removal of summer day tournies wouldnt hurt my feelings one bit

Agree,the hot weather tournaments are,quite literally,killers. BASS and FLW should go from 5 to 3 fish limits. Everybody gets to catch as many fish as they can;They just bring 3 to the ramp. Seems simple.

I don't think Jason or anyone else is bashing tournaments. He and I are just giving an opinion and Jason certainly has the FACTS to prove it. I love fishing tournaments and have fished many from bass clubs to BASS. However, the reality is, many bass that are caught and released after a tournament die, the studies show it. Just like anything in life we do certain things have certain consequences. I love a 1/2 lb. cheeseburger from the Minnow Bucket with fries. I know it will increase my cholesterol level and can lead to heart disease but I eat them anyway. This lake is not Toledo Bend which is 186,000 acres, Fork is only 27,000 acres and can only handle so much tournament pressure.

105 degree days arent good for anglers or fish

deep fish caught by several guides without venting can be detrimental to the population as well. also deep hooks, gill hooks, etc.. we could all point fingers at each other if wanted.. but we all agree- SOMETHING needs to be done.

Lol. I fished all afternoon in 112 Degrees once,but hey,I was catchin' 'em. Maybe that's my problem.

At most of our events on Fork we have between 100 and 150 bass weighed in. With the 40% mortality you are mentioning here there should be 40 to 60 dead bass floating around the release area after each event. That would be a stinking mess and would no doubt be an issue for our organization and the marina to have dead fish floating all over that bay. The fact is we average a loss of around 1% due to dead fish not being able to be culled from an anglers limit and weighed in DOA.

As stated in an earlier post I plan on doing the best of my ability to return in good health all bass weighed in at our events so that future anglers and fishermen can enjoy them.
I have had the pleasure of meeting and consider some of them friends a great deal of the quality guides on Lake Fork throughout the years. You guys just as I, have the same responsibility to manage this resource and take good care of every fish that boards your boat, most of which are the larger slots and the occasional over bass. I can assure you these larger bass the guides target suffer a greater stress rate and mortality from being caught over and over than these tough young pickles that grace our weigh ins.

I am all for working together to manage our resources as a group and do not appreciate a few of the guides wanting to throw the tournament trails under the bus and make this a guides lake only.

Perhaps if you feel so strongly against tournaments then perhaps those of you with Skeeter or Legend sponsors should ask them to move there large venues to another lake, that would be a start, but now it does not sound like such a good idea to ban tournaments on a public lake with that light cast on it. Just trying to get a perspective for you guys.

Lets be realistic and work together on a united front. We will never accomplish anything positive for the lake if we cannot work together.

The local business's need these trails and the large venues like
Sealy's, Legend and Skeeter Owners just like they need the guides. Without them they would lose over half of their business. Lets help Lake Fork mature gracefully as a team and find some common ground to build on, as stated in an earlier post I plan on making Lake Fork my home in the next few years.

Blessings:
Mark Howard

Maybe one of you guys that knows Kelly could get him to broach the 5 fish to 3 fish limit reduction subject w/ BASS and FLW. It would be politically correct. The Politicians could then claim that they saved 40% of all tournament fish caught in the United States and that those saved fish created millions of new fish.

Good point Ronnie, one reason why I hate using a carolina rig with rookies in the boat. Yes they may be able to catch fish on it but 9 out of 10 times tey can't tell when they have a fish and the fish gets deep hooked. Sometimes it can't be helped but letting people use the technique just because its the easiest for them to catch fish is not always a good idea. Just my opinion, not trying to stir up more stuff.

On our night events in June, July and August we did reduce the tournament hours to 6 hours total and made it a 3 fish weigh in. Has worked well for us and makes for some tight competition. I would not be opposed to having all 3 fish weigh ins on Lake Fork if it was mandated by the State and TPWD.
If we all agree then that would be a good place to start to lobby TPWD for a reduction in the limit for bass to 3 with only 1 over the slot.

I think that is a great idea! Just do it at the State or individual Lake level. It seems win/win. Everybody gets to catch the same number of fish during the day;They just bring the best 3 to the ramp.

What is being mentioned about the mortality rate of tournament caught bass is there are many fish that die days and weeks after the event. Most fish that die do not float, if they did there would be all kinds of fish floating all over the lake that die of natural causes. If all fish that died floated can you imagine how many shad, bass, catfish, bream, crappie, drum, grinnel, carp, and gar you would see floating. Comparing a big bass event to a stringer event is not a fair comparison. Most big fish events the fish are normally weighed right after being caught not hours later. Secondly, most team events people live relatively close and I doubt most spend the night and most people that don't live far off do not buy there gas, tackle, etc. on the lake. People who come fish the big fish events come from all over the state and all over the country and odviously those guys will spend more money around the lake.

I think you missed the point Ronnie, do the math on the number of tournaments on Fork times average boats, times a 5 fish limit and then take 38.1% of that and see what you come up with. Whether thats even a main issue here or not I dont know, but the number of delayed mortality fish is ASTOUNDING if that percentage is correct because of how many tournaments are held on Fork. Seems like everyone and their dog wants to run an all Fork trail these days. No the guides arent any more golden than the rest of us but common sense says if your killing 3,000 plus 15" or less fish a year eventually there will be a decline in the bigger fish no matter how many they stock. I believe you dont see as big of an impact on 14" minimum lakes because such a wide size range of fish are caught, anything from 14"-24+" where as on Fork its primarily the 13" to 15 3/4" fish that are targeted. The bass already fight tremendous odds to get to be 24", I cant help but think IMO that the mortality from 50+ tournaments doesnt help those odds. I dont think in any way the guides were trying to imply that tournaments are the whole problem, but if you look at it from a non biased standpoint and do the math you cant deny that it has to play a role in the problem, a very small role, but it is there.

No need in jumping on the guides, these guys are the ones that are REALLY in touch with the lake as they are on it more than any of us. If Hoffman, Rodgers, Mitchell, Wright, ect.. say THIS IS A PROBLEM then its a problem. I'll take the word of the guys that make a living off the lake, they have a heck of alot more to lose if Fork goes downhill than anyone else so I have to believe they are only looking to restore Fork to what it once was.. the best TROPHY LMB lake in the world!

I got a two-fold solution to the Hyacinth problem...

Start spreading rumors around that it can be smoked and is better than pot!!!

Then all the dope heads would stop stealing and start clearing out every stitch of it they can to get high.

Also... please spread around that the back of Running Creek has the most potent plants.

I heard Wolf Creek grass/weed is best. Start there.