Bass anglers are historically protective of the species and sport, will buy the newest greatest gadgets/clothes that come out every year. Yet, extremely reluctant to try tweaking some things to reduce mortality

You have no idea what your talking about.
Bass anglers buy new boats that have better live wells than a commercial aquarium. We add o2 pumps, vents for air circulation, additives that calm the fish and heal wounds they might have.
If anything the disconnect is with the tournaments weigh ins. Most have a guy stand in line with the fish in a plastic bag with minimal water, weigh the fish then have the contestant go dump them in shallow dirty water at the ramp. If there is a place that raises the mortality it is at the weigh in.
There is a great and easy fix to this. Have a couple boats ready at the weigh in sight to take the fish out to deeper clean water to release. A couple hundred yards out into the lake would be a huge improvement and give fish a fighting chance.
Tournament directors and contestants are in too much of a hurry for good fish care at weigh in.
Have contestants keep fish in live wells until they can be weighed quickly. Then carry them out to deep clean water.

I fish with the Lake Fork Anglers Bass Club (http://www.bassfin.com/2a-lake-fork-anglers.html) which only has paper tournaments. We use a Draw Format to counter the possibility of cheating. I have also fished several circuits through the years that used CPR, Catch, Photograph on Length Board, and Release. These all use a five fish limit and should have as close to a 0% Mortality as possible. I also fish most open tournaments that are held on Lake Fork that use the traditional model.

As to the 60% Tournament Mortality figure, TP&W held a tournament on Lake Fork several (10-15) Years ago that was to determine what Tournament Mortality might be in a Bass Tournament. For this Event the Slot Rule was SUSPENDED for the tournament anglers for that day only. Anglers were given detailed instructions on fish care and provided live well treatment. The tournament was held the week after the Sealy Tournament in the fall.

Fish brought in by anglers were placed in large nets suspended under the Hwy 154 bridge. AS I REMEMBER there was 100% survival AT WEIGH IN. A Control Group was Electro-Shocked and placed in a identical net under the HWY 154 bridge. The fish stayed in the nets I BELIEVE for two weeks and then results were tabulated.

I watched news media for the results and finally found a small article on Tp&W's web site. AS I REMEMBER the control group mortality was low, The Tournament Fish Mortality was around 60%.

This all comes from my memory which fades with time but I was astonished to see no reaction from TP&W or Fishermen to these results.

I'm concerned that a required change to all MLF or CPR methods would effectively end tournament fishing.

TPWD, like any government org, likes to point fingers at everyone else. Truth is they have probably done more harm to the lakes than any tournament orgs. their rediculous vegetation eradication programs have destroyed a multitude of habitats for fish. they allow and/or assist in destroying the vegetation in a lake... then refuse to stock the lake due to their not being enough habitat to support the fry (cypress springs, for example). I dont believe they should be pointing the finger at any other org, because 4 more are pointing back at them!!

TPWD, like any government org, likes to point fingers at everyone else. Truth is they have probably done more harm to the lakes than any tournament orgs. their rediculous vegetation eradication programs have destroyed a multitude of habitats for fish. they allow and/or assist in destroying the vegetation in a lake... then refuse to stock the lake due to their not being enough habitat to support the fry (cypress springs, for example). I dont believe they should be pointing the finger at any other org, because 4 more are pointing back at them!!