Randy has a discussion surrounding the topic if bass fishing in general would be better off without tournaments…#bassmaster #fishing #bassfishing #bass #fishingdaily #angler #fish #catchandrelease #fishingtrip
Lake map breakdowns…https://fishthemoment.com/lake-breakdowns-randy
Blaukat old school jig link…https://bait-wrx.com/products/randy-blaukats-old-school-jig?sca_ref=851308.TAaRVmwlK9
Baitwrx link…https://bait-wrx.com/?sca_ref=851308.TAaRVmwlK9
Solar bat link…https://www.solarbat.com/products/rb2-fishing-sunglasses
I have heard anglers talk about the issue of fish becoming use to certain lures that use to work but now no longer work on lakes and in tournaments. I could never figure out how that could be but now that you have mentioned that many lakes in the USA are hit with tournaments every weekend for most of the year now makes sense. I live in ontario canada and bass fishing or any tournament fishing is popular but not nearly to the same degree as the states of course. there are tons of lakes here and lots that i fish rarely have a boat on it let alone a tournament. Mostly the big lakes are tournament lakes here like the great lakes, simco, nipissing etc alot of the lakes are just for recreation it seems.
This will never happen anywhere….it’s sad to think about but Bass tournament’s probably only have 15-25 years left before it’s just a burnout lake after lake! I love bass fishing and this is terrifying but it’s a talking subject in the industry nowadays
Very important and well balanced discussion. I'd like to add a tidbit. There are two kinds of competitive sports, those that exist with or without competition, and those that are competitive by definition. Examples of the former are; fishing, surfing, skiing, rock climbing. Examples of the latter (mostly team format) are; football baseball, basketball, track & field. For the first group, I believe an element of soul is lost in competition, although as Randy points out, competition brings with it another dimension which certainly has value, while also being subject to abuses. Personally, I believe competitions have fostered a culture of zero-sum-gain which carries over into the broader social environment, promoting division and conflict between groups in general, along with the inherent negative ramifications thereof. In that I'm not proposing a solution, just an observation.
Youtubers are the problem. They're teaching kids it's okay to fish private property when you don't have permission (as long as you don't get kicked out). Disgusting!
I agree. Very good. Thanks, Randy.
I don't even have to watch the whole video as I understand the harm we are doing with these tournaments both local and televised. To cart fish around in a livewell half a day just so you can weigh them in and brag about how nay lbs. of fish you caught is ridiculous. You will never convince me that the mortality rate isn't much higher than reported. I'm glad you have addressed this. Jim
Great video, this take is getting more popular as of recently for valid reasons. Would be nice to see states take action, not necessarily getting rid of tournaments but restricting body of waters by size and time of year. I think large bodies of water can sustain pressure much better. With that being said the Small lakes up north get pounded By tournaments, and often times take up publics ramps to the point where other boaters and recreational fisherman can't enjoy the water the same.
Releasing fish where they are caught helps habitat hauling fish around lake puts stress on fish
I agree. There should be limits on tournaments and restrictions on electronics to keep the deep water fish less disturbed. I don’t see why there’s such a huge explosion of high school and college tournaments. How do these kids afford boats and electronics?
I agree totally, how bout tournaments with no FFS
I moved to chickamauga 2 1/2 years ago, my wife and I could fish off the dock and always catch 2 to 3 bass, there are so many big tournaments here weekly and sometimes daily, this last summer I went 3 months without catching a bass off the dock. Livescope is part of the problem.
Bed fishing….there is no way pulling a bass of the bed, transporting miles away for weigh in then releasing…that has to have a detrimental affect on the population. Shut down all tourneys in the months of March & April? Is bed fishing as bad or worse than Livescope on the population? Food for thought.
You cant put the toothpaste back in the tube. People subscribe to you to become better TX anglers!
I think this is the best video you have made and that's saying something! The tournament industry has profited off of local natural resources and has done virtually nothing to help preserve them. From having tournaments in the spawn and in the warm water months, to allowing a ridiculous amount of boats in them its time we take care of what we were blessed with. It makes zero sense to have wildlife departments when the only thing they care about is you paying for your registration and launch fees, but not conserving our country's lakes and fish populations.
stop it
numbers let's do numbers
1960 70 80
15 bass limit right
now 5 bass
1.A. then no bass goes back in lake 1.B. now 99% goes back in lake
2A. 200 boat tourament 1970 15 bass limit 3000 bass died that day. 3 days say field cut down also. to be fair say 7,000 bass died are in someone belly.
2B. today 200 boats 3 days 5 bass limit 99% goes back into lake so u killed 35 bass total
but tour hurting our lakes now
from thousands dieing on a tour then… to now 1% dieing come on really
well u taking bass off beds so on ok Yes not good that year but u do know that bass lay eggs next year then next then next but 1960 70 80 u kill that bass how many times will she lay next year
none
facts numbers don't care about opinions
now do tournaments hurt the sport of bass fishing no no
like saying baseball travel ball hurts baseball no
middle school football hurt football no no
what hurts bass sport is us older guys not teaching the kids to be more respectful on water and stop using so much tech to catch bass…. I didn't say ban live I said cut back on using it with kids so much
randy says ban live right
but far as I know all pro can get live scope so it's not a leg up to anyone if all can get it..
but randy ok getting baits that nobody can get are used but him
but that's ok to do
funny right
This is the truest video you've ever done!
I hate tournaments. Especially the smaller ones that don't have the regulations put in place like larger tournaments. My local reservoir held a tournament. And the day after I went there to fish and found well over a dozen dead bass all over 3lbs. Spread across the area where they released them. And for the size of this reservoir that many dead bass is really bad.
All the research shows that live wells damage bass and should be taken out of all new boats. Data shows how bad it effects bass. I think we should keep tournaments only if catch and release.
Tournament fishing is definitely gambling! I don't care what people say. Anyone can get lucky and throw the right bait in the right place at the right time and get lucky
Way too many boats on the water. So many bass dying from being in a live well all day
Money corrupts and I hate tournaments. But as long as they stay in lakes, I'm OK with it. But please keep tournaments off our rivers and Ozark streams where our native fish live. On these types of waters, a few fisherman can ruin a fishery. When I see a tournament planned for a river like the Meramac or Current river, I'm incensed. Lakes have stocked fish. Kill them all if you must. (I'd rather you didn't) But leave native stocks alone. You can never convince me that catching hundreds of bass, caging them, and releasing them all miles from where they were caught, doesn't negatively affect those fish.
Everybody knows damn well what tournaments do to lakes, fish, and other fishermen. They are ok in moderation and with rules to protect the resource, and other people.
Totally agree, Randy. There are way too many tournaments. I'm a kayak angler, and live in the DC area. I almost never bass fish on the Potomac, our most famous bass fishery in the region, for this very reason. We have several small lakes in the area where gas-powered engines are either banned or restricted to 10 HP, and I much prefer to fish on them. I believe the fishing is better for those restrictions, and they are absolutely safer and more peaceful places to spend the day and enjoy the outdoors.
ONLY RANDY is allowed to fish tournaments. How dare you try and become a pro like RANDY! YOU LITTLE PEOPLE who buy your tackle at Walmart stick to cat fishing! Great video Randy!
Have there been any recent studies on fish mortality after they have been released after weigh-ins? I always wonder if all the pro circuits adopted the catch-weigh-release format with a marshall in the boat, would that help with maintaining the fisheries? I also think tournaments during the spawn should stop. Pulling all those females off their beds has to hurt fish reproduction. Unfortunately there are too many anglers who just dont give a damn about any of this. It's sad.
Are there fishing tournaments .in.communess countrys ? .freedom and capitalism..keep our nation.desirable . Double standards go greener,s can't see.
Your 100% right the problem needs to be fixed now be for its to late it's ( getting late now)!!!!
now
Isn't it a industry? There's a lot of old wise men. That.. enjoy ..fishing
I used to fish alot of tournaments,now that I don't and you pull up at the ramp every weekend and can't even find a parking spot much less a fishing spot from tournaments is plum ridiculous.not to mention the dead fish.i was part of the problem now I'm not..ripsumlipz
I'm not 'against' tournaments at all.
In fact I enjoy fishing one every once in a while . . . That being said . . .
There's waaaay too many 'low level' events being held especially on the Colorado River system from Yuma up to Lake Mojave.
The thing about it is that 'most' of them don't draw enough boats to justify even holding the event(s) in the first place. Payouts suck too.
But the 'negative' effects are still taking place.
When I pick my days to fish, I go online and look at all the circuits in that region and choose my locations(s) that do NOT have a tournament being held or one coming up where people might be pre-fishing.
I try to fish smarter not harder.
Thank you Randy. Unfortunately you’re correct about this issue. The kayak tournaments are having a gentler impact on the fish by adopting catch, measure, photograph and immediately release. It’s inches not pounds. The local club Mo-Yak is doing a great job protecting its members by showing the number of coinciding tournaments. It’s founder Joshua Boothe posts the regatta numbers on upcoming lakes like Table Rock. Boats, anglers and launch location give his members a heads up. It’s shocking to see the numbers they allow on the same dates. Then add pre-fishing and the only safe days on the lake are Monday and Tuesday. This much traffic is detrimental as you described and even more alarming for a small low freeboard craft like kayaks. Thanks again for stepping up on unpopular topics.
Over
BASS, RMEF, TU, DU- All those entities have had a HUGE contribution to the conservation of some Natural places and environmental awareness. Hate to say though it's often kind of hard to see that reflected in the consciousness of the average "outdoorsman". That said, "carrying capacity" is a key understanding of ENVIRONMENT. I think EVERYONE needs a refresher in basic natural sciences it's not too difficult to see what we need to do and not do.
Excellent video presentation of a topic that all state DNRs need to address.
You have my respect as an angler 🎣👍🏻
Your record speaks for itself … no need to defend it .wrt tournaments there is no doubt it has very large negative effect on fishing. What can be done? Banning all tournaments is simply unrealistic but limiting them should be possible. I’m lucky in that my home waters don’t allow tournaments and I can’t imagine fishing a lake where there are 800 tournament boats on the water every weekend . Banning live wells would also help. No more dragging fish to a weigh in. Putting officials on boats would also provide an Avenue for fisherman to spend a day with a pro without all the co angler issues.
I like buying big wooded acreage close to subdivisions and turning them into big private fishing lakes
Blows my mind that people can’t RESPECT your opinion… it’s not like you’ve fished longer than most people on here have been alive lol not to call you old randy but you’re a seasoned professional with thousands and thousands of first hand experience in EXACTLY what your talking about.
I fish a 3,000-acre, highland reservoir in Virginia. From March-October, the lake will have 4-7 tournaments per week. The amount of pressure this number of tournaments has on the fishery is overwhelming. Hundreds of fish per week are taken to the same public launch area, weighed, and released. While some of these bass will return to where they were caught, others never will.
Who is impacted by this intense level of fishing pressure and fish relocation? Recreational anglers? Yes. Tournament anglers? Yes. The truth is, all anglers, regardless of why they are on the water, are negatively affected by too many tournaments. This problem must be addressed by the Virginia Dept. of Wildlife Resources. They can start by requiring permits for tournaments being held on public waters, and issuing a set number of tournament permits per week for a lake.
2 fish limit… you can only hold 2 fish for a good photo !! BASS will NEVER downsize their " MONSTER BAG …….. YEAAAAAAAAAH ! "
I fished em actively for 30 years. Stopped 5 years ago. Too many are hurting the fishery. Castledine said that they dont have a negative affect. I like Todd alot because of his knowledge and experience. I dont agree one bit. Delayed mortality, etc.. They need to definitely limit them for sure.
I think tournaments aren't so destructive but agree the magnitude or number of tournaments per lake are taking their toll. Is it gambling analogy is spot on but was is any sport? A counter-intuitive position: Stopping tournaments might not be as effective as might be assumed. The same people will be fishing somewhere. Arguably tournament guys are more sensitive to bass conservation than the avg angler. Let's not forget the tournament organizers are constructing the parameters of the events, not the participants. The states will have to step in where the invertebrates lack the political will to protect there cash cows, the fish. Let's not forget the DNR folks are stuck between a rock and hard place too. Man I still think you having a DNR guy chat with you would be illuminating to a lot of folks. Be well
I will simply it for you:
Greedy humans ruin everything.
Randy, there are small club fun tournaments … and then there are these National Tournaments that pillage our lakes. Down with large tournaments. They are out of control and couldn’t give a poop about the environment.
Ban the electronic aspect,clear lake was a gem 20 years ,now over run with tournaments the crappie get devastated, it's a far cry from what it was
These companies keep pushing the envelop to achieve growth and bigger profits, but if something isn’t done… and quick, its gonna backfire. The next generation wont stay interested if they can’t catch a fish. I’m already seeing it. My 14 year old is getting sick of going and not catching anything. These lakes are beat to death with local derbies. My home lake (Cumberland) is a huge lake and it’s suffering bad from pressure. I can imagine how smaller lakes are fairing. And these guys who haul 5 big spawning females around in a live well all day just to take a FB pic should be fined heavily.
Yes
There's way way way to many tournaments! They should do catch & release right on spot, & not do them on a lake during its peak spawning period . I'm a kayak angler so I can get into alot places boats can't so I take advantage of it all the time! I have few small lakes/ extremely large ponds that I fish to myself. Weather noone else wants to do work to get to them or privately owned & I have permission. I fish them all except 1 & never see anyone else at all. Only 1 has few guys I see every great once in while & thier fishing for crappie & bluegill from bank. I've caught more 4-6lbers I can count, biggest was a 9.89 & I've lost couple I think we're bigger. I keep them hush hush because they all fish so well & I get them to myself. Thier all big enough for a John boat with a motor so I'm still learning them all on my kayak. I know they have some monster bass in them. Alot bigger lakes have so much pressure. Some days u can do good others I get skunked. Its absolutely because of fishing pressure
Right on!!! At least someone has the balls to say it!!!!