Tournament question

[joedog]

Just watched a repeat of the Toyota Texas Bass Clasic. They have an official ride along, weigh, measure and then release the fish. Pro keeps biggest for show at weigh in.

Question time:
--How are the ride alongs chosen?
--Are the rules the same on all Texas waters?
--Do small club tournaments have to follow same rules, ride along, one fish limit? The one fish limit maybe is a State Regulation in place at all times?
--Has it effected Tournament crowds? Didn't seem to on the show.
--Can ride along fish?
--At Clasic Tournaments what brand of scale do they use? I have an extreme distrust of scales. (I know crazy)

Thank you for your input. I fish two lakes that have 18in. one bass limits. The fishing is really good, but high pressured and limited shore access. But the fish grow and the life expectance grows, hence spawns increase. Let's face it, most of us are catching and releasing Bass anyways, right?

[lilmule]

No a lot of different formats,that one is unusual but figure the ride alongs are volunteers who put their name in the pot.
Most used is the draw format,in larger trails,clubs often permit a regular partner,most T however are for the max weight of a legal limit,and generally pay big fish as well(if you put in on it).
I forget the name of the scales available to bass clubs as well,measurement is generally by golden rule.
Im always amazed at the guys who carry black ones merely because provided by boat mfg,when measured on a golden rule,and one would think same no they are not a ranger board fish may not make it yet a golden rule it may touch.

[Jrob78]

I think the reason they release the fish in the Toyota Texas Bass Classic (TTBC) is because the tournament was originally on Lake Fork. Lake Fork has a slot limit of 16"-24" meaning that no bass in between that size may be kept and only one over 24" may be kept. By state law, they had to immediately release all fish between those lengths and could only keep 1 trophy bass over that size. When they moved the tournament to Conroe, they just kept the same rules. I'm 99% sure Conroe doesn't have a slot limit. Most tournaments aren't done this way and major circuit tournaments aren't fished on lakes with slot limits.

The Marshals are there to be the official record keepers and make sure the weights are recorded accurately. Since they can't bring the fish in to weigh, it's up to the Marshals to take a good weight. I don't know how you become a Marshal for this event but anyone can sign up to Marshal the Elite series. The scales used are probably Boca scales. I know they can be IGFA certified, they are pretty much the standard for accurate, official weights for events like this.

This tournament is like an all star tournament with the top 15 in AOY points from BASS Elite series, the FLW tour and the PAA tour. There are also 5 sponsor exceptions that round out the 50 competitors.

[nofearengineer]

All it will take is one accusation of cheating to bring that system down.

Frankly, I don't know what the fuss is about. Even if you have fifty boats, 3 days, and everyone brings in a full sack, that's 750 bass. And that's assuming they all die, which they don't. Do you know how many bass are in a lake that size? It's got to be in the millions.

I think it's a nice gesture, but trust me on this, as once the ecofreaks see you knuckle under a single bit, they come at you full force. They'll be demanding barbless hooks, soft livewell music, and pre-release emotional therapy for the bass.

[bassinbob]

Funny thing is most states have a limit of bass you can keep. Except for the slot rule the pros could keep all the bass they catch. Which they don't. They release them. How many times have you seen or know of peple who keep every little fish they catch? The pros should be admired for their effort to keep the fish healthy and alive. I understand they are penalized for dead fish but still they would release all caught.