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Live release saltwater fishing tournaments #13367705 12/10/19 05:47 PM
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Jack46 Offline OP
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There are many popular freshwater C&R fishing tournaments in Texas.

Are there any saltwater C&R tournaments in Texas now or have they all reverted back to the more popular “catch and kill” tournaments now? I recall a spec trout C&R tournament in the Galveston bay area years ago, but that only lasted a few years and was gone. I don’t recall the C&R saltwater tournaments being very popular in Texas and failed to thrive.

Re: Live release saltwater fishing tournaments [Re: Jack46] #13367787 12/10/19 06:59 PM
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Myself and my team ( Coastal Bend Weigh Team/Galv.Bay area) have worked many Saltwater Tournament weigh stations from Lake Calcasieu,La. to Aransas Pass since mid 1999, and still do. Some were Series Tournaments, Corporate Tournaments,Charity, local clubs, and Kids Tourney's. Some have been C&R, some are Semi-C&R. We will be providing weigh station services for Transocean/NOV come April on Galveston's West End.That's a "Semi-C&R". That's what I call it. Fish that are brought in Live get a half pound bonus to add to their stringer weight, then released on scene. I can only speak about tournaments we have worked. Other organizations would have to chime in on this thread.


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Re: Live release saltwater fishing tournaments [Re: Jack46] #13367901 12/10/19 08:12 PM
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The lone star kayak series was like that, with the bonus for live fish at the weigh in. I think redfish handle all that live well to weigh in to release better than trout do. I’ve seen some beat up trout from being in a live well all day and they look pretty bad. I’ve taken redfish that I threw in a cooler with a block of ice still on a stringer, driven 25-30 minutes, and put them in the lake while I clean my gear. They are always lively within minutes of being back in the water. Trout almost never survive the 25-30 drive, enough to revive.

It’s not all that uncommon to catch redfish that have been through some significant trauma. A hunk missing, blind in one eye, a misaligned, but healed broken jaw. I hardly ever catch a trout with any big sign of major past injuries. Wonder why that is? I think trout just can’t bounce back from as much doled out abuse, from nature or man, as a redfish can.

So just make the tournament catch and kill for trout or accept that many of the released fish will end up as crab or dolphin food.

Re: Live release saltwater fishing tournaments [Re: Jack46] #13368171 12/10/19 11:27 PM
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Ride the Bull kayak tourney in Grand Isle LA for bull reds is catch and release.


�Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?" - The Messiah
Re: Live release saltwater fishing tournaments [Re: Jack46] #13368346 12/11/19 01:59 AM
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Pat Goff Online Content
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Redfish are far hardier than trout.
Trying to keep a big trout alive is a waste of time, if it's still alive when it gets weighed it'll be crab food in an hour, no need to waste them.


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Re: Live release saltwater fishing tournaments [Re: Pat Goff] #13368437 12/11/19 03:16 AM
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Originally Posted by Pat Goff
Redfish are far hardier than trout.
Trying to keep a big trout alive is a waste of time, if it's still alive when it gets weighed it'll be crab food in an hour, no need to waste them.


I think a catch and release for trout would only work if the fish was photographed being weighed or measured by the angler and immediately released.

The Ride the Bull is a kayak tourney in LA where boats pick the redfish up as soon as a kayak catches them. There are tanks in the boats and the fish are immediately brought to the weigh station. The whole thing is confined to Caminada pass, so no fish is out of the pass for more than 15 minutes or out of the water for more than a few seconds.


�Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?" - The Messiah
Re: Live release saltwater fishing tournaments [Re: V-Bottom] #13370390 12/12/19 06:29 PM
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Jack46 Offline OP
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Originally Posted by V-Bottom
Myself and my team ( Coastal Bend Weigh Team/Galv.Bay area) have worked many Saltwater Tournament weigh stations from Lake Calcasieu,La. to Aransas Pass since mid 1999, and still do. Some were Series Tournaments, Corporate Tournaments,Charity, local clubs, and Kids Tourney's. Some have been C&R, some are Semi-C&R. We will be providing weigh station services for Transocean/NOV come April on Galveston's West End.That's a "Semi-C&R". That's what I call it. Fish that are brought in Live get a half pound bonus to add to their stringer weight, then released on scene. I can only speak about tournaments we have worked. Other organizations would have to chime in on this thread.
Just wondering, how much do you charge to service any fishing tournament in Texas/LA? Are you the only 1 that does this for bay and saltwater fishing tournaments. There was some bass guy from up around Rayburn that was hooked up with the Trout Masters tournaments years ago around the coastal bay areas. He baled-out with the TM operations if I remember right.
From the tournament promoters point of view, the conservation look, financial pay-back, all the extra efforts and final $ reward was just not worth all the trouble and cost of keeping tournament fish alive for the weigh-in show. I remember back in the good old days when catch-kill and fish fry after the tournaments was fun and really cool?
When those spec trout tournaments in Texas and LA flopped, they really flopped bad. You are probably right, they just could not keep those specs alive in boat livewell and were a great PETA target. Politically incorrect and publically scorned out of business because they just could not keep those specs alive all day to the weigh-in so to speak.
I have heard that keeping a red fish alive in a livewell all day is really easy, easy like keeping a bass or a snake alive in a livewell all day.

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