Went out to Hubbard for the first time in a while today. Launched and fished in bayview. We saw several fish in the 3-5lb range floating around the marina. The water looked pretty stagnantt in there, maybe there is an oxygen issue?

I wonder if they backed the live release trailer in at that ramp Saturday and released the fish from a tournament that was on Hubbard?

You are the king of pot stirring lately Douglas

Do you have a problem with being responsible with our resources?

that was the release location from the tournament, the tournament had 160 plus teams. Odd are, you will see some dead fish.

Fish Fry!

No, I am all for being responsible with our resources and think we should all strive for better mortality rates, but it happens. Move on, it's just a few fish. The high school bass fishing trail is very well run, they do their best and it is contributing far more to the future of the sport than you or I are, that's for sure.

Wow

You mean some fish were killed in a 160 boat tournament with high 80's surface temp?

It's doing a lot for the future profitability of boat and tackle manufacturers...and tournament organizers.

It does not mean that the dead fish were from saturday. They could have been caught by anyone.....

I have to agree with you. I've been setting more and more posts about high school tournaments and people pushing it as out benefits the sport. I think there are too many in the sport of fishing who don't care about taking care of the fish, only because of tournaments.

What happened to the past where it was take a kid fishing. Teach him to love the sport of fishing for the simple purity of fishing and being in nature? When did it turn into teaching them to learn the joy of tournaments? IMO fishing is being ruined.

I think those experiences are still there for the few parents that can/will take the time to teach the importance of respecting nature to their kids. My question is; is it better to have more folks fishing, and therefor more money going into Dingell-Johnson fisheries management funds, even if many of them are only really in it for the competitive aspects? Or, is it better to have fewer folks fishing, with less funding for management, and a higher respect for the more spiritual and recreational aspects of fishing? There's no right answer. Being a fishery manager and a promoter of youth fishing, I see no better way to add kids into the sport, and keep them in, than by adding a form of competition to the equation. There are so many options for entertainment these days, and many that are a heck of a lot easier to do and faster to provide satisfaction, that it seems a necessity to introduce competition to keep kids interested in fishing. So, if that's what it takes to reverse a very negative trend in youth recruitment and retention over the last several decades, then I'm all for it.

Additionally, the high school TBF events that I have witnessed preach fish care more than any other tournament organization I have seen. Although I haven't seen them all, I imagine most high school organizations do the same. A well-entertained and well-educated crop of kids is going to do this sport well.

My dad took me fishing in a jon boat that I helped paddle. Later he bought an old Arkansas Traveler with a 50 horse Mercury on it and we thought it was a speedboat. We didn't ask someone in the community who had a $30,000 to $70,000 bass boat to take me out so I could be on a "team" and enter tournaments.

I wasn't aware that fishing is dying. Every time I go to the lake I see parking lots full of trailers and waters covered with boats. There are already more tournament circuits than anyone could possibly fish. I have never once gone to the lake, fished the spot I wanted to fish...then gone to the next spot I wanted to fish...then looked down the lake to see my third favorite spot unoccupied...and thought to myself, "You know, what this lake could really use is another 200-300 boats!"

I think we are (a) servicing a need that doesn't exist; and (b) getting someone else to do for kids what parents ought to be doing themselves.