Things are getting a little extreem on both sides.

I think what Champ203 is saying is that he doesn;t like seeing BASS swoop in, create a windstorm of pressure, then leave.

First off, TPWD doesn't help Falcon as much as you think. Falcon has a lot of other issues to deal with. BASS is now just another one.

At one time when Larry was alive he started a Save Falcon Lake Association. You can read some of the stories here http://www.falconlaketackle.com/local/local.htm

Just_Old_Fisherman beat me to it. Mexico takes out using gill nets every week what BASS took out of the lake for four days, and they don't release them. The same complaint could have been made at Amistad the last couple of years but BASS will prove them wrong the next time they are there.

TP&WD wouldn't even be stocking Texas lakes to begin with if it weren't for the great publicity that the lakes get. I doubt all those Falcon bass are natives to the Rio Grande.

Some people will complain no matter what, so I guess we should just ignore their complaints.

Well if BASS hurt the Falcon fishery then Rayburn should be completley empty of quality bass because there are hundreds of tournaments on Rayburn including many big bass tourneys during stressful times. Of course we all wish these events didn't occur and i'm sure the fishery would be better but the fact is that it hasn't hurt Rayburn yet. I see no reason one tournament has an impact long term. Mexico will have the biggest impact based on their future decisions.

I wonder what the BASS Mortality comparison to Mexican Gill nets is? Sure there will be fish that die in tournaments but BASS didn't scratch the surface of the number of Bass in that lake. Even if the "pressure" of other anglers increases, as long as the "Fillet Brothers from Michigan" don't EAT them ALL there should be no problem.
It really sounds like a West Coast Environmentalist outlook. "We must protect our fish, so therefore nobody should fish this lake." Never mind Jose in his Piro is stringing gill nets and selling ALL his fish to Long John Silver for the "Fish Stick Special"!

5 fish 42#'s, I would sing and dance all the way across the stage. I don't think that their is a tournament fisherman or just one of the guys that would not feel that way. Bass wrote the book that most of the big circuits follow for live release fish care.

The rumors in S Texas are that over 400 fish were killed. Call it a four pound average, that is 1600#'s. There is also a report that 15 fish over 10#'s were killed. No lake....and I mean no lake, can take that kind of abuse. Revenue means nothing if a lake is destroyed. If the reports are true, this is a tragedy to a great fishery. Time will tell.

Well if that is the case then every tournament from now on down there is going to kill thousands of fish. I doubt this is the case.

Jaret, go watch all the white bellies at the county ramp some Saturday afternoon after all the clubs just dump the fish in. It's not in the thousands, but it's a bunch.

When you bring proof of all these "dead fish" then you have a case, but until then let it rest....

The same rumor follows every major tournament.

The most fish that could be kept and weighed during the event was approx: 1310 total bass. So you are saying that 33% of these bass were killed? I gotta call BS. There is no way that BASS could have a fish kill of those proportions without TRUE and ACCURATE reports being shown on media outlets.

I'm not taking sides, but something is wrong with that math.

This link shows that 1386 fish were caught just by the 109 pros that fished. This doesn't count the backseaters.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/media/tournament?tournamentId=1199

I goofed and left out the co anglers and I actually just based it on 100 pros which is why is aid approximate numbers. Past that you are still looking at close to a 20% mortatality rate that the rumors allude to which would be astronomical in this age of fishing. I know a few folks that attended the event and none have verified those claims. If someone has a link that actually states this it would be welcome.

I was at the tournament and I did see quite a few big fish floating in the host marina cove. I feel BASS took every precaution to see to it that the fish were taken care of. They would even completly stop the weigh in once the live release boats got to 600lbs and go release the fish.

I think the reason for the mild motality rate was due to post spawn deep fish that were stressed already. How many you think die in a BassChamps tournament?? Those south texas fish are so strong, I feel they stress themselves even harder when they are caught. BASS did everything they could to take care of those fish.

I totally agree with the theory on the netters. They will hurt the lake quicker than anything else. I personally saw some guys checking a net in the cove I was fishing and it contained several bass.

Man i bet the locals kill more big fish though out the yr with club touneys not haveing the kind of care given those fish that they get at the pro level. Every time I have been to a south tx lake I see big bass getting filet. Everyone needs to take care of there fish. But I am sure the greater issues to whine about then the pros fishing falcon.

You kinda nailed my thoughts. The BASS pros did not do anything to the lake that will ruin it.

BASS does create the buzz, that will cause that many more clubs to come down.

Also, gill nets do not hurt the bass fishing as much as you guys think. I have checked many over the years. They help clean out trash fish.

I was at Purtis Creek a little over a month ago, and saw some fishermen hold this little 2.5# maybe 3# fish out of the water for about 10 minutes while he and his buddy took pictures of this little fish. It was ridiculous and kind of funny, since these guys frequent this forum. I don't think I have ever seen two fishermen so proud of one single small fish.

Anyway to get back to the point of this post. C and R fishermen pride themselves on releasing everything they catch. But fact of the matter is that hot weather fishing will kill a huge percentage of the fish that are caught, put in a livewell for long periods of time,then released at the weigh in site.

Although, I think this is more of an issue in the heat of the summer months, even though it was hot down there, the water temps are not as hot as they get during the summer months.

I think that if I was a business owner from that part of the world, I would be ecstatic. The economic impact will be huge with allot of business headed that way as we type due to this single tourney. Allot of folks have always known how good this fishery is, now the entire world knows.

What BASS FLW and all other tournaments and tournament directors need to consider is having paper tournaments where the fish are weighed immediately, weights recorded, and the released. Everyone (sponsors, spectators, tv coverage) likes the classic photo of the tournament winner holding up his two biggest catches but we need to get over it and let the best breeding stock be put back in the lake right away. Paper tournaments are how trout tournaments are handled up north.

It's amazing how people make statements like the original post, when time and time again studies show that less than 2% of the total bass population in a lake ever get caught at all....

From what I heard the gill netters from Mexico are hauling in more 10lb bass than you could shake a stick at!

I think there lies a more serious problem!

I do not think your comparing apples to apples there Yankee doodle.

Whatever little 5 man trout tournaments your talking about are not teh same as BASS, or FLW.

The fast of the matter is there are more tournaments on Rayburn, and have been for 20 yrs than there will ever be at Falcon simply because of the location.

Look at the 30lb sacks coming out of Rayburn.
Anybody that looks at it as a whole, knows Bass, and other major trails do more good for anybody of water than bad. Champion203 is just crying simply because someone else caught his fish.

ZORRO Im not taking sides either but the BASS and FLW do take good care of their fish, but its those smaller tournaments and club tournaments that mess things up.I have seen alot of white bellies @ amistad especially @ Blackbrush ramp every sunday.Also people just dumping their sacks not even helping those fish.Their was an article here saying that about 30-35 percent of the fish being caught@ TOURNAMENTS LATER DIE. FISH ON.

How does that guy continue to sneak trout fishing into every post! AMAZING!

The torunaments I'm talking about are not little five man trout tournaments. They are salmon and steelhead tournaments held on lake Ontario the best fresh water fishing resource in the world with thousands of boats. Catching 50 pound salmon and 30 pound steel head draws more boats to the lake than any of your little dirty water bass tournaments. We take care of our fish and our lakes we don't fish during the spawn and we don't kill our fish during tournaments.