Dead Wisconsin tournament bass

[IFallsRon]

Hundreds of bass found dead following fishing tournament

Star Tribune

LA CROSSE, Wis. — Hundreds of dead bass have been collected from La Crosse-area river waters, days after a major fishing tournament was held in the region, a state official said.

Nearly all of the 582 bass were marked with a clipped tail fin, evidence they were caught and released during a bass-fishing tournament from July 12-15, said David Hobbs of the state Department of Natural Resources.

This is the second year that higher-than-normal fish deaths were reported in the area following the Wal-Mart FLW Stren Series Bass Fishing Tournament, which attracted 400 anglers.

Last year, most of the dead fish tested positive for largemouth bass virus, which can cause death when the fish is stressed.

The majority of the fish Hobbs collected this year were largemouth, and he said the stress of being caught, held in a livewell and released might be a factor in their deaths.

As part of an ongoing study, the DNR clipped the tail fins of the more than 2,000 bass caught and released during the four-day tournament. The research, conducted by the DNR and fishery biology researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, focuses on mortality rates in bass-fishing tournaments.

The study is in response to a 2003 Wisconsin law calling for an investigation of the economic, sociological and biological impacts of catch-and-release programs in bass tournaments. Results are expected in early August.

Veteran tournament angler Ed Stellner, 53, of Onalaska, said anglers are concerned but they question the DNR study.

"If we are killing the fish, we definitely want to know why,'' he said. "However, I also should point out that there's a bass-fishing tournament in La Crosse every weekend, and when's the last time you saw this many dead? After last year's tournament (which was the first year of the study).''

Perhaps the way the DNR conducted the study was a factor, Stellner said.

The agency put about 100 fish a day in 8-by-8-foot holding pens on the Black River. An equal number of tournament-caught fish and fish culled from the wild using electroshocking were kept for a side-by-side comparison.

The pens didn't have proper current flow, which could have raised water temperatures and limited oxygen levels, Stellner said. Also, the fish were held for up to five days, another possible source of stress, he said.

Hobbs confirmed Stellner's account of the holding pens but said the electroshocked fish weren't among those he collected because they did not have a clipped fin.

Hobbs collected the fish from Pettibone Beach to Airport Beach.

Tournament official Dave Washburn of FLW Outdoors, based in Benton, Ky., said Monday that "clearly we're all concerned'' about the fish deaths.

But "we have a lot to learn about how to conduct the study,'' he said.

[ice_shack]

Sounds like something peta would do to make a point.

[Ufatz]

Ahhhh yes. Another benefit of the joy of competitive fishing.It wouldn't surprise me if PETA jumps all over it.

[katoguy]

Sounds like the DNR should learn how to do scientific studies. Throwing in other variables that can skew the results... are these guys politicians?

[BigWadeS]

I am an avid (well try to be) outdoorsman and I am a firm believer in PETA (people eating tasty animals)

[Fishin4Life]

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I am an avid (well try to be) outdoorsman and I am a firm believer in PETA (people eating tasty animals)

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lol, nice

[SpecialK]

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I am an avid (well try to be) outdoorsman and I am a firm believer in PETA (people eating tasty animals)

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Me too! My favorite quote has always been:

"There's room enough for all of God's creatures, right next to the mashed potatoes"

[Cooter]

This guy must be a genious:

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the stress of being caught, held in a livewell and released might be a factor in their deaths.

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I bet he's so smart he also realizes the hot weather might be a factor as well.

[Ufatz]

Thats right-surely hot weather was a factor. Just like it was in Montana when hundreds of walleyes were floating the next day. But....did anybody attempt to shorten tournament hours, change the way fish are held/handled or take ANY mitigating measurs that might limit or lesson mortality? Of course not. The focus is on the competition and the MONEY for fishing!!

The problem is not the temperature. The problem is the pressures of competitive fishing. I'm tickled the WI fish and game guys are doing a study. Its long overdue in quite a few other venues too.

None of it will happen of course and nothing will change because now fishing is BIG business.

[cold one sd]

The thing that really soured me on tournaments was the time that my wife and I got to the launch just as a Walleye tournament got over. I dropped her off to get the pickup and trailer from the parking lot and they ran her off of the road when she was on the way down to load me. We finally got the boat out of the water and our fish cleaned after waiting for about 50 absolute jerks to get loaded first. We listened to the partying all night and the next morning watched boat after boat pull up to the dumpster and throw the dead fish from their livewells away. Talk about a great way to advertise the sport of fishing. Now we avoid freakin tournaments wherever they are. What a turn off!!!

[katoguy]

Fishing is a big business. That goes without saying. It is responsible for a lot of small businesses that make the overall picture a tremendously big business. FM is one small part of the fishing business, too.

I don't think anyone has a problem with someone doing these studies. Just do them correctly, objectively, and scientifically.

[TimR]

Read this:

The agency put about 100 fish a day in 8-by-8-foot holding pens on the Black River. An equal number of tournament-caught fish and fish culled from the wild using electroshocking were kept for a side-by-side comparison.

You've got dead clipped fish. No dead non-clipped fish. Whether or not a "veteran tournament angler" decides the water flow wasn't sufficient, it wasn't the electroshocked fish that died, now was it?

I didn't see where the DNR or UWSP drew any conclusions from the data.

Sounds more like tournie fishing in an area where fish are apt to be stressed, is going to have high mortality rates. Or do you see some "thrown in" variables that would rebut that conclusion?

Tim

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Sounds like the DNR should learn how to do scientific studies. Throwing in other variables that can skew the results... are these guys politicians?

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[n8ivefl]

Isn't the point that following a tournament, the captured fish died regardless of the fact that they were returned to the water?

I wonder if this is a common occurance following other tournaments? If so, perhaps we should look at other options than returning soon-to-be dead fish to the water.

[katoguy]

TimR, read this:

No one is arguing that studies to learn and educate are not good, but when one such as you reads something into the study based upon many possible variables...

Yes, riding in a livewell can stress fish then add further stress of locking 100 fish in a 8x8 holding pens (lack of current/many fish in small area/hot, etc). An equal number of fish with less or different stress is put in the same types of stressful holding pens. Can comparison be made? Well, not valid comparisons!

I didn’t state that the WI DNR drew any conclusions. Maybe someone else did? BUT - this is exactly what lobbyist groups do in politics - make comparisons that aren’t equivalent just to get the non-educated to make their own ill-gotten assumptions. (As you just proven.)

More studies are welcome. (valid studies)

Better handling of fish in tourneys is also welcome. Fish are a resource so legal limits could be intentionally killed. Maybe all tourneys should be catch and kill?

[TimR]

katoguy says:

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TimR, read this:

good, but when one such as you reads something into the study based upon many possible variables...

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I didn't read anything into it. The conclusion I drew is valid: Fish that are stressed from tournie activities are more prone to mortality in a stressful environment than are fish that weren't subject to those tournie activities.

katoguy says:

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Yes, riding in a livewell can stress fish then add further stress of locking 100 fish in a 8x8 holding pens (lack of current/many fish in small area/hot, etc). An equal number of fish with less or different stress is put in the same types of stressful holding pens. Can comparison be made? Well, not valid comparisons!

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A very valid comparison can be shown.

You have two groups of fish in the same environment. A test group and a control. Mortality of the test group is higher than that of the control. Test group is less likely to survive in XYZ environment.

katoguy says:

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I didn’t state that the WI DNR drew any conclusions. Maybe someone else did? BUT - this is exactly what lobbyist groups do in politics - make comparisons that aren’t equivalent just to get the non-educated to make their own ill-gotten assumptions. (As you just proven.)

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I'm a scientist by trade, educated in chemistry and biology. I made no "ill-gotten" assumptions, I looked at the data presented, and drew conclusions from it. If you would do the same, you would see that even from an imperfect study conclusions can be drawn.

So, tell me what is wrong with concluding the following from the information that was presented:

Fish that are stressed from tournie activities are more prone to mortality in a stressful environment than are fish that weren't subject to those tournie activities.

What assumptions were made that invalidate that conclusion? What comparisons?

Tim

[katoguy]

“Hobbs confirmed Stellar’s account about the holding pens…”

It really is that simple that all the study shows is that don’t place 100 fish that may be stressed out in a 8x8 holding pen for days with possible inadequate water flow because some may die (more even than compared to non-tourney fish).

Any other assumptions are ill-gotten. (perhaps correct? Perhaps not? But reading anything other than the statement above into it or one may end up with the (Contact Us Please)-u-me principle.)

The study is kind of leading (and, also, misleading). (It is what I was referring to earlier regarding those easily jumping on the anti-tourney crowd). It gives them fodder without the whole fact. It does sound like a political or PETA spin, of sorts.

[Wade Joseph]

I have been Hammered with offensive PM's on another forum for posting about this. It has happened two years in a row in the same place. I have always been against big money, big tournaments. Local clubs and such are fine but the Big production high dollar tourneys seem to always end up leaving some scar wherever they go.

It would seem to me that somehwere someone could invent a digital scale that has a tamper proof memory so the fish could be weighed, then photographed by the "other" guy in the boat so they could be released imediately. No need to haul them around all day in the livewell for weigh in at the end of the day.

[T-water]

Great idea. We all can kill fish, but to increase the probability for a contest is ridiculous. My guess is if the technology does exist the tournaments wouldn't use it because the tournament loves the "Big Show" at the end of the day with guys flailing their fish around. I don't get it, I'm more of a process than product guy, I love the idea of having a nice long day fishing for fishing sake.

[Slyster]

How about a major change... using length only.. no weight? And photograph against an official tourney ruler or something.