Here's something to think about JW. How many casual fisherman catch that big bass or those younger 3-5 lb fish and throw it or them in a bucket or cooler and take it home to eat or mount. At least the tournament fishermen are releasing them all, and some will definitely make it. Chances of one surviving being filleted and dipped in hot grease is pretty much 0%. Casual fishermen do much more damage if you can call it that (in the form of killing fish) than the pros and tournament fishermen could ever dream of doing. Birdcarver (on here) kills 15-20 fish every single time he puts his boat in the water. Sticks a nail through their heads and takes a pic of them on the fence. Nothing wrong with that, more power to him. The man evidently really likes to eat bass and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Just remember there are way more people like him out there fishing than there are tournament fishermen. Do the math, tournament fishermen are just a tiny drop in the bucket of overall fish mortality and at least the tournament fishermen are making an attempt to turn the fish back.

I thought Knoxville sucked. Traffic was hell, the expo was in at least two buildings (maybe three?) and the arena was away from the expo center.

Downtown restaurants and bars were cool. Didn't care for the logistical setup. Wasn't crazy about Shreveport or Greensboro, either. Great, great turnout by fans in all three locations, though, and that's one of the top considerations for BASS and the local/state tourism folks.

That are targeting bass specifically? I would have to say....that is the biggest line of horsechit I have ever read.

Your comment shows you must not spend much time on the water. I see plenty of weekend warriors beating the water to a froth fishing specifically for bass on just about any body of water I fish. Lots of crappie fishermen too. You dont think that crappie jigs and live minows will catch a bass? Fact of the matter Jug, is that the bass is the most targeted freshwater species nationwide. It's also probably the biggest by-catch species caught by other anglers not targeting them such as pan fishermen.

One more point, almost every Tx fisherman practices a couple of days. During those days he may catch around 30 bass. He will always release them in hopes of catching them during the tournament. Where as if a meat fisherman catches those, the limit hits hot grease. Believe me Tx fishermen do not seek to over fish or deplete the resource.

There are bag limits in place to limit the harvest of all species of game fish...bass included. So what's wrong with keeping a few to eat all along as long as no limits are exceeded.....at least the ones I kill are not being wasted. JMO!

You are comparing a man eating something to just killing it. Do you shoot deer and just throw them back in the woods to die after youve rode them around and showed them off for an hour or two? Really think about what youre saying, then back up and punt. Thats ignorant

Fire up your google finger boys and check out bass delayed mortality studies. One ran by Harold Schramm Jr. conclude that 100 % of the fish died when the live well water went over 92 degrees and had less than 3 ppm oxygen. Well, duh, you think?? That is exactly why we old Florida fisherman used a lot of ice, working aerators, and Catch and Release religiously in tournaments. I even had a water temp gauge wired into the live well on one of my boats to monitor the temp. The only time we lost a fish was when one had it gills ripped. I can tell you horror stories about bass populations collapsing due to improper and/or over aggressive weed control, but no examples of a decent sized healthy lake's population being decimated by tournament fisherman.

You cant weigh them dead right?

Far more bass die to natural causes than will ever die due to being caught by a hook. Nature is a b*#(&.

Yes, most trails allow dead fish to be weighed with a penalty.

Every bass will die of natural causes eventually right

Where I fish tournament bass fisherman out number the ones bass fishing for fun 10 to 1. The ones fishing for food crappie or catfish.

I disagree. I mainly crappie fish. I do catch some bass. But I catch way more stripe than bass. I dont care how many gets killed tho. Maybe all the inconsiderate pricks would find another hobby.

The boat ramp at guntersville ball park is closed the week of

Reken I’m selfish because I hate dealing with tournaments. Sometimes it takes an hour to launch or load your boat and the pricks just stand there in the way and park blocking the flow of traffic so you can’t get past. I hope they outlaw them.

I reckon all the largemouth bass ive kept in the past couple years are still alive in a couple ponds and we will continue catching them over and over again. We do keep and eat a few spots but not that many.

You're not hurting anything, just be careful where the ones you keep come from. Some water is too polluted. I'm sure if any are eaten from the North end of West Point anyone would get sick. Atlantas sewage often gets dumped directly into the river.

I still don't understand why Scottsboro/Guntersville/Huntsville areas haven't figured up a way to keep the weigh in here at home instead of halfway across the state. I'm sure the area has a good economic help from it being fished here, but I would imagine having the weigh in local would be that much more of a help.

I can't understand why you can't understand. It's simple B'ham has more hotel rooms and a big arena. It can draw more people than a high school stadium around Scottsboro. Not to mention the big airport.