Mn Metro Tourny Results???

[lots of luck]

Brad you summed up his video interview nicely. Thanks for taking the time to do that. I liked how he discusses seeing that fish fourty feet out, only to eat at the boat. Must have been quite the experience. Oh yeah his partner was a no show, he made the best of the situation, congrats to GUS!!

[Cfollow]

I have got to take JRedig's side on this one. How low profile and nice of a guy he is has nothing to do with poor muskie handling. Get a Knipex cutter and start cutting hooks and the net bag if you have to. I mean you are almost certainly going to win prize money with a fish that big so treat it right. Never any reason for a muskie to hit the bottom of a boat in 2009. It sounds like all the big fish in this tournament hit the bottom of a boat, sad really!

[ole matty]

No prize money is worth than a muskie. It took 1k muskie to take 1 50" accord to muskie inc's log. So if its stocked fish, 30 dollar per fingerling. 1k x 30= that's 30k worth of fingerling to get one 50". That's like 1 50" muskie r 15 time more worth than 1st place prize. Sad to hear about those events.. Newbie to Low profile or pro guide guys. We still need to handle them like priceless vase.

well congrat to that guy for win the tourney

[JRedig]

The Winner,,"Gus" is a great guy and about has low profile has you can get,,a little background info on the catch- The fish was actually 'hooked' to the outside of the net out of the rim when it came in so they had to flip it in and wrap it to land it which would have made it very hard to untangle the hooks imbedded in the mesh over the side. Also 'Gus' was the last boat out of the landing on sat mourning choosing to wait while a handicapped person launched his boat and occupied the last dock space.Gus fished longer but quit early on the tourney that day he left with a lot of time yet even when going for a double would have surely cinched it not knowing what else had been caught but Gus was happy with his big personal best,

Couldnt have happened to a better guy

That's a great story, not sure what it has to do with handling and is certainly no excuse for it. As stated, get a cutter, start cutting immediately, cut the net, who cares. You're gonna win a couple grand, buy a new net/hoop/twine to fix it. As the photo editor for muskie inc magazine, who has recently dedicated quite a bit of paper to proper handling and releasing of these fish, i'd expect a different take from someone in your position. Maybe i'm being a hard-arse...but I can live with that.

[lots of luck]

Careful guys, you're bordering on that "elitist" level that gets thrown at muskie anglers. Remember, this was a fund raising event for stocking on "put and catch-n-release" lakes. This type of event is about getting more people into the sport of muskie fishing and "competitive" muskie fishing at a price point any can take participate in. Bashing individuals and turning people off to muskie fishing is not going to help get more lakes stocked and more muskie fishermen involved. Power in numbers comes to mind.

Look at he results from the tournament and how many years Paul Hartmann has been having these events. He has done a lot for muskie fishing in the metro. He has done a lot for tournament fishing in general. He's doing something right and the results are in the leader board numbers. World class muskies in a metro setting, amazing.

Take the opportunity to educate new anglers to how you may have handled a 53" muskie hooked on the outside loop of the net while fishing alone. Knowing we have all handled so many fish of that caliber.

I would like to thank Gus for "trying", maybe he needs to improve a bit. He had every right to "thump" that fish if he chose. Remember those muskies that just coulndn't revive on Mille Lacs? That just happened to be 55"?

Reality check guys.

[DHanson]

I agree with JRedig on this one. Muskies always come first before fame and fortune. I have not fished a tournament yet, but someday I hope to. I will treat the fish exactly the same in the tournament as I do in every day fishing. I have been known to cut my nets quite a bit in order to untangle a fish in the net. I try my hardest to get the best releases possible and I take pride knowing that that fish will be caught again by either myself or another lucky angler.

Fish should never be put in the bottom of the boat. The only time I have witnessed someone putting a fish in the bottom of the boat is when my buddy caught a couple fish in back to back days completely swallowing his lure. He layed the fish upside down on the boat and started cutting hooks through the gills. Again these fish had no chance unless he did this procedure. He got the hooks cut and the lure free and the fish swam away with a chance. I would say 80 percent of the fish I catch are water releases where I never take them out of the water for pics. Water release pics look better to me.

[Zorba]

I generally don't post here, but this discussion has me feeling compelled to join in. I am not sure if this is related to the metro tourney, or just the large volume of pressure from a nice weekend, but I personally witnessed two mid size muskies and one large northern floating in my favorite metro lake on Sunday. This sight plagued my mind for the four hours I was out. All in all a very disappointing afternoon on the water. In the end, my mood was lifted by witnessing a truly respectable act. Two guys hooked up, got the fish in the net quickly, never lifted the fish out of the water. One guy asked the other if he wanted a photo and the reply was - no, lets just slide the net out from under her. That was it, short fight, healthy fish, two fired up anglers, and my faith restored.

[beatuplund]

"All 40" muskies must be taken immediately to nearest witness not in your boat for measurement and release." (from rules page)

= time out of the water

[JRedig]

Look at he results from the tournament and how many years Paul Hartmann has been having these events. He has done a lot for muskie fishing in the metro. He has done a lot for tournament fishing in general. He's doing something right and the results are in the leader board numbers. World class muskies in a metro setting, amazing.

[JRedig]

"All 40" muskies must be taken immediately to nearest witness not in your boat for measurement and release." (from rules page)

= time out of the water

It also states that if the big/gas motor is running, life jackets must be worn. So the guys had their 48 in the bottom of the boat running on plane with no life jackets, shouldn't they be DQ'd for that?

How come you couldn't transport the fish using a livewell or with the net over the side going slowly? C'mon common sense.

[dudeness]

I thought you could use a witness from within your boat if needed. I would consider anything more than shouting or waving my arms to a nearby boat enough reason to just have my partner sign it. I thought they didn't want any fish being transported?

I guess this guy was alone though. Either way, you could put the thing back in the water (in the net) and wait for somebody to drive by.

[lots of luck]

Remember those muskies that just coulndn't revive on Mille Lacs? That just happened to be 55"?

The point is things happen, even to the best of people with the best intentions. Fish die, there is a calculated mortality to this game. It sounds like this fish could not be water released, due to a net situation. AT that moment they did what they felt they had to do.

This tournament does allow anyone to fish it, so there are a lot of newbies along with veterans. There will be some mistakes made. How many fish were handled in the grand scheme of things and how many will be stocked due to the event?

I kind of agree on the "witness" situation. Take the pics on a bump board and be done with it, just like the rest of Paul's tournament events. I don't believe those involve a "witness" or judge boat.

[JRedig]

I thought you could use a witness from within your boat if needed. I would consider anything more than shouting or waving my arms to a nearby boat enough reason to just have my partner sign it. I thought they didn't want any fish being transported?

I guess this guy was alone though. Either way, you could put the thing back in the water (in the net) and wait for somebody to drive by.

You are absolutely correct, however that is not explained clearly in the rules. He was alone, but another tournament boat was nearby and came over to help with netting and everything there after.

[lots of luck]

Originally Posted By: beatuplund

"All 40" muskies must be taken immediately to nearest witness not in your boat for measurement and release." (from rules page)

= time out of the water

It also states that if the big/gas motor is running, life jackets must be worn. So the guys had their 48 in the bottom of the boat running on plane with no life jackets, shouldn't they be DQ'd for that?

How come you couldn't transport the fish using a livewell or with the net over the side going slowly? C'mon common sense.

I know nothing of that situation, can't comment. Probably should have been penalized, but I think this tournament has a different feel to it, considering it is on so many lakes and based a lot on angler honesty. Nobody is possibly watching everyone. Much different then other PMTT or MAC events, the big entry and big prize events.

[brad coin]

I agree 100% that water release is the way to go and has my fishing partners will attest I dont even carry a Camera with me. unless its 50 inches I dont take a picture not that I catch that many I have 3 total 50' plus.In fact come November I try to shake fish off at the side of the boat I dont need my hands 'Stinging/ throbbing" miserably cold.

However I think that there ARE some instances where bringing a fish in the boat is warranted, To me the idea of cutting through the bag before getting to the hooks when its wrapped means a hole in the net and a fish left thrashing at the side of the boat banging its head or worse now able to thrust its tail and launch itself upwards at your over board leaning face hooks and all, an intact bag contains them a bag with a hole is potential for disaster.

[lots of luck]

Originally Posted By: dudeness

I thought you could use a witness from within your boat if needed. I would consider anything more than shouting or waving my arms to a nearby boat enough reason to just have my partner sign it. I thought they didn't want any fish being transported?

I guess this guy was alone though. Either way, you could put the thing back in the water (in the net) and wait for somebody to drive by.

You are absolutely correct, however that is not explained clearly in the rules. He was alone, but another tournament boat was nearby and came over to help with netting and everything there after.

That is a point of contention for sure JRedig. What if he would have lost the fish while trying to extract it from the net? The bystander became a part of the tournament all of a sudden.

[lots of luck]

If he's competing in the tournament and going to register the fish, no he doesn't have the right to thump it. It's a catch and release, no transport, tournament format.

Sure he does, what if he felt that fish was a fish of a lifetime and worth more than 2 grand in prize money. He had every right to keep it.

I guarantee if someone catches the next world record and it is a freak of a fish in a tournament it will be thumped. It will be worth far more than the prize money.

[JRedig]

Originally Posted By: JRedig

If he's competing in the tournament and going to register the fish, no he doesn't have the right to thump it. It's a catch and release, no transport, tournament format.

Sure he does, what if he felt that fish was a fish of a lifetime and worth more than 2 grand in prize money. He had every right to keep it.

I guarantee if someone catches the next world record and it is a freak of a fish in a tournament it will be thumped. It will be worth far more than the prize money.

I agree, but as my first sentence states, if you're going to register the fish, it cannot be killed.

[lots of luck]

I thought that was implied.

[HOT SPOT]

I dont understand why people say dont bring the camera out unless its 50 in if you are so dam worked up about people takeing pics of a 40 are what ever size it is then why in the heck would you bring it out for a 5o in. The older the fish gets the more likely it will be to die.

[cjac]

The pic of the 1st place fish wasn't that bad, and yes things happen, but it's a little bush league in my opinion. Let's just say it looks like the "Don't" pic in a how to handle "Do's & Don't s" in a muskie handling example. Fish don't lay on carpet in my ride....... Notice I said "fish" and not just muskie.

Couple that with the 4th place fish going for a 4 minute boat ride, and another that finished top 10 that had the tourney director Hartman a little fired up because the timestamp on photos covered several minutes and you have 3 top 10 fish that got the short end of the bargain.

Left a sour taste in my mouth of what is seen as my "peer group" to other anglers and boaters on the water and on shore.

Elitist? No.

Ethical & environmental & educated? Yes.

[50inchpig]

Have there been concerns with handling fish in the past?

Has the "judging" standards changed from previous years?

I only ask because I know the MMTT merged with that other tourney trail and the well being of the fish and fishery was supposed to be emphasized, and I can't remember much talk about the handling of tourney fish in previous years.

Don't we all have livewells in our boats nowadays?

[musky39]

After reading all this stuff, I feel compelled to chime in. I've been musky fishin for about 8 years. I don't belong to muskies inc, am not in the inner circle, etc. I started out not knowing much, bought a heavy bass rod, put a baitcaster on it and steel leader on it and throwing bucktails around. Pretty quick, I caught a 48" out of Tonka. Got it in, netted it with my walleye net, put it on the floor of the boat, unhooked it, measured it and took a couple of pictures, all on the floor of the boat. Pretty stupid in hindsight, fish very well may have died. However, I had no malicious intent, I was just uneducated, excited, and a little scared of having my arm eaten off.

During this experience, if some musky elitist had rolled up in his Ranger and talked down to me, called me stupid, lectured me, etc. I probably would have told him to beat it, punched him in the nose, and mentioned that I had every legal right to eat my catch for dinner. Same thing if they had posted how stupid I was on a web site such as this. And I'd be eating musky every night for dinner to this day. As it was, I had no such encounter, realized I was totally unprepared for catching a big fish, spent my kids' college savings on the proper gear, and handle fish properly.

This sport is exploding in popularity, and not everyone has the time/money/energy/education to hit the lake for the first time with the proper gear. I can't count the number of times that I've helped guys who were obviously underprepared to land/handle fish. I always approach them gently and humbly, Can I help you at all? etc. I have always been well received and taken the opportunity to do a little bit of educating. Try a little diplomacy, people.

[bassmann77]

I have to ask..who has a livewell that is big enough for a 40+" fish? I have a new fishing boat and the biggest fish I think I could put in there might be a mid-30". I am dissappointed like the most on this topic in the way these fish were handled, but put fish in a livewell? One solution to this problem is to make it very clear how the fish should be handled and to make sure that the pictures are taken in a quick manner.

[Jim Uran]

After reading all this stuff, I feel compelled to chime in. I've been musky fishin for about 8 years. I don't belong to muskies inc, am not in the inner circle, etc. I started out not knowing much, bought a heavy bass rod, put a baitcaster on it and steel leader on it and throwing bucktails around. Pretty quick, I caught a 48" out of Tonka. Got it in, netted it with my walleye net, put it on the floor of the boat, unhooked it, measured it and took a couple of pictures, all on the floor of the boat. Pretty stupid in hindsight, fish very well may have died. However, I had no malicious intent, I was just uneducated, excited, and a little scared of having my arm eaten off.

During this experience, if some musky elitist had rolled up in his Ranger and talked down to me, called me stupid, lectured me, etc. I probably would have told him to beat it, punched him in the nose, and mentioned that I had every legal right to eat my catch for dinner. Same thing if they had posted how stupid I was on a web site such as this. And I'd be eating musky every night for dinner to this day. As it was, I had no such encounter, realized I was totally unprepared for catching a big fish, spent my kids' college savings on the proper gear, and handle fish properly.

This sport is exploding in popularity, and not everyone has the time/money/energy/education to hit the lake for the first time with the proper gear. I can't count the number of times that I've helped guys who were obviously underprepared to land/handle fish. I always approach them gently and humbly, Can I help you at all? etc. I have always been well received and taken the opportunity to do a little bit of educating. Try a little diplomacy, people.

Very well said!!!!!!