Joined: Wed Feb 13 2008, 07:03PM
Location: Webster City Ia.
Posts: 457
Was at the FOM tournament at Brushy today and seen the fish floating at the south dock and at the scales.Very unacceptable in tournament fishing! Didn't see a pre scale tank,that would of helped.Talked to a few that were using plastic water bottles frozen , to keep water temps down in the live wells. And also some had treated water in their bags.Those fish were released in great shape.The biggest bag of the day finished second because of a dead fish.I believe the money between 1st and 2nd was $500.00.Big loss for a dead fish. Any one have some ideas to help this problem?
Director-Hawgz Bass Series
Pure Fishing:)Field Staff Blue WaterLED.com StayN'Charge.com Reaction Wraps.com
I have been around alot of tournament weigh-ins and I beleive it totally the anglers fault for any loss of fish. It should be a part of the Directors Duties to push upon them that they "ALL" should have a name brand live-well treatment (REJUVINADE) to help the fish relax and put the slime coat back on them. And second thing, is if it is going to be hot out for the day, some type of ice treatment is the best idea. Some type of frozen bottle is a good idea. And most importantly is dont keep your pumps on recirculate while on the water, use the auto setting to keep getting fresh water in the wells.
I think it would be a great Idea to get ahold of Rejuvinade to try to get a sponsorship for the "09" seasons. (hint, hint) Joe, Darrin.
Director- Brook\'s Bass\'n Tournaments Director- HAWGS River series Pro-Staff- Futurebass.com Pro-Staff- Brovarney Baits Pro-Staff- PT Custom Baits
Joined: Tue Feb 05 2008, 07:16AM
Location: Central Iowa
Posts: 100
With water temps in the sixties (i am assuming this, haven't been to Brushy this year) there is no reason for a dead fish, UNLESS one is hooked deep. You simply can't do anything about that.
The biggest thing is to RUN YOUR AERATORS! There are a lot of anglers out there that fish bass tourneys and still think that it will run their battery down and they won't be able to start their engine...TOTALLY WRONG. I think this is the biggest reason dead fish.
Fresh water into the livewells is a great idea, i do that several times a day and (knock on some wood here) never killed a fish. The treatment is a good idea too.
Run the livewells, and replace the water, that is what you need to do to keep the resource healthy.
Todd Reed
Joined: Fri Feb 01 2008, 07:02AM
Location: Cedar Rapids, Ia
Posts: 138
Wow, that sounds like a bad deal! I know that my wells in my boat are not very good! I'm just finding this out as I have never used them before this year. I'm open for any suggestions to make my live wells do a much better job, I will be using chemical's and ice in the future.
Joined: Wed Feb 13 2008, 07:03PM
Location: Webster City Ia.
Posts: 457
I believe 15 and change won and it was said 16 boats was the count.A good friend of mine Chris C. from Marshaltown won the tournament.He was fishing by himself.
[ Edited Sun Jun 08 2008, 05:10PM ] Director-Hawgz Bass Series
Pure Fishing:)Field Staff Blue WaterLED.com StayN'Charge.com Reaction Wraps.com
Joined: Sun Feb 24 2008, 06:01PM
Location: Thor, Iowa
Posts: 8
As far as I know, there were only a couple dead fish. I even had battery trouble, but still managed to keep our 5 alive and healthy. I had the aerators on auto, added Rejuvenade, and also added frozen 2 liters throughout the day. Sometimes I would even turn them on to run constantly for 15 minutes. I got pretty nervous knowing that we had to jump the battery for the big motor and the pumps are hooked to that battery, but everything worked out fine for us. Rangers are insulated VERY well and have great livewells in my opinion. I even held every fish I released until they swam off under their own power. And there is BASS RX available at ALL the meetings that I have attended.
By the way, we finished just out of the money with 13.06lbs. But did have 2nd big bass at 3.97lbs.
And yes Todd, temps were in the 60* range, so there should not have been any overheating problems. Hell, ours were trying to jump out of the wells, the bag and the basket.
Hope this does not leave a black eye on the FOM series. Most guys do a great job, but we did have a few teams that were fishing the FOM for the first time.
Joined: Sun Feb 24 2008, 06:01PM
Location: Thor, Iowa
Posts: 8
Another thing thats a big problem, is anglers setting the bags on the hot concrete. With the air temps near 85-90*, you know the concrete will be hotter than that,I still see guys setting the bags on the concrete while in line. When I use my black bag, I always place it in the shade so it does not get too hot.
Steve
Just another thing I notice at ALL events I have fished in the last 2 years. I always rest mine on my foot to keep it off the ground.
Member of Fishers of Men Tournament Trail
Joined: Wed May 28 2008, 11:48AM
Location: Bellevue, NE
Posts: 4
I think another reason could have been the fish were coming off a spawning wave, and I would imagine it only takes a little stress to kill an exhausted mama. I have to admit, I believe those fish were the first FoM fish to float in my two years, in saying that, it still is a pretty good record.
I would also like to say, the FoM Director has repeatedly told teams to watch the line, and keep the line to less than 3, but folks bag 'em, and stand 4 to 5 deep. I can't blame the FoM series for that!
B T
Joined: Sun Feb 24 2008, 06:01PM
Location: Thor, Iowa
Posts: 8
I wish they would have the weigh in up top like Joe and Hawgz series did. That way you can see the line and know how many people are in it. When its down at the bottom, you cant see, so sometimes there are more in line.