Ed,

Going back up a couple of posts, Yes, I would agree.

Back to the mainstream:

I have heard that water temp can play a part in the problem, but I hear more about poor oxygen levels in the live-wells as the culprit. They have oxygen filters that can be hooked right up to your live-well pumps and can make a huge difference in the mortality of live-well bass.

On the Foxwoods tournament trial, they have been working with a live release boat for three years. They recently made some announcements related to these oxygen filters making a huge difference in their live release rates.

Now Joe makes another point, “What we do have to remember is that even if they act lively, delayed mortality can ruin any good intentions.”.

I fished a tournament up in Connecticut on Mansfield Hollow and the D.E.P. has been conducting studies there on this exact matter. They were at the ramp for the weigh-in and would take all of the bass from the tournament and bring them out to a huge cage they set up in the middle of the lake. Apparently, they have been checking up on these bass for the days that follow each tournament before they actually release these bass back into freedom. I’d sure like to see the results from this study. Hopefully, they are able to answer some of these questions we have all been pondering.

If I ever find out any of the details, I'll be sure to post them up on the boards.

BC

Absolutely Brendan! Any improvements to livewells, wether it be climate control system or oxyegen filter, can only help in this situation, and I would gladly be first in line to buy them! I have also heard of these D.E.C. "cage tests" and I'm not too sure I would like to know the results for fear that they may be worse than we all think!

Joe, I am the Tournament director of a new club here on the Island. We have about 10 tournaments slated for this season. Half are team events and the others are singles. From my point of view, as TX director my goal is to have 100% live release throughout the season. This is hard to achieve but by lowering the bag limit in a team event to 6 fish, it is a reality. We have done very nicely so far. At the end of the team session we have two open, fun fishing events without having to worry about points. Then it is into the singles competition. We will carry over the wieght from the team events. if team A has 20lbs in 4 events then both anglers start out with 2olbs......and so on down the line. The top anglers in the team events...the top two teams qualify for our classic. The top 4 from the singlers events also qualify. I personally don't like the idea of having two full limits on board at any one time and we are trying to get singles guys to use two live wells. So far so good!!!

MMT- A couple of questions:

(a)- Do you draw partners for the Team portion of your schedule?
(b)- Do you limit each partner to 3 bass per tournament? Or can it be 5 and 1 or 4 and 2?

Some clubs split the tournaments into 2 halves and have 2 weigh-ins. The problem with this is that if you can catch a limit in the morning, you have to decide whether you want to weigh them all or release some of the smaller keepers. Also, each angler is entitled to keep one bass in the livewell for the 2nd weigh-in. For example, if you caught 3 keepers, you could weigh in the two biggest of the 3 bass and keep the other one in the livewell. It might be possible for you to catch three bigger bass in the 2nd half and you could cull the smaller fish.

Be advised, no other bass caught in the first half can occupy your livewell in the second half; just the one I spoke about.

This system is a lifesaver for the bass, but it can be a real headache for the angler. As you know, releasing a keeper bass in the morning in hopes of catching another one in the afternoon is a heartbreak about to happen.

Bass fishing is no different than other walks of life. One day it is great and you walk in the clouds. The next day it is as Rodney Dangerfield said in "Back to School":
"Look out for Number One but don't step in Number Two!"

Keep Posting and tell your friends about BassinUSA. JoeMo

Joe, our tournies are usually 7 hrs long. For our partner events, we fish with that same partner for all four events. One guy can actually catch all or none of the fish and still get credit for the weight....it is a team thing. We considered the 4 hr weigh in thing but decided that our live well set up was adequate to handle 7 hrs. We have been impressed with the results so far. The second half of the season will be draw events, with one or two guys requesting to fish with their spouses. We are not a money club so there really is no worry about foul play.

MMT- Sounds like you fellas have your T's set up pretty well and you definitely show the proper concern for the bass' health and welfare.

Keep those posts coming. Thanks. JoeMo