I have been steaming on this since last Sunday. I was out with customers and we pulled into a pocket with a few boats in it. Noticed one guy in a brown/tan charger crappie fishing with minnows near stumps.

The guy in the front catches a bass that looked to be 4 lbs. He then tosses the bass high into the air at lest 10 ft and about 15 ft backwards in the air end over end till the fish hits the water.

I could not believe what I just saw. I am still so mad for the disrespect for our resources. It takes to long to grow a fish for some idiot to kill or injure it just cause it was not what he was looking for.

No need to kill the fish. Would have taken less energy to just set the fish over the side to swim away. I also have noticed some of the young guns in youtube videos doing the same things treating resources like trash.

Throwing fish back very aggressively. One day I would like my grand kids to be able to catch a few fish so we must respect our resources if we continue wanting to enjoy the sport of fishing.

Sorry for such a long story I just needed to vent.

Have a Great Day... Go Fishing !

Amen to that!

A lot of these young YouTubers are bringing a lot of bad habits, disrespect, and general douchebaggery to the game. Not impressed.

I've seen knuckleheads fishing for Crappie chunking Bass back like they're a Bowfin/Grinnel/Gar etc..... I haven't seen a Bass fisherman throw a Crappie back like that.

I'm not sure what the point is either. It says something about the mental stability of the individual to me.

I also don't like catching fish and laying them in the dirt/grass to get a pic. I'm sure that's not good for the fish.

In my opinion, keep the fish if legally caught and you are going to clean and eat it. If not, simply take care of it and release back into the water.

Good Point!!


Seems like a time and place to confront the actual "perpetrator" on the spot and try and educate them about the harm they could have done to that fish.

Though there is always that chance Mr. "Fish Tosser" would get in your boat and toss you like the bass.

no sense in anyone doing that but the reality is that you probably can't throw a fish high enough or far enough to hurt it as long as it hits the water....

I've never seen anyone do that, but I fish with older and more experienced anglers. They have respect for the fish.
I am not the least bit interested in someone's you tube video. I wish that the whole industry would just go away.
I feel like each video should be titled, "Look at me, I'm cool" I know once you sign on to do those stupid videos, there are obligations, but, they aren't worth the time it takes.
Get a life.

Same holds true in the hunting industry. There doesn't seem to be any respect for the animal.

Good Luck

Disagree.

Agree!

Bet?

Going to knock the breath out of them.

So it's not appropriate to throw dinks at your partner in the back of the boat?

YouTubers are there for entertainment and a few for instruction. Perhaps they are cool when they're getting 100k+ views and making well over 6 figures annually. Where do I sign up
????

I've read that type of behavior defended in here before. Ive read , "it's just a fish" "at least he didn't eat it", etc. some people are just pigs

I agree Marc, thanks for speaking up.

+1

what people?

There will always be people who act disrespectfully and there will always be people who call them out for it. There will also always be people who act even more disrespectful in spite of being called out for it. The guy who chunked that fish probably knew good and well that what he was doing is disrespectful to the conservation minded bass fishing community.

If I caught a 4 lber on fork I sure wouldn't chunk her back! thats a giant for me out there!

You know what's even worse? This new fad of putting all your fish in the livewell and driving them around the lake all day just to take a picture at the end of the day. We all know about half of tournament fish don't make past the next week after being released. No need in killing these fish for a stupid picture when you could snap a pic and release them after being caught.

+10000000000000000

Please, don't, we have plenty..

Agree.

Thanks Mark,..if I did that my wife would throw me out of the boat..

LOL!! But I want to make tons of money to fish and goof off!

I found the cat-fisherman

I remember last week when Rube started a thread like this people jumped all over him...Ironic

Apples and oranges IMO.

Maybe this is why this is happening because some people can't see a difference between proper fish care and protecting our resources
Apples to oranges...Really????
http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/12097154/1/Caring_for_Bass

Yep. Apples to oranges. Not to derail but I didn't need the link. I knew which one you were referring to. It was different because he was talking about something he commonly sees bass anglers do. When is the last time you saw a bass fisherman take a fish of any kind and throw it 15 feet in the air? I try to be careful about fish care. What Marc posted about went way beyond letting a fish hit the carpet.

This guy was crappie fishing and what he did was wrong. The other was about guys making videos ... it's ok to throw fish way up in the air when making videos.

Thought it was pretty self explanatory

Why so much hate for the YouTubers around here??? I watch a lot of those videos and honestly don't see majority of those guys treat fish any different than most tournament fishermen. In fact I would say most of those YouTubers treat them better than most tournament anglers.

Sure some of the YouTubers are loud and obnoxious but there are plenty of guys that find tournament fishermen loud and obnoxious as well.

And for the record........I don't even have a YouTube account so nobody can accuse me of being one of them. I did hold that big bass in my sig pic by the lower lip though.

To Marc- nice post and it makes me mad just reading it.
If you don't respect our environment and resources then you dont have my respect.

I think its sickening, and what a way to draw attention to yourself especially this time of year when there is an increase in boating traffic, fishing, and most importantly....patrolling and checking by the authorities. Life must be miserable for this human to take it out on a game-fish he certainly has zero respect for.

I dont condone launching fish into the air but I doubt it causes as much harm as a fish flopping around on dry carpet.


I mean how in the world do all of those fry survive that are pumped into reservoirs or dropped from helicopters?

There are two big differences i see.

Launching the bass was intentional disrespect. A fisherman swinging in a fish and letting it flop on the carpet isnt intentionally tfying to do harm.

The other difference is whether you are tournament fishing or not.

If tournament fishing its perfectly acceptable to ride around the lake all day and beat up 5 fish in the livewell, then hold them for pictures at a weigh in and do this on a pretty routine basis.

It is not okay for a weekend warrior to occaissionally have an unbelievable day and temporarily keep a few fish for a picture at the end of the day.

Honestly, im against neither, but that appears to be a common attitude around here.

We can all try our best to release every fish alive, but many will still die.

Obviously launching the bass isnt trying very hard, but im still betting that crappie fisherman will kill far fewer bass than us bass fisherman targeting bass.

The blatant disrespect is sickening though.

Nailed it!

And lets not forget how many Bass are pulled off beds this time of year and hauled to a weigh in only to be released miles from their nest. Im sure that's not a good thing to do but a blind eye seems to be turned to that practice in the name of $$$$$$.

I'm not saying I am against it (I use to tournament fish as well so I know how it is). I'm just saying not everyone is the guardian bass angel they think they are.

+1

Lmao guardian angel. Some guys like to really think they are making money fishing bass tournaments so it's cool to haul bass around.

Glad someone else feels this way about the spawn. Would seem to be suicide for the sport by catching bass off the beds during spawn. No clue if there is any evidence, just seems like logical sense. Even if you catch and release the stress can't be good for the spawn. I wish they'd outlaw tournaments on lakes when the conditions are right for the majority to spawn. However, it's not my decision so I just do my part by leaving spawners alone and have fun with the pre/post spawners. We each have to do what we feel is right to sleep at night in all aspects of life I guess. I for one have grown more fond of wildlife than people:)

Marc, nothing changes unless people speak up about it. Some people may not know there is anything wrong unless they're told, sad, but is what it is.

Just MHO, but most you tubers (with the exception of instructional) are narcissist. It's a by-product of our social media society. Now that is fine, to each their own, but let's call it what it is. DANG, I sound like my grandpa did 40 years ago.

Nailed it.

Agree Mark!

Don't get on the YouTube guys too hard......that's where I get all my new spots. . Some do a nice job and are actually entertaining but your right about some of the others

keep in mind that during a normal year,in a reservoir of any size,the bass spawn produces millions more fry than the reservoir can sustain...and...if you fish during a 3 month period in the spring,you are probably fishing for and catching bass that are in some phase of the spawn.....
look at the big picture....most of our bass lakes of any size have had multiple tournaments every month and some have several tournys a week and it has not hurt fishing a bit....reservoirs have good years and bad years probably due to loss of cover and/or bad spawning years but fishing is as good or better than it was 40 years ago in most lakes...look no further than Toledo bend....
no sense in deliberately hurting a fish but bass are a renewable resource...if we lose some fish after a tournament,keep in mind it is only a tiny fraction of the fish population in a big reservoir and there are millions of fingerlings being produced each year just waiting to take their place in the fish population....

Its their participation trophy. They all still live with mom and dad or are still on mom and dads dole.

Wow this post went full tard

I agree 1000%!!! I am not a big fan of all these tourney fisherman keeping fish for the weigh ins either, then holding them up for the crowd to see for 5 minutes plus after riding around in the livewell all afternoon, especially many of the tourney fishermen with older boats and outdated live wells. The Tournament Promoters need to follow MLF's (major league fishing) lead and catch, record and release on the spot. Too many nice fish are being killed just for weigh in and the weigh in show. But yes I agree the guys who hold onto them for picture purposes only at the end of the day are just being selfish.

So, I need to quit fishing tournaments until I buy something newer than my 1990 Champion? I've lost 1 fish in 7 years, and that was due to pump going out.

At the end of the day, they are fish. WE CHOOSE To make catching them a "sport". The laws in place are for you to retain these fish to eat. We choose to release.
It's so simple that it's stupid.
Catch fish.
Treat them respectfully.
Keep them if you wish.
Release them if you wish.
Quit [censored] in on the other guys leg if he does something different than you do as long as he follows the rules.

I think the jacked jaws and carpet hurts them more than anything. It amazes me that people purposely put fish on the carpet.

I have to admit that I am guilty of this. I do not do it for the photo op but rather for my kids (4-9 yrs...mainly the 4 year old)who like to play with the bass in the livewell. I usually only put the small 14-15 in bass in the well for them to play with. I usually throw the bigger ones back immediately. Actually, just this past weekend at the end of the day when throwing back the bass I mistakenly left one in the well. I got home and while organizing my culling balls (they play with those too) I noticed I left a bass in the well. It now resides in my freezer ready to get eaten. It was only 14 inches. Relax.

My point was that with as many tourneys happening every day on any given lake many fish are dying in live wells and the time it takes for weigh ins. Tourney promoters or someone needs to bring technology up so these fish have a better survival rate or implement a new procedure such as MLF. I fish because I enjoy it, catch a fish, if it's picture worthy I take a quick pic and release it. I have been away from fishing for 25 years. Built a business and got involved in other hobbies. Just started fishing again a year ago at all the same lakes I fished before. I can't say what has caused it, but many times I go without a bite or only catch small fish... fishing pressure, big fish being caught and kept, not sure. Just my opinion. I know at the end of the day they are just fish, but why not take an extra measure to see that future generations have fish to catch. And no, you shouldn't buy a new boat, especially if your livewell is working and your success rate is that good. But I have seen livewells that I wouldn't keep an old pair of shoes in!

For Tourney Fishing, how about certified electric scales and some photo recognition app. You weight document and release. Would go to a live DB and you could have an evergreen board similar to MLF. As much as we spend on Technology we can do this

My son wants to do you tube and I'm all for it...Just because you don't agree that doesn't make it wrong...Too each his own...These kids bring more kids to fishing than anyone period along with High School fishing...Fishing was losing people left and right til High School fishing and You tube came along...When the big wigs couldn't figure out how to bring people to fishing a kid with a video camera knows how to get 100,000 people to watch him lol...

This is coming but still a few years away.

Great Post mark its post like this that probably needs to remind everyone about how to take care of our resources cause someday they may be gone if we all don't appreciate and respect them.

My fishin partner scooped this one up on Fork a few days ago. Classic example of a Bass that flopped all over the carpet.