy instead of only caring about tournaments? Fisheries are not just for tournaments to take over and do as they please
BASS continues to fight for conservation through many channels.
@@JohnCrews Not when they are the leaders in pushing FFS,BASS has lost their way.
It's all about $$$
There are too many club tournaments. It's every weekend on my home lake.
Love the slot limit rule.
Should be implemented on the Tennessee River system also.
All tournaments with today's technology should follow the MLF format. Catch, weigh, and release for tournaments period.
are you a biologist, no. do you know all that data gathering they did, no. the reason they used MLF is they believe their weigh and immediate release is a better way for tournaments to help protect the quality of the fishery. Jason's big bass is in no way a factor in this issue. and you actually think a 45% delayed death rate is acceptable or normal? wow! And how do you know this man "has NO clue about tournaments?" Lastly, fish don't get stunted, they don't grow at the normal rate for lack of forage or too much fishing pressure and over harvesting It might be you that doesn't know what they're talking about.
As long as the angler is within the legal limit why does it matter? He could have just as easily put the knife to them. If they are worried about it, change the number you can keep for everyone.
John, thanks for your opinion. Auburn provided facts and the biologist will act on those facts not opinions. You yourself know how difficult it is to keep Bass alive in the summer when the water reaches up to 90°. That’s when most of the mortality occurred according to the study. Why did not the other organizations police themselves and not hold tournaments during those times of the year? What do they think is going to happen. Love your videos thanks.
He’s got a fish lung in his live well. He is not worried anymore
The biggest problem is the fish and wildlife was taking one pound bass to 2 pound bass to be sold as restock pond / lake fishing for many year while running tests 3 to 4 time a year! With fishing pressure every year it hard to catch a fish over 14in when that is the average fish being caught by the average anglers! I just don't see a way for it to maintain big bass in a river that has no vegetation to little no structure in it to hold bait fish with the fish pressure on that river!
Protect the fisheries above all else.
Stop all payout tournaments and watch the economy drop in those cities and watch how quick Gov. Ivy gets involved
Fish for inches, or catch, weigh, release! There’s NO reason for BASS to continue with weigh ins! Like it or not the BPT has it right regarding fish preservation along with kayak tournaments fishing for inches! These organizations may do things as good as possible weighing these fish, but anglers are still carting around fish for a large part of the day! Delayed mortality of having weigh ins is unavoidable. The question is at what degree of the catch will die!
Kayak’s don’t catch, weigh and release. They catch, picture and release. They need to get it right if they are going to open their pie hole.
Exactly. 👊🏼
FBD!!!
Logan Martin in the 90s you had to have 17 + to b in the top 10 but the fish are still there the lake just get pounded from spring to fall there 3 local tournaments a day but this crazy stuff they're trying to do sounds like some bs
I had 18lbs in a tournament at Logan last year and came in 8th...26lbs to win. There are still fish in Coosa. I fished today and had 14lbs but none of those fish could have been weighed with the slot. I do wish they would limit Summer tournaments.
Do they consider the effects of moving fish especially during spawn. While it's not mortality it surely effects things.
Studies have shown that is not a nog factor on spawn productivity. Kind of wild
I beg to differ John, studies show that tournament caught and moved fish have reduced fish that will spawn and just dump eggs, and if you real use common sense that is actually a HUGE MORTALITY BUT IT JUST CANT BE SEEN, I see small local and non local guys come to the lake near me and kill many fish, I go to watch tournaments sometimes and I saw it myself, a guy said his livewell was working in am then quit working when he had 2 fish, then continued to fish and brought 5 dead fish including a 5lber to weigh in, why if he did stop and release fish, why??? Because of tournament greed instead of conservation and common sense to release them. The uncertified tournaments and wanna be pro fisherman and the tournament attitude on this lake is that "we own the lake and everyone else is in our way" there's WAY WAY WAY to many tournaments on this lake and I hear the same in your comments on here people saying the same thing, TOURNAMENTS ARE THE BIGGEST PROBLEM PERIOD !!!!!
@@stupidthoughts2921a stupid thought
John that's just it.I live 5 min from Nelly Henry. We don't care if the Bassmaster come back or the ABT whoever. The Hotels and Restaurants were ( Full) this past Weekend in the Dead of Winter. I was having a Discussion a few Weeks ago with One of the Head Guys at the State. Why does Kay Donaldson act like We can't make it without Her? If the ABT shuts down Today Gadsden doesn't miss a beat. This is Pitiful
They named mlf and bpt by name because they and the kayak tournaments are the ones that are doing catch weigh release
Severely restrict the number of tournaments. Mortality in FL in the summer is terrible. Local non tournament fisherman are the losers.
Fishing in general will greatly improve if they ban catch and keep tournament fishing. Catch, measure, and immediatly release has far less impact on the fish. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure this out.
I hope most. Of tournaments are band or extremely limited
They've killed all the good grass with roundup and they have got to find something to blame it on... what better than the tournament angler!!!
Im not saying i agree or diagree but most bass fisherman dont know that for every bass tournament that brings fish to a scale to be weighed, a minimum of 25% of the fish die. Do the research, its acutally closer to 30%
The slot limit recommendation does not effect recreation fishermen that want to eat bass where there is 100% mortality. Sounds more anti tournament more than anything else.
Been fishing Neely Henry lake for 50 years because I love this lake when auburn did this study I went to every meeting they had each year for 3 years for the results of the study. Also talked to the people doing the study at boat ramps. They looked at all aspects from water quality bait fish numbers of bass and size of bass they banded bass at tournaments and tracked them after release and that is how they know the mortality rate of weight in tournaments.the reason you are not seeing all the results of this study is politics they are trying to stop the public from seeing the truth about weight in tournaments because they don’t care about the bass only money.something has got to change to help these smaller lakes before it’s too late.No tournament wants to fish a lake with 12 inch bass.also the 9 pound bass Jason caught on lay lake they done a DNA test and said it wasn’t a native fish and must have washed out of a private lake from the flood we had a few weeks before the tournament
I wouldn’t be whining about it. It’s about sustainment. They’re getting ready to screw everybody on the James River Lake Gaston Kerr lake everything that board is Virginia North Carolina think that if they win after your favorite Fish , the Bass Virginia is going after our favorite fish to catch the catfish so it’s wrong. It’s two boys but you know. We’ve been having tournaments and a legislator in Virginia gotta pay off.
This limit only pertains to tournaments but nobody else
Yes, the proposed limit will only be applied to tournaments.
People can say what they want, MLF is doing it right when it comes to preservation. Its crazy to me that guys that make their living bass fishing dont push for a catch weigh release because they dont want to spend the money lol
i live on the coosa, hope this doesnt happen.
Why does no body ever look at what a creel limit is. In tn you’re allowed to catch 15 crappie per person per day. Remember that per day. During the spring when crappie are full of eggs and shallow and grouped up there is probably 200 people every weekend for about 3 months catching crappie. Is everyone catching limits no but say only 50 people catch 15 crappie every weekend for the next 3 months let’s say for 8 weeks straight 50 people out of 200 catch their limit of crappie that is 6,000 crappie there are people that fish for them year around so we’re not counting that that’s 6,000 crappie let’s say 3,000 of them had eggs that’s a lot of crappie that’s being killed. Put that towards bass fishing. In a 200 field tournament 5 fish limit 100 bring in a limit that’s 500 fish. 20% die so say 100 bass die for whatever reason that’s 5200 bass per year sure that number is probably higher because of other tournaments I’m just saying the lakes I fish in east tn. The crappie population isn’t what is use to be but neither is the bass population. What I’m getting at is if everyone that bass fish actually kept those bass to eat which according to state laws we are allowed to keep 5 bass per person per day if we kept them then it would be a problem but when. Most bass fisherman don’t eat bass catch and release 5200 bass dying a year is not hurting a population. The quality of the lake vegetation the rise and fall during spawning months the lack of stocking is the big issue. Not tournaments. 6,000 crappie in 2 months 5200 bass a year
Audit Alabama DNR! Where is the money going? We all know it isn’t being used to stock Bass
I’d bet that there’s not a lake out there that hosts more tournaments than Clearlake, CA aka “The Bass Factory”. Fish cycle in lakes. Some years they’re up some years they’re down. Right now Clearlake is on a high cycle. The lake is pressured all year until a lot of bodies of water in the northern & southern parts of the country. Another body of water out here the CA Delta is another highly pressured fishery. It has definitely declined over the last few years. But still turns out big fish & big bags when conditions are right. Several of the highland reservoirs here in CA consistently produce big bass. Are we hosting 200 boat BASS/MLF tournaments, not anymore. To expensive to come out here. Gas, taxes on winnings, lodging are all high. I think climate change (not global warming) is effecting the fisheries more than anything else at this time. The tournament anglers keep the towns around Clearlake alive. Unfortunately it’s a catch 22. I know every local wants “their” home lake to themselves, but if it weren’t for all the money coming in from people wanting to fish these lakes there wouldn’t be the amount of conservation we have to maintain the resources. I’m no pro angler. But I do enjoy the competition of the tournaments and all the friendships, etc.
Lay lake, Lake Mitchell, and Lake Jordan all stay at a certain level they do not have a draw down.
Well I'll say this they kinda brought it on themselves when you have 3 night tournaments during the week and EVERY weekend this is liable to happen nobody had tha many tournaments but bass fisherman the lakes do need a break cause you gotta add the fun fisherman to all that to
20 pounds on your five biggest used to be expected on most Coosa river reservoirs. That's a fact. Full of big fish. Then your eyes overrun the lakes and now it's dinksville. This content provider is definitely clueless on the history of the Coosa. It used to put out string of bass like gvill does today. For over three decades it was great. The quality went down at the same rate tournaments gained steam.
MY QUESTION IS WHY ARE THEY ONLY TARGETING TOURNAMENT ANGLERS.. THERE ARE LESS TOURNAMENT ANGLERS THAN THERE ARE AVERAGE JOE ANGLERS... By the way I really need that hat😂😂✌️
Ban all bass tournaments PERIOD!!
Why?
This means absolutely NOTHING!!!!!!!
Oklahoma did it last year and guess what?????? They give a waver to EVERY tournament since the fish are catch and release.
5 fish no culling
The DNR could be seeing something that imay be posing a challenge to fish. Could be a lot of things. Limiting tournaments or changing the season dates may also help. Lots of things could be going on Asian Carp, FFS and increased delayed mortality. People are better anglers overall than ever. More fish catches usually means more fish dying. It’s just how it goes. I am ok with slots as long as they aren’t banning fishing. Plenty of other places to fish. I honestly would go there for a fun trip as I never keep fish.
Ban foward facing sonar in All tournaments and it will get better and no tournaments during the spawn
They should just not allow July and August tournaments
The lakes have declined my guy
What's the problem with you, FFS Pros? You all put so much faith in FFS saying that's a 5lb bass there. Well, it's time to prove it. Tournament rules need to change to. Nothing but 2lb and up is a keep for all FFS guys. Fact. Plus, we don't need tournaments catching 50lbs-100lbs to win a dam tournament, and also, there are too many days for a tournament. The max is 2 days five fish, and that's it. You don't wi. Take your but home. FFS is the mortality rate for bass because tobmany is being caught this way.
Ban FFS.
BPT uses a uniform set of scales and an official to verify the catch
Every other tournament does not have officials to weigh each person’s fish
@@JohnCrews kayak tournament catch measure take pic seems a little better
The DNR is trying to ban tournaments on the Coosa chain, period, for their own reasons. Instituting a slot limit is done for a specific scientific reason, for example, to retain a certain size of bass to control the gizzard shad population. Not because fish die after weigh-ins. Whatever, I'm sure the rule will be safe and effective. Wait...
you don't know that!
does war hurt human population? Go see if you can buy some common sense!
In NJ /NY/PA they close the spawn season to catch and release for 2 months 4/16-6/16 . We have healthy fisheries here. They may try that for a 3 yr period and see if they get better results. Some clubs do a catch/weight/release tournaments.