Hey Randy,,what a bad deal this is. It's not right they should weight them and turn them back in. I've been bass fishing now for just a few yrs. And I can already tell a big difference in my local lakes. FFS is killing them. I never keep a fish id rather go back and catch them again. I've even went as far to turning my livewell, into my cooler. I took all the pumps out and lined it with insulated blue board. So much better on the fish that are left. Take a pic n turn em back
Surely, in this day and age, they could put a uniform electronic device in every boat, to weigh and measure the fish, and send the results instantly. But then they wouldnt get the money shot on the podium, holding up the soon to be dead fish. Its barbaric.
It’s not just FFS. Anyone that thinks holding spawning females in a live well for ten hours, or catching fish in 92 degree water and releasing them hours later doesn’t kill fish is insane. There are way too many tournaments on our lakes, almost everyday of the week down here in Florida. Turtles, alligators, gar, birds, and other predators eat most of the dying or dead fish, so what you see is probably about ten percent of the kill. Tournament fishing is about corporate interest, and is a total waste of a resource……bass. Anyone that participates in that is a part of the problem, and I hate saying that because I respect and appreciate what tournament fisherman have done on an individual level.
Multiply that by 3x with FFS...it's no secret 3x as many bass, including many of the bigger females are being caught because of FFS, giving the fish zero chance...there are no fish protected anymore in their environment, in any body of water...Anyone that can't see the damage that will continue to be done with FFS, really needs a reality check
Dude I run a bubbler, an oxygenator, g-juice and ice. My fish are kicking like they were just caught when I weigh them in, but I fish shallow water. Minimal change of pressure.
I am against anything the does not protect the resource. That is my number one reason for dropping my B.A.S.S membership. It sounds like belly up fish is a dirty little secret that is starting to see the light of day.
I fish for food. I live in an area where there are 4 lakes 2 dams and obviously a river. I can support the fact that every time there is any tournament around here there are always massive amounts of dead fish afterwords. It kills me to see it and it's extremely frustrating especially since I fish for food. People who say that tournaments don't effect the fish are repeating lies that are consistently being propagated out there. Thank you for being one of the very few even willing to even talk about it.
Obviously they don't care! Catch and release is the best direction for tournaments to go but I will be surprised if anything is done before the bass are near extinct.
I did see Taku Fizzing his fish on camera. Wait until Lake St Clair later this week. You will also see a lot of dead fish. Sad part is letting the go to float around for people to see. Got to admit Catch / Weigh / Release makes sense in these derbies.
I learned a long time ago watching Bill Dance coin the phrase. C.P.R (Catch Photograph and Release) that was in like 1983. Still to this day I do that. If Kayak anglers can do it and the MLF can. BASS surly can too.
Been there seen that. All i can say is when you introduce money and ego into anything it will eventually morf into something unrecognizable from the original intent. People will sell their souls for money unfortunately. 😢
Randy, it always takes somebody. Somebody willing to stand up, call out the injustices and wrongs, take the heat, and keep with the fight. Everyone always says "somebody has to do somehing" then sit back and do nothing! I know you catch a lot of #@$&, but keep up the fight and making noise! All the care abut is the cash flow, period!
Preach on buddy!!! We should be ambassadors of conservation and ensure future of health fish populations!!! We are all representatives of bass fishing… let’s act responsibly and not kill fish!!!!!!!
Professional Bass Fishing tournaments should be like you said from October to March ! If this is your career path you should decide if you want to be a professional bass Angler or Hunter ! Just hunt on one of your practice days lol…..
Having tournaments in the south this time of year is ridiculous. The Texas Parks and Wildlife along with others has done studies on the mortality rates during and after tournaments and it’s not very good no matter what time of year it is.
@@phantomseven3689 Most of us locals don't take our phones fishing with us and we don't make videos because we are not trying to impress anyone,,but good idea I'm going to start doing it and not only will I start sending it to the Bassmaster tournaments but I'm also going to start forwarding them to DNR and petitioning my state to stop tournaments. So be careful what you wish for,
Their are dead bass everywhere after each tournament doesn’t matter what kind of tournament this is nothing new I’ve witness this myself it’s after any event any time of year it’s aweful to kill out what your supposed to love
2pm 7/5 I fish tournaments and some in summer. I learned this trick a couple years ago from a buddy Ricky Green. I fill my livewell before the tournament with well water 55 degree water. I then do not circulate lake water I just recirculate, with oxygenator. I then carry a couple frozen plastic Gallon milk jugs. I put them in as needed. T h e fish have been lively and fresh at the end of the day. Have not lost a fish since I've been doing this.
Im a local from near Lewis Smith Lake . Yes, there have been several reports of bass floating in several different areas each day after the elite series tournament .It's sad . But I personally believe the lake is overpopulated . Most fish are under the slot limit . It's very rare to hear of a 4lb + fish. Everyone I talk to says we caught a bunch of dinks
I live on Smith Lake as well. I also agree it's over populated with alot of small fish. But unfortunately the fish I seen dead wasn't under the slot. Some maybe but most was over the slot
The happy medium: Tournaments have a season based on latitude and when the spawn is. The spawn is off season. Tournaments need to do all weights/measurements immediately after the catch in the boat (MLF style) for all tournament days leading up to the Championship day - then have an actual weigh-in FFS - allow it for practice days, ban it on tournament days
No lol, look up what they do to bass In Japan lakes. They are supposed to kill then on site at many lakes and they even gave drop off areas along the lakes to dispose of them.
No lol, look up what they do to bass In Japan lakes. They are supposed to kill them on site at many lakes and they even gave drop off areas along the lakes to dispose of them.
Randy I was there and it was 99 degrees and pros had to wait a very long time for bags that didn't set well with the pros after coming in on time Shortage of wiegh in bags I think your right on
Just a couple of comments/questions. I was there during the tournament as a marshal on Thursday and Friday. Yes, FFS was used extensively and the water temps were in the 85-87 degree range. The fish I witnessed being caught were in the 10-20 foot depth range. When we took the five fish from the live well they were all very much alive. The anglers used different means during the day to keep the fish alive. That’s my personal experience. I was not there the Monday after the tournament so I cannot dispute the report from the local fisherman. My question is that the fish brought to the scales were placed in the holding tank(s) on the BASS pontoon boat and I assumed they would be released well away from the launch area. If they did not release them away from the launch area would we not have seen the fish weighed Thursday “floating” there when we launched Friday or when we came in for weigh-in Friday afternoon?
I agree with all of this. I recently began doing monthly kayak tournaments here in PA. Its 100% CPR and most of our lakes are shallow. Im stll sure that the fish suffer, especially on the daily tournaments with 100 plus anglers. I am also sure that the mortality rate is much lower with the CPR requirements. Also, the cost and weight of the FFS units make them the exception on a kayak. With the wind blowing you around, I would question how effective that would even be on a kayak. The whole GPS locking trolling motors just arent a thing. The best way to fight this is for states to regulate this type of sonor, just like they do for hunting deer. It is not just the bass that are getting crushed, but crappie and bluegill also. What is next? Smart lure drones that see the fish and swim in their mouths?
Went bass fishing at my local lake for the first time this year,knee replacement, anyway the water temp was 89 degrees. I i had to keep the live well running constantly. With just five fish in the live well it was hard on the fish. We have scrambles every Tuesday from 530 to 830 with water temps at 89 most of those fish are not released as they will die anyway. Only about 18 to 25 boats participate is more of a local visiting event among pals buddies and out lying participants. Fishing is tough on this lake at this time of year , only 3 boats had fish to weigh in the last scramble.
This is a real concern. After one of the Elite tournaments out of Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain last August, a member of an online fishing group I belong to reported that a friend of his who is a diver went out on Cumberland Bay the week after the tournament and the bottom of the bay was littered with dead smallmouth. They have got to go to a catch-weigh-release system. I understand all the hoopla and fan stuff associated with the weigh-in, but they are literally killing hundreds of bass at these tournaments. Got to make a change. Thanks for speaking out Randy
I've seen thoudands of bass killed in tournaments. Lots of dead fish at weigh-Ins.. Tons of bass die in livewells esspecially during the hot weather months. They don't take care of the bass. I've witnessed this sad scenario for over 60 years.
Great video. Unfortunately the bassmaster tournaments have very little to do with Bass or the conservation of anything. The tournaments are now all about the high power shiny boats and the fishing is nothing but a measuring stick they use so they can call it a competition. If large mouth bass become endangered they would just change the the of fish and continue the promotion of the boats and the equipment. 200HP boats screaming down the lake or river means more to those sponsoring these torunments than the sport itself . The reason the tournaments are when they are is because it enables the advertisers amd sponsors to get maximum exposure. The bass and there conservation is trumped by the $$! I love fishing but quite honestly Bass Masters turned me off to bass fishing tournaments years back watching things get out of hand and few pointing it out. If you look at the $ and where the money is going and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize the entire sport is to sell more 70k plus boats to the consumer! Only way to combat this is to not participate and do not support those who have pretty much destroyed a great sport! Also while catfish tournaments at the moment are much more of a sport and have much more concern for the resources that enable the sport but once money and sponsors take over these torunments will end the same way
I’ve posted my opinion on Bassmaster’s X account before and get pounced on lol that’s ok because I’m taking it to state legislators too. That’s exactly where I stand and couldn’t care less what the pro spotlight guys say..
I'm curious - why don't tournaments use length instead of weight. This would allow anglers to measure the fish and release right away. No need for live-well. Fewer dead bass. And less chance of cheaters stuffing weights down fish mouth. A lot of local kayak and other tournaments do this using basic length measurements. Makes way more sense
Here's a funny one. The boat tanks that haul all the fish back out to deep water is a joke also. The fish just float where no one can see them float. CATCH WEIGH RELEASE is the answer for better fishing days to come.
Didn't know BASS released the bass at the launch site. I thought they had live release boats to distribute the bass around different parts of the lake.
Bass die if exposed to a temperature RISE of 10 degrees F. When fishermen put ice in livewell NEVER cool fish down more than 10 degrees and FISH WON'T die when released. Need to only allow tournaments during the spawning period. If you have a tournament in July, fishermen should be required to keep and eat all bass caught so the resources are not wasted. NOTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH FFS.
Other food for thought Randy is fish handling. Australian Bass Tournaments, Bass are usually landed using knotless landing nets and if held up by jaw the body is supported. It may not affect your bass but ours have shown it may tear their throat latch, they will swim away but they can die. Not worth the risk for a glory shot. I know I wouldn't want to be held up by my jaw.
Not taking up for BASS but they normally have a release boat. They take fish to middle of lake and release them. Not sure there all going to wash back to boat ramp. They said same thing about Sealy tournament in Alabama. They have a release boat fish were not released anywhere near ramp but everyone said they were floating at ramp.
Randy I live on Smith Lake and where they live release boats were were right in front of my house and they did not have any fish floating in fish gills are going to come with the heat it was 102° on Smith Lake and these anglers were doing all they could to keep these fish. Alive but they were pulling this fish out of 30 feet of death so where is going to come with the death they were at so it’s kind a hard to keep some of these fish are alive when I pull him out of so deep so just because one person told you that everybody said there wasn’t as many fish dead as I thought they were gonna be I actually talked to Logan parks my close friend Logan Parks is his nephew and I know a lot of the elite series guys and they did not say there were a lot of fish. Dead 😂
Randy making another negative video about the sport he supposedly loves and cares so much about! Lol what a suprise! Tournament angler bashing tournament trails on how they take care of fish....
@andybales7318 Have u ever used FFS if not u definitely don't know what u are talking about. U do not pull up see a fish catch a fish dam do all these idiots really think it's that easy. I have FFS and see crappie loaded on brush and u might get 1 to bite if your lucky.
Really can’t understand why these big organizations have these tournaments in May through August, I don’t know why they don’t fish in the fall all the way through early spring, who cares about deer hunting if you really want to fish. I wish local tournaments would stop fishing in the summer,.
Same problem here in CA. Clear lake , water is so warm and those fish die in the live wells. Same on the delta. I'm sick of the lack of respect for our resource.
Is it any wonder that this occurs? The ammount of time tournaents keep bass out of the water is rediculous. You have seconds, not minutes, to expose the bass to non-aquatic environments. Holding the bass up to showcase the catch, running them to a hospital tank and then, on top of that, extended bladders and eventual death is stupid folks.
Talk to a freshwater fishery biologist. I just heard yesterday. They said bed fishing. It's not doing any damage to Lakes and river system, they said we can't hook. Enough fish to do serious damage. But they said the most damage being done to our spokennoise rivers and lakes. Is not harvesting enough fish straight out of their mouth.Talk to one
@@tonyg3888 this the difference between conservation vs preservation. Proven that preservation doesn’t work. A conservationist understands controlled harvesting. People want to go off of emotion and not science.
I bet you didn't care if the fish died, when you were fishing tournaments long ago. Just have catch and release tournaments, but don't blame it on FFS.
Hey Randy did you see the Texas and BPT biologist talking about bass populations and bass tournament mortality rates on Tyler’s Reel Fishing? It’s definitely worth a watch
It sounds like "conservation" should be no more fishing tournaments. Only a few people profit hugely and the fisheries are mercilessly battered. The fish suffer. The waters are polluted. How about no more fishing tournaments and all states just ban "live scoping"?
If it's as bad as the local said he should have pictures. I want to believe this guy. But if something big like this happens I'd believe pics would be taken. Also your right. Bass are a large part of our season. Think about it... without bass we don't have a bass fishing sport or tournament. It's like if we didn't have leather or footballs let's say than what do we do if football went extinct. Sounds stupid lol but you get my point.
Bubbles + Oxygenaror + circulation + gjuice + ice. I transported a giant across my state one time to put in my pond. She’s still in there alive and kicking 3 years later.
BASS is usually very good about fish care. They have someone who oversees the fish care and the live release boat. They do not release at the weigh in site. There is no reason to have tournaments in the summer when the water temps and the air temps are 90degrees plus. There was a Big Bass tournament at Guntersville a few weeks ago and there were dead fish everywhere the next day. That should never happen!!!
Although I disagree with you on the whole FFS issue ( I can respectfully disagree with you on that issue for a variety of reasons) I COMPLETELY agree with you regarding times of year and would add that the "weigh in" (though it's intended as good for tv and drama) mindset should be changed. If it's a major tournament, the MLF has it right...catch weigh, release. Orrrr...the kayak model of length versus weight is a good alternative. If desired, "for drama" each angler can keep one big fish (minimum weight TBD prior start of tournament) to have a big fish weigh in. This would greatly reduce the mortality. I know there are still risks to those big fish, but those risks are already there in the current model. As for the "deep water" FFS model, I am a Northern CA angler and here, deep water in summer is just the way we catch fish, so FFS isnt as much an issue. I've been catching fish out of 40+ feet of water over giant rock piles for 35 years. FFS hasn't changed things much for me, over old school flasher and paper graph and buoys.
I wouldn't combine the Spotlighting message with the fish kill message. Two separate messages. It is insane to fish on a southern lake during the summer relative to fish kill. There will always be mortality as the oxygen levels lower in water. Dragging up fish from the depths likely exacerbates this. So no, there should be no Alabama tournaments in June. Go up north. Now I'd advise any of your commenters who observe these fish kills to take a picture and post it. Send it to you. Otherwise it is an anecdote. So let's give BASS and MLF grief if this is true. Are there any Smith Lake fishermen watching your videos? BASS and MLF aside, how many club and advanced club tournaments are on this lake every weekend? That likely is five times the damage that the pros do. And a club dude can't do the MLF weigh in thing because there are no observers. When I fished a club in SE Texas, we night fished in the summer. And I ran my live well recirculation pumps all night. I guess it is up to us to do the right thing. Is there proof from Smith Lake they were catching fish on the bottom in 100' of water or were they catching suspended fish?
So you’re now saying that live scoping is causing bass to die because taking out of deep water? I’m pretty sure bass takes care and releases the bass ethical way
Hey, how about making it really simple !!!!!!!! CATCH, WEIGH, AND RELEASE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stop with these, ole look at me and the fish i caught weigh-ins. That goes for the Tackle Warehouse as well. Put officials in every boat, and weigh and record every fish caught. Stop putting the fish on the carpets as well. Enforce a two minute penalty on anyone who does. We need a league like that. Oh, wait a minute. We already have a league like that. It's the MLF. It's where all the professionals fish. Imagine that MLF has been doing it right for the last 6 years.
If bass leagues, or bass organizations truly cared about the sport, then they all would practise conservation in the long term. Once you add money as an incentive, you remove conservation. Greed sets in. Its all about making money today, not looking at tomorrow. . .
The rare times my health allows me to fish I'm more of a musky angler than bass. Watching a well known Minnesota tackle store's UTube channel they had their 17ft boat loaded with 3 big screens. And they caught 3 muskies. FF sonar has the fish of 10,000 cast down to about 3333 cast for now until the next generation cuts that down even further.
I’m calling BS! I’ve been an elite series, Marshall, two dozen times, including with scoopers, and those guys are some of the best at Fish care. I’m talking as an actual witness and what I’ve actually seen. I’m calling BS.
Plus they didn't release at ramp they have a luve release boat so how did they get to the ramp after taken out by the release boat. There are plenty of bass guys your aloud to kill and eat 5 a day. Only thing I agree on is hot water tournaments and spawn tournaments
Randy, until change is effected, since there is delayed mortality from ffs and fishing deep, rather than releasing fish that are going to die anyway, can they be donated to an organization that feeds the hungry? Similar to “Hunters for the hungry” that donate the deer to be processed to feed people that are in need. Just an idea.
Bassbi is a distant cousin of Bambi and lives in Japan. Like Bambi, Bassbi is a poor defenseless orphan bass whose mother was killed by mean fishermen who were fishing instead of hugging trees. In Japan, many lakes have laws mandating that all bass caught be killed and not returned to the lake. The bass have been deemed invasive and harmful competitors to food source and native species. Kill boxes are strategically placed on these lakes at boat ramps and popular fishing spots. One such lake requiring the use of kill boxes is Lake Biwa, one of Japans most famous trophy bass lakes. The lake has a do not release mandate for largemouth, and anglers are by law required to remove captured fish from the lake. Bass were first found in Biwa in 1965, again in 1974, and exploded in population in the 1980’s. Since that time, efforts to remove the species (and blue gills)have been underway. Many in Japan view bass quite differently than in the States. American tree huggers wouldn’t fare well with some of the locals on Biwa.
