Tournament Scrutiny

[Alex]

A hot topic on the board lately has been recent RCL tournament and others like. Many are concerned about fish release and showing other anglers the proper respect on the water. While some of the comments may have become over-blown the general message is not.

This is a plea to all tournament anglers. From one tournament angler to another. There are certain criteria that we must uphold. We enter tournaments knowing that the fish will be released so it is our duty to make sure we do everything possible to do so. It’s not difficult if you do the following things: 1) always keep your livewells full 2) monitor your water temp in the summer, it should be cool but never more than 10 degrees lower than the water in which the fish was caught from 3) use catch n’ release to repair the fish’s slime coat/kill bacteria/calm fish 4) run your recirc/aerators full-time, not just on a timer 5) pump in fresh water as needed 6) give special attention to fish in need (bloated swim bladders, bleeding, etc) 7) with fish in your well take your time getting back to the launch, don’t blast through heavy chop. If we do this there will be little scrutiny over mortality rates. Also proper fishing etiquette and respect should be shown to all anglers by all anglers, whether you or they are fishing a tournament or not. This goes for boating as well as fishing. I know many of you are already doing these things but for those you who are not please take these words seriously. It only takes one to give the rest of us a bad name. We are losing respect from some anglers in the community and I’m sure this is not something any of us want or intended to do. Like many have said, we need to set an example for others to follow and should be held to a higher standard.