Sea Bass tournament?

[bulletbob]

I dunno... Personally tournaments of any type leave me cold... There are hundreds of them up here, and the
"weigh in areas" where the fish are weighed and released are covered with dead bass by the hundreds after each one, and even in the big upstate NY lakes it has had a major impact on the fishing.. Its a pale shadow of what it was years ago...
Do we really need a sea bass tournament to go along with Striper, Blackfish, Bluefish, Fluke and Weakfish tournaments, not to mention the million bass,trout and salmon, and even carp and catfish tournaments?..
Never been a fan..
Years ago there lived a wonderful salt water fishing author, contributor,editor named Frank Woolner.. Read some of his stuff sometime, its timeless..
He once wrote these profound words..

"Fishing is a contemplative sport, it should not be a competitive one".. I wish more fishermen both fresh and salt took those words to heart... bob

[Sharkyispy]

Originally Posted by bulletbob

I dunno... Personally tournaments of any type leave me cold... There are hundreds of them up here, and the
"weigh in areas" where the fish are weighed and released are covered with dead bass by the hundreds after each one, and even in the big upstate NY lakes it has had a major impact on the fishing.. Its a pale shadow of what it was years ago...
Do we really need a sea bass tournament to go along with Striper, Blackfish, Bluefish, Fluke and Weakfish tournaments, not to mention the million bass,trout and salmon, and even carp and catfish tournaments?..
Never been a fan..
Years ago there lived a wonderful salt water fishing author, contributor,editor named Frank Woolner.. Read some of his stuff sometime, its timeless..
He once wrote these profound words..

"Fishing is a contemplative sport, it should not be a competitive one".. I wish more fishermen both fresh and salt took those words to heart... bob

Appreciate your perspective and at times, yes. a very contemplative and more so reflective sport for me. Thinking back to when I was a kid being taught how to fish and spending priceless time with family members fishing in lakes, streams,rivers and creeks and now the ocean. I also find it nourishing to be competitive at times. The thrill of the opportunity to be involved with a "team" to fish or single handedly attempt to catch...."the big one" for the prize money or bragging rights

[tautog]

If the weigh-in site is full of dead sea bass that no one wants, I will be there will a cooler full of ice...

[Angler Paul]

Most people keep the sea bass to eat and there are tons of them out there. I don't see how a tournament would hurt. Unfortunately, the quota is far too low for the entire east coast. The population of sea bass continues to grow and as it does so their range increases as well. Now all the states to our north catch a lot of them that causes us to go over the quota and again it results in tighter restrictions for us. JCAA believes it is time to rebel against the ASMFC for setting these ridiculously low quotas.

Paul Haertel

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by Angler Paul

Most people keep the sea bass to eat and there are tons of them out there. I don't see how a tournament would hurt. Unfortunately, the quota is far too low for the entire east coast. The population of sea bass continues to grow and as it does so their range increases as well. Now all the states to our north catch a lot of them that causes us to go over the quota and again it results in tighter restrictions for us. JCAA believes it is time to rebel against the ASMFC for setting these ridiculously low quotas.

Paul Haertel

Indeed there are a lot of them out there.. for now...
However, there were once a lot of Whiting, Flounder, Mackerel,Weakfish, etc.. Hell, even eels are under pressure, and from what I have seen past few years, Ling are even starting to become scarcer. Fishing pressure is fishing pressure, regardless of the form it takes.

Tournaments are short lived, but for the time they are active, they put intense pressure on localized fish populations.. You may disagree, but in my area I am surrounded by tournaments, and I have seen the damage first hand.. As I said, personally I am not a fan.. I know my opinion is the minority one, and I accept that.
Actually I agree that some restrictions on Sea Bass should be lifted.. I think the size should be 12 inches actually, which on any given trip would give a fisherman plenty to take home. However tournaments just cause too much concentrated fishing pressure in small areas.. This wasn't a problem years ago, but today there are too many great fishermen with too much great equipment that can take an awful lot of fish out of a small area in a short time... bob

[CCMPmonmouth]

Im beginning to think tournaments are dumb also. I support catch and eat. If you dont want to fish for food, stop torturing the things. Same as people supporting size limits over creel limits. Just cruel to the animal, go hunting with tranquilizer guns ,pick the deer up by the antlers weigh and measure it and let it go to be tranquilized another day.