Thread: Do tournaments harm fish?

Well just like catching them I highly doubt it helps. Or maybe it helps by thinning out the population, less competition for food and getting rid of the larger fish that might not live much longer anyway?

What's the difference on the population if they all die or all get eaten - none.

In tournaments there is going to be some fish that die for any number of reasons but the same can be said about recreational fishing. Tournaments have a penalty for weighing in dead fish so they try hard to keep them alive. Never fished in a tournament but I don't hold it against the ones that do. Stress kills fish. I've had fish go belly up and I did everything right. When it comes to fishing there's going to be some fish mortality.

I used to fish bass tournaments and the clubs had a rule: only two in line to weigh fish. I hope most of the five-limit bass made it. When we're talking panfish, I'm talking up to 20+ fish/bag x 15 anglers. That's a lot of fish dying and for what?!
There are no penalities for dead panfish.

Our state agency that enforces bag and size limits, has no rules when it comes to tournaments yet will fine you if you are over your 25 fish limit in crappie that have to be at least 10"; 50 fish limit for sunfish. The regs are in place but never enforced for who knows what reason.

Here's another: I can get fined if I transport fish from a lake and put them in my private pond - supposedly to prevent the spreading of disease to the fish in the pond. Haven't seen a dead fish yet nor one with disease anywhere and I've caught many species in many waters. (Note: I don't keep bass because the ones in the pond were from a fishery via a stocking permit, plus many years of spawned fish are present along with those of panfish.)

Seems to me protection is in name only and not in practice or a few tournament rules would be in place. Plus, who's to say what water is over or under populated? To my knowledge no lakes in my area have ever been surveyed in the last 50+ yrs. and I have inquired. Seems the state is grasping at straws.

Who's to say that killing over 100 fish in a tournament is even detrimental? Who's to say that livewells aren't contaminated from diseased fish released in another lake and if so aren't transmitted to fish being released in the current water?

But, I do value wildlife and I'm all for conservation. I will always do my part in protecting the fish I love to catch, knowing that ALL fish I catch are returned to the water immediatley - unless a few photos are taken. Those that are transported have good aeration and I've never yet found fish floating - even after 3+ hours in the tank.

Most of the crappie tournaments on my home lakes are seven fish limits, but yes, I'm sure some die.

Most are 5 to 7 fish limits and your dead fish is removed from your bag and doesn't count! You don't stand a chance a fish short. Most everyone takes good care of their fish. That said, some are going to die! We've lost a couple over the years. We keep 8 fish in the livewell on 7 fish tourneys and 6 on 5 fish tourneys. I would bet the guy out to catch dinner kills as many crappie as a tournament does. Lucky for us all they're very prolific!

For sure no matter how big the tournament is and how many they might kill there is absolutely no way there will be a negative impact on the white crappie population in any public waters .
We reduce a 40 acre lake by literally thousands a year and the outcome is a slightly lower ketch rate and an average fish size about 3 to 5 times larger than what it was when we started that program.
Not so sure about slow growing black crappie up north though , a serious hammer festival on a smaller water body , with mostly big fish in the mix , might very well change the average fish size

My , I think FFS has reduced the injuries of Crappie in competitions compared to 8-16 poles out with 2 hooks to the pole, loaded with live bait, hooking & netting every crappie & landing, handling & weighing, then tossing the culls back in the lake. Seems actual numbers hooked per boat would be much less? Am I off a bit here?

Most are 5 to 7 fish limits and your dead fish is removed from your bag and doesn't count! You don't stand a chance a fish short. Most everyone takes good care of their fish.

The above is something I will propose to the club, but knowing the big egos that I'm sure will oppose the change, getting it adopted will be a chore.

Granted, the reproductive capacity of most freshwater fish is exponential, but quality suffers over the years after hundreds of quality fish are removed annually especially from small lakes such as ours. Plus, as Ketchn said, the growing season in the north is much shorter than in the south. Fishing regs sure as **** don't protect them! It's up to anglers to help protect those dumb animals the best way possible that got hooked in the first place.