Classic Fish Care

Is anyone concerned at all about the Fish Care for the Classic.. Am I over thinking this? We have rising water temps, fish already stressed out from post spawn, ride in a live well all day then drive 1 hr to FT Worth wait in line to weigh in.. After Weigh in these fish get to go for another drive for 1 hr back to the lake.. I'm sure BASS has the best resources as possible for fish care but it seems like there will be a greater death rate than normal..

Not concerned at all. BASS has been doing this a long time and do a great job at it. They coordinate locally for additional resources. This ain't a Saturday working man's event where just getting guys to follow basic fish care efforts can be difficult. It's gonna go just fine. They are good at it and will take good care of the fish.

Realistically with only 50 guys fishing for 2 days then only 25 guys fishing on Day 3 there will be less than 600 fish total weighed in. Probably a lot less than that.

waiting for the fish care experts to chime in

There will be fish That die. You can bank on it. It’s going to happen.

Totally Agree!

They will be healthy by classic. Water temps will be In 70’s still.

Going to be more than a 1 hour drive to fort worth

So for the guys that haven't been to a classic. When it was on Grand lake it was over a hour back to Tulsa, when it was at Guntersville over a hour to weight in sight Lake Conroe over a hour to Houston. Bass knows what they are doing. Also the Anglers will not just be leaving on there own to head to Fort Worth they will more than likely have police escort like they have at other classics

To answer your question, YES you are overthinking it.....

Yep ^^^^^ it’s just fish. Not that big of a deal.

With the policy escort it will be 49 minutes and 55 seconds to Ft. Worth!!

These fish will be "legal" fish as defined by TP&W laws. If a few die put them on ice and donate to a charity.

Does BASS ever report on Mortality Rate? I don't recall ever seeing how may total fish are caught and released?

Are they allowing them to drive 100 mph on the roads too? It will be over an hour easy, even with a policy escort.

When I got my invite to the classic from BASS they told me to pack a fillet knife... I wonder why???... Dan

Hey you can't blame the guys for their concern. There's only about 600 bass in the lake to begin with.

Genius quote

Have you ever seen the BASS live release boats. 4 axle trailers to carry a quad toon boat that has 4- 200 gal tanks with a kick azz oxygen system.. Once the fish are brought to the stage the boat is positioned underneath and they go right into this monster of a release boat. And then back to where ever they were caught.

They have very dedicated crews with a lot of experience to help the fish survive.

Sushi will be on sale that weekend.

You win the internet today

He is right lol

Those fish are going to be going in for a spa day, get to pose on stage, get their pics taken, then road trip back home, they will have something to tell their kids for years to come.

I am hoping that BASS has improved their fish care over the last decade.. They did not exactly have their [censored] together when they came to Falcon in 08.. And we weighed in on the water so to speak.. But that is unmentionable..

I know they made changes.. Live and Learn.. And they no longer release fish in the home creeks where the weigh in is held.. At least they didn't here the second time around..

We all know tournament fishing, on EVERY level, kills fish.. If's an accepted fact.. Anyone that denies it is just burying their head in the sand..
And anyone that can't accept that needs to get another hobby..

And anyone that does not do their best to keep their fish alive needs to get another hobby..

I know these are just fish.. And they could legally fillet them all if they wanted to.

I've been around this game a long time and I am not naive enough to believe that 50% of those fish will be alive a week after the tournament..

This is a business.. And businesses are about making money.. And the business is catching fish, and making a show of it.. I get it..

I have probably killed dozens of fish in my lifetime fishing tournaments.. Till I installed an O2 system..


So don't sugar coat this as a great day outing for the fish..


A friend wanted me to ask this question.. And I really don't know..

How do they keep the fish separated for the basically two hour ride (from collection to stage) both ways to and from weigh in? Are they in weigh bags hanging from a support system and all crammed together? Seems like that would really inhibit gill action and O2 absorption..

Do they have individual cages for the fish to swim around in?

Maybe someone can answer that for me..

You might think the purpose of this post is to beat on BASS and that I have turned soft in my old age.. Nothing is further from the truth..

But In my old age I have accepted the fact that fish die during fishing tournaments.. Despite best efforts..

And you should accept it as fact as well..

If these pros would just get the VT-2 Livewell Vents, they wouldn't lose any fish. It's simple. For $40 you never have to worry again.

Gonna kill some feesh

Bass dont care about the fish and you will never know about the number that die. Luckily with all the rain the water temps are way below normal so it wont be as bad. All these guys praising BASS about fish care is funny to me... they care about money.

This, if they cared about sport fishing and keeping the fish alive to be caught again they would change to the TTBC format for all tournaments.

So its safe to say that if you fish tournaments and are not fishing a trail with the TTBC then you do not care about sport fishing either? Or does that only apply the other guys and not you?

Not concerned at all I have helped BASS at a few of their weigh ins they have top of the line release boats that they use. they know how to take care of the fish.

Hope that boat floats well on 40 miles of I35W

Its a solid way to twist it. The best possible scenario (while keeping a 5 fish live well scenario like BASS has always done besides fork) is to have weigh in at Ray Roberts. Isle Du Bois state park is pretty large. Instead they are hauling them an 1.5 to Ft Worth, 1 hour weigh in and then hauling them an hour back (traffic probably wont be as bad on the way back). Why are they doing this? They are worried it will hurt their attendance at the expo if people don't see fish. The lack of attendance at the expo was also the reason the first date was cancelled. It's about money. Just thankful the water temps are below average this year with the rain.

Not twisting anything but if a guy is gonna bitch that anything other than the TTBC is not caring for the resource then I would think that guy would not want to do anything himself to hurt the resource especially not fish a non TTBC format event. Of course its about the money. I think the general reason anyone hosts or fishes a tournament is in the hopes of getting some money. We all use the same resources when we fish tournaments and to call out one trail for not having a catch, weigh, release format but still fish events that do not is hypocritical.
I keep hearing people say the catch, weigh, release format is gonna take over but yet 10 years into that format and you will struggle to find a local or regional trail that has it. The very few groups that do are all bass clubs with very few exceptions. If it was gonna take over it would have happened in 10 years.

Im not a fan of that format to be honest. I do enjoy watching the event on Fork but obviously its their only option. I understand your comment more now.

I respect your points as well about being concerned for your home lake. Nothing wrong with that. If we all agreed it would be a boring world.

Got to remember the contestants have the right to keep , clean and eat them if they choose to .

If any die it will be because they were hooked too deep and/or angler did the best they could to keep them alive.

Only issues I see is that the water temps will be quite a bit warmer than past Classics.

Keeping fish alive all day in June on Roberts is tough... I’m no “fish care expert” but I have to wonder how many people on this thread have had a multiple 17-25 lb limits in mid June on Roberts that they had to keep alive. So many beat up post spawn fish and another small wave hitting the bank this week with the moon that it’s going to take some work on the anglers part. Putting my faith in TPWD to be right there on point with this making sure it’s done right. And if it goes bad, maybe they’ll start stocking the lake again.

It really doesn't matter how good BASS is at fish care after the fact some big fish will have been in the livewell 8-9hrs before BASS even touches them. You'd think something as simple as pure oxygen systems provided for the contestants would be considered. 100k rigs, thousands in tackle, etc and a simple $250 oxygen system could ensure quality livewell care.

Brent we should just have a fish fry and fillet them all up. I’ll bring the fryer.

Hippie alert. Those evil capitalists and their desire for money.

I’ve lost some fish in tournaments did not stop be from fishing. Guess it’s all about the money for me too. Barret have you ever lost a fish?

Not so sure the contestants are allowed to keep fish..

But I don't care as long as they aren't dumping dead or fixin' to be dead fish back in the lake..

Gives us all a black eye..

That looks good. A little small, bigger tastes better, but still looks good.

1. What began the entire catch and release idea? Professional fishing
2. Would there be events today if not for BASS at the forefront?
3. I never read any of you guys upset last year when it was in Alabama.

So you only are concerned about bass mortality on your home lake. But only when it’s another group of fishermen. If you were worried about bass mortality you’d railroad against bed fishing, Carolina riggings, deep fishing in hot months, tournament fishing in general in the heat, heck should we even be fishing for bass? Accidents happen and if we can save just one bass....

Why do you care? you don't fish anymore...

I dislike crying.

Then you definitely are in the wrong place

Fish live and die, as long as someone gets to eat the fish that die i could care less, I think Mark estimated maybe 600 fish going to the weigh in, if half of them died it would not make a pimple on a hogs butt. The Classic should bring millions of dollars to the area, I doubt the loss of fish will amount to anywhere close to that.

Reminds me of the old time small local fishing tournaments that always ended in a fish fry! Miss those days.

It ain't bringing millions of dollars to Ray Roberts... maybe ft worth.

The “butt hurt” runs deep on this thread.

Well it appears BASS isn't ignoring the obvious after all but I never really thought they would. This was posted this morning.

https://www.bassmaster.com/news/enhanced-fish-care-planned-classic

It's definitely a business therefore about money, but they are't stupid enough to just blatantly ignore a situation that could come off bad. Very interesting that they plan to weigh in 50% of the fish at the launch on Ray Bob Friday and Saturday to reduce the number of fishin being transported to and from FW.

They've done this many times. They have weighed the fish at the ramp before, maybe every time, I'm not sure, recently. They've had people putting ice and checking the water in the wells, and adding the livewell chemicals to the water. They know what they are doing and the eyes are upon them

I was a little concerned with fish care at the Classic until I read this article. Thanks for sharing, Chris. It's great that Bassmaster and TPWD have joined efforts in making this happen. First of its kind and I bet it goes off without a hitch.

That change was brought about by discussion sparked from a previous thread here on the TFF. Some local anglers are involved in the organization of the event, they took the idea and ran with it. Initially it was to weigh them all at the lake in private, film it, then play it back on the stage at the convention center.
Super happy to hear they have decided to do something similar..love me some TPWD.

Dump em in the Trinity River right there by the arena. Knocks out 1/2 the.trip and (maybe) 1/2 the whining!

That is why I said I was gonna trust BASS 8n regards to the fish care at the Classic. I figured they knew what they were doing.

There are plenty of bass in ray Bob, I dont see what the big deal is....

Glad TPWD got involved.

Bass tournaments are big money. They are here to stay. Whether fish survive or not is not something tournament participants or sponsors give a lot of thought to. As long as the fish are alive at weigh-in, all is well. No amount of data that shows significant mortality is going to change anything. There will be another set of data out there that claims all will be fine.

I’ve been watching this thread and want to share with you a few my thoughts, experience and published fishery science facts with you Latta and other interested and participating in this thread.

You are right about that dreaded 8-9 hour transport in summer bass boat livewell with poor/deadly water quality seen particularly in hot summer tournaments. It is well documented by fishery science that chronic sustained livewell suffocation is a very serious problem every summer for many C&R tournament fishermen. Chronic suffocation coupled with extreme sustained capture/transport stress is a killer for fish. Man also does poorly when continuous confined in hypoxic environments and serious life or death stress too.

Here’s a very interesting piece with references about the concept and origin of C&R bass tournament fishing and the contestants, commonly called the “Bubba’s” by Ray and his boys back in the early 1970’s. The formative years of C&R has always be no more than a public relations strategy to pacify public opinion and that damn nuisance whining by active environmental activist.

CATCH AND RELEASE FISHING TOURNAMENTS, THE NEW B.A.S.S. CONCEPT
https://oxyedge-chum.com/catch-and-release-fishing-tournaments-b-a-s-s-history/

It’s really all about manipulating public perception, manipulating personal egos for status and profits, flashy fishing uniforms, sun glasses and lots of money, money, money circulating … that’s all. And the State game agencies keep lakes well stocked for bass tournaments. Its business management and altering public perception of C&R that count.

Best possible bass care happens in the BassMaster Classic only when the fishery experts and B.A.S.S. take possession of the catch. They transport live bass with $100K live release boats and most importantly state of the art compressed oxygen injection systems maintain continuous safe oxygen levels for all the fish in the tank. Bass do not suffocate when in their possession, the public is watching then.
The bass killer is the bass boats that have deadly livewell water quality, no oxygen injection systems and those 8-9 hour transports on hot summer day. Seventy thousand dollar bass boats come with aerators, 3-4 livewell water pumps and livewell lid air vents is definitely insures inferior water quality that is far less than the best bass care provided when B.A.S.S. takes possession of the fish at the weigh-in using those compressed oxygen injection system.

Most of you have probably never seen, heard of or read this publication. After all it was published over 2 decades ago. This publication is no more than a quick look at some of the historical discoveries, paradigm advancements about improving tournament fish care and live fish transport practices. To date many tournament operations do provide and require the best bass care possibly. As for the contestants, nothing much has changed since C&R began back in the early 1970’s.

It is still acceptable for the contestants to provide far less than the best bass care possible to date. After all, a tournament official certifies the contestant bass boat as having a “functional livewell” or the boat is disqualified on the spot, right?
Some of you may have wondered what the words “functional livewell” really mean. Google “functional livewell,wiki” and see what these words mean if you have a spare minute and you’re interested in the meaning of words like this. I did.

Bass boat lvewells that are not functional do kill and maim bass because of poor or deadly water quality. Air pumps, air ventures, air bubblers and 2-3 water pumps and those air vents installed in livewell lids are cheap and popular, even come free in bass boats. Aeration systems are popular, cheap and fine with 1 or 2 small bass in the livewell on an 8 hour transport but those contestants with 1-2 bass never win any tournament $$ and won’t win either.

Add 10-25 lbs. or more bass weight in the livewell and there are serious problems insuring minimal safe dissolved oxygen concentrations/saturations delivered continuously resulting in bass slowly suffocating in summer tournaments every summer. Open your livewell lid every 10-15 minutes to see what has died, what is sickly or floating upside down, what is about to die before you can race to the weighing with gills still moving a little, but all of you already know how that summertime tournament routine goes.
If any bass boat livewell is certified as a “Functional livewell” that means the official that examined and tested the livewell has certified the bass boat livewell to keep all the catch alive all day. Tournament mortality should be zip if the livewell is really functional they claim and the blast-off is on.

Here’s a B.A.S.S. oldie, but it’s still a goodie and applicable today!

The original KEEPING BASS ALIVE: A Guidebook for Anglers and Tournament Organizers

Gene Gilliland Oklahoma Fishery Research Laboratory Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation Norman, Oklahoma 73072 Hal Schramm U.S. Geological Survey Mississippi Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Mississippi State University Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762 Bruce Shupp National Conservation Director B.A.S.S.® Montgomery, Alabama 36117 Published by: ESPN Productions, Inc/B.A.S.S. 5845 Carmichael Rd. Montgomery, Alabama, 36117 Editor: James Hall Art Director: Aaron Fraze Cover Illustration: Craig Shook Copyright 2002 B.A.S.S.® Montgomery, Alabama

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Helpful reviews of this booklet were provided by Steven Cook, Illinois natural History Survey; Tod Driscoll, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department; David Kinser, Oxygenation Systems of Texas; Will Kirkpatrick, Broadus, TX; Bill Anderson, Rick Horton and Kevin Richards, Missouri department of Conservation; and B.A.S.S. staff members: Don Corkran, Mark Cosper, Chuck Harbin, Dewey Kendrick, Dean Kessel, George McNeilly, Dave Precht, Al Smith, Diehl Unger and Trip Weldon. - pg iii

CONTENTS
Why Bass Die — Initial and Delayed Mortality Injury . . pg 4
Water Temperature . . .pg 5
Dissolved Oxygen . . pg 5
Water Quality . . pg 6
Stress . . pg 7
The Angler’s Role in Improving Survival of Released Bass Hooking and Handling . . pg 9
In the Livewell . . pg 11
Other Considerations . . pg 21
How the Tournament Organizer Ensures High Survival The Weigh-in Site . . pg 23
The Weigh-in Process . .pg 24
Life Support Tanks . .pg 26
Weighing the Fish . . pg 28
The Salt Dip . . pg 29
Releasing the Fish . . pg 30
Other Considerations . . pg 33
Appendix Improving Livewell Aeration Systems . . pg 34
Constructing a Life Support Tank(s) . . pg 35
Constructing Fish Transport Tank(s) for Trailer or Boat. . pg 36
Constructing a Pressurized Oxygen Delivery System . . pg 37
Sources for Materials . . pg 39
References . . pg 40

CHEMICALS -- pg 21
Another chemical that has sometimes been used to treat livewell or holding tank water is Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2). Hydrogen Peroxide breaks down into oxygen and water in the presence of organic matter. However, this chemical can injure fish and should not be used. Most people have used this colorless, odorless, tasteless liquid to disinfect a cut or scratch. You can see it fizzing and bubbling on the skin as it oxidizes. Now imagine what it does in a livewell full of bass. The bass’ mucus coating protects its skin from the oxidation reaction, but there is no such protective coating on the delicate gill filaments. Unfortunately, anglers that use Hydrogen Peroxide think that is a little is good, a little more should be better. Wrong! Damage to gill filaments, suffocation, and death may result. DO NOT USE HYDROGEN PEROXIDE IN THE LIVEWELL - pg 21

CONCLUSION: Some fishermen and tournament directors do chose to provide the best tournament bass care possible, most do not chose the best bass care possible regardless of the available fish care science literature addressing safe live fish transports, keeping fish alive and healthy for live release or fresh fish for human consumption. Many fishermen recite many excuses to avoid providing the best bass care possible.

The average bass tournament fisherman consider the best transport care is definitely not worth all the effort, the cost or the trouble to provide the best bass care possible in 2021. A couple years ago Bass Cat Boats and TP&WD Inland Fisheries came out with a livewell O2 injection system. Both TP&WD and Bass Cat boats used identical components in their O2 injection systems.

Both TP&WD and Bass Cat Boats O2 injection livewell systems using pure compressed oxygen failed were poorly marketed resulting in cstastrophic rejection and sales failures. Both were totally rejected by bass tournament anglers and passed quietly into oblivion of marketing failures. So much for summer bass care water quality and the physical damage that resulted in that 8-9 hour high stress boat ride caused during that live transport to the weigh-in. Regardless of current fishery science, tournament bass fishermen and all but 1 bass boat manufacturer(Bass Cat Boats) had absolutly no interest or motivation to provide safer livewell water quality for live bass transports in summer bass tournaments.

It is really easy tonow to tell the difference between which Tournament officials and contestants are willing and do provide the best summer tournament bass care possible and who is not willing to provide the best bass care possible. Many tournament officials and contestentants are content proviing far less than the best summer bass tournament care possible for 8-9 hour bass boat transports.

Now anyone/everyone that has eyes can tell the difference can see the difference betweeh the best bass care possible and far less than the best bass care possible. Just look for those big red signs that say "NO SMOKING - OXYGEN IN USE," oxygen injection systems and compressed O2 tanks in bass boats, at weigh-in holding tanks and those live release transport boats bubbling pure oxygen into the transport water containing tournament bass or any other species of C&R tournament fish (redfish, catfish, crappie, speckled trout, flounder, walleye and the list goes on).

Oxygen does not discriminate between fish or man. Physiologically, fish either have safe concentrations/saturations of dissolved oxygen during live transports the oxygen levels are insufficient and unsafe enough to be alive and healthy. Tournament bass do become sickly and often die from lack of dissolved ofygen in livewell water causing chronic suffocation and sustained hypoxic stress (the worst most serious stress).

Actually lack of oxygen resulting in cellular hypoxia will is the root cause of how we all shall die someday… cellular O2 deprivation, just like a fish suffering from hours of chronic lack of oxygen while being trapped is a bass boat livewell and being transported in that bass boat livewell on any hot summer tournament day.

Remember, when the end of your life draws near that chronic sustained hypoxia is actual “Coup de Grace.” It's the same deal for every fish, rats, cats, snakes, spiders and all other other aerobes too.

Hope all of you had a great Memorial Day week-end and please remember all the Vets collectively that gave everything protecting our freedoms, rights, values and our way of life set out by our forefathers the past 250 years.

Good grief!

Good info jack. Any links to an oxygen system that could be used in the livewells to compliment a recirculation pump?

Livewell oxygen systems are not economically viable. Even at the highest playing field. The fish only have to live long enough to make it t to the boat ramp in BASS events. The boat ramp is where the fish are counted and inspected. If they die from the ramp to weigh in, there is no penalty. When the boat is on the lake, fresh water is constantly pumped into the tanks.

I didn't read that book above but nearly everyone I know runs pure oxygen system on Rayburn in summer. It 100 percent makes a difference. Fill up the livewell, add ice, and let the oxygen flow. Fish are perfect at the end of the day. Oxygen is cheap insurance for fish care

https://www.slideshare.net/raminlandfish/livewell-oxygen-injection-8773301

VT-2 vents are all you need. Why waste money on O2 systems?

^^

BassCat boats disagrees

not really concerned with what BCB thinks

Is that the hole that lets hot air in your livewell?

Me either

I think this a legitimate topic. Im sure BASS has all their ducks in a row for it. But the hour back and forth and being the Classic has not been done in June. The Classic is normally held around March. But with temps right now, I dont think its a big concern.

They are only taking two fish per contestant on Friday and Saturday to Fart Worth . On Sunday they take all the fish the final 25 have in there live wells .

TPWD got involved. Why would BASS care about our resource?

input the "he's right you know" meme here ^^^^^

yes, it lets air in and gasses escape and works beautifully. I got rid of my useless O2 system and now only run VT-2 vents, to each his own

Am I the only one that thinks it is kinda weird that they are closing public access to a public park on a public lake? I would think they would want fans in the video shots and kids having access to pros etc..

I am glad they are going to at least try to keep some of the fish healthy although the ones they will be transporting (the two biggest) are the ones most at risk of dying from stress. As long as what dies gets treated with a little seasoned cornmeal and peanut oil I don't have much of a problem with it.

The sky is Falling the sky is falling!

I believe the launch is still open to the public. Just no launching boats there.

The Classic used to always be in the summer. July and August until 2006.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bassmaster_Classic

We went to it at Lay Lake in Alabama. Craig Schuff was in our bass club and won the Federation National championship and qualified for it. It was mid August, hot and stuffy. The drive back to the weigh in was an hour and I believe they put ice in all the livewells and plugged them to insure they would not lose water driving back to Birmingham.

Not one study to verify its value. I'm out. It does not even make sense to me.

There’s been a thread on vents, every summer, since their inception. Maybe there simply needs to be an owners manual printed next to the switches in the boat...describing the proper setting, uses, and functions of the live well plumbing.

A few thoughts for consideration.

The summer classic will be an interesting bass survival experiment June 11-13, 2021. If the acute mortality and delayed mortality combined reach or exceed acceptable tournament kill goals established by TP&WD and B.S.S.S., I expect we may see some changes in summer bass tournaments in Texas that may be enforced by TP&WD.

At first couple days, TP&WD live fish transport experts will be Johnny on the spot at the boat ramp collecting the catch and immediately placing all the bass is their tanks containing excellent water quality, safe DO concentrations/saturations of compressed welding oxygen will be administered immediately. The DO will be constantly monitored with a TP&WD DO Meter and recorded along with the dose adjusted of oxygen diales in on their high pressure oxygen regulators that will be relative to the tank stocking density. The dose setttings will be adjusted relative to the total biomass of fish in the tanks.

It would be scientifically interesting and extremely easy for TP&WD to test the DO in bass boats livewells at the boat ramp before TP&WD takes possession of the bass… that is when the boats arrive at the boat ramp and their livewells still contain a limit of bass that have just been transported all day… just to see if and confirm that boats livewells are really functional and safe for all the bass that have been transport many hours in that boat livewell.

Be assured that when the TP&WD bass transport experts take possession of the bass, the fish care provided by TP&WD will be exerllent. The bass care will be very different than the livewell transport care provided by the any of the contestants the past 7-8 hours. You will never see TP&WD using H2O2 to insure safe oxygenation or using those popular livewell chemical supplements or the Tanks VT-2 air vents to insure minimal safe oxygenation. You won't see TP&WD using Bass Medic’s Rejuvenade or T-H Marine G-Juice and their electric Oxygenators or Sure Life Hold and Release Formula. The reason is because these products are not FDA approved for use on food fish or fish that may be tournament caught, released alive, caught again the next day and consumed by humans that are totally unaware the fish they just caught and ate has been soaking in fish dip for hours with unknown chemicals that are not FDA approved for use on food fish for human consumption. TP&WD does abide by FDA regulations and prohabitions in this kind of matter.

You will see TP&WD extensively monitoring water quality parameters in their fish tanks. They will be administering specific doses of 100% compressed welding oxygen (those green O2 tanks and bubblers) to insure continuous safe oxygenation and use non-iodizes salt to reduce fish stress and reduce the work of osmoregulation while the fish they are in possession of the tournament catch.

Ask the TP&WD employee that is monitoring and recording DO’s with his DO meter, “what is the DO Saturation you are maintaining in the TP&WD holding tanks and transport tanks?” Just ask and see what transport DO Saturation they maintain in their haul tanks using compressed oxygen.

The real survival part of this experiment happens when at the end of the last tournament day June 13, 2021. The day when all contestants haul their catch an hour on the highway from the lake to Ft. Worth in their bass boat livewells vs hauling bass to the boat ramp at the lake where TP&WD take possession immediately the first 2 days of the contest. The results of this experiment may empact and change TP&WD regulations and laws for summer bass tournament fishing in Texas, ie. limits, angler fish care and the “functional livewell rules," bass boat livewell water quality requirements, etc.

After all, if a boat livewell is not functional, fish will die because of poor water quality, fishermen will be penalized for dead-fish, lose tournament prizes and post tournament mortality will increase, Summer tournament is and always has been a major public relation problem for bass tournament officials. A "functional livewell" is actually supposed to keep fish not just alive, but maintain fish in healthy conditions during live transports.

You can bet that TP&WD is expert at transport live fish, they do this every day and thry know how to and will keep the live bass as healthy as possible when they take possession of the tournament catch in the 2021 Classic.

Are they doing the day 1 and 2 weigh ins at Ray Roberts now, that sounds like what they are saying here

https://youtu.be/mdElJ0-LB8o?t=4150

As someone else pointed out BASS has hosted Elite events that benefitted Texas Parks and Wildlife plus BASS has an entire conservation division dedicated to helping fisheries.

https://www.bassmaster.com/tournaments/2020-texas-fest

FACT CHECKED= TRUE!!

Up to 2 fish can be taken in to Ft. Worth for weigh in. Others weighed at lake.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/?req=20210607a

If people just got the VT/2 vents then none of this would even be an issue.

They could just do it like they used to.

I'm saving up for these bad boys for my livewells. Should keep the fish alive and add some being

https://www.autozone.com/vent-visors-bug-deflectors-and-truck-cover/side-vent-trim/pilot-chrome-dual-bar-vent-2-piece/201841_0_0?spps.s=3150&cmpid=LIA:US:EN:AD:NL:1000000:PAC:71700000060528107&gclid=CjwKCAjwqvyFBhB7EiwAER786VL2aZYhCQpO07db3pMBW4iEfAtgAWZkMTj4lWBYwqDZ3AhVuxjKchoCC-YQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I’m going out on a limb and saying you triggered a few millennials

I wonder who decided that one LOL. TPWD or BASS?


Also def my favorite part of the article"The TPWD Inland Fisheries Division has worked tirelessly over the years to make Lake Ray Roberts a world class fishery."

I knocked a hole out of my livewell lid lift pull the other day and thought this would work just like them fancy expensive vents

wow ....$40 is expensive?

You old folks crack me up.

The fish that Mathgeek catches have a higher mortality rate than this tournament will have. LOL

I hope they don’t get lost on the way back to Roberts and accidentally release them in bois d’arc.

just prop the doors open a couple inches,...come on man.

I have no idea if they really work, but after installing them on my boat I haven't had 1 single fish die on me and had plenty die before. I also noticed I never got the weird foamy build up I would get before installing them. Maybe purely coincidence but I'll be putting them on the new boat if it ever gets here

Putting summer air in my truck and trailer tires set me back a pretty penny. I splurged and bought a few hundred red hooks plus some of that new fangled red fishing line, a Buzzy rod and some of those pellets that fizz when you put them in your soft plastics.

They put little ID bracelets on them, with the name of who caught them!!!!!

that red line is legit

I've found that the 100 degree summer heat still wasn't hot enough in my livewells with those vents. So I have rigged up hair dryers to come on when its 100 degrees outside. Fish love them.

You’re “all in”!

Gonna be a scorcher with the humidity

“tHEy OnlY CaRE aBOUT tHE MONEy”

#evilcapatilst #idomyjobforfree

What percentage died after release?

You should stop being mean and putting hooks in fish as well. They have feelings too. With Livescope and such these days I think we are to the point where we should just take a a screenshot of the bass and bring those pictures to weigh in. I would hate to cause a bass any pain by catching it.

I'll bet that at least a good number of them were released alright, but into an ice chest and then hot grease!

I could care less how many fish died. I’ve never fished the lake and probably never will. The article is just more BASS propaganda. How many fish were in their care anyways? Maybe 100 over 3 days

If it was 100 they lost a whopping 2 fish. A weeknight 7 boat tournament probably loses more than that.

Good job BASS! Happy now?

Some of the points made on here have me ......LOL

You guys have a good weekend. If you damage a gill with hook or a hook point goes through the fishes eye, post on here and I will pray for your fish.

I was never unhappy.....

Bass the propaganda machine! Teaching that evil fish catching online and in magazines pitiful

Mr. perry you’ve been brainwashed

Plenty were found floating in the middle of state park luckily “the best in the world” left most the big ones untouched because they saw flooded bushes and couldn’t get off the banks.

not sure if it was on this forum or BBC but someone posted recently that guntersville had 1050 tournament boats in one day on that lake....there are tournaments every weekend and several during the week almost every week during the year...and that has been going on for years and yet guntersville is one of the best fishing lakes in the entire country......common sense tells us two things.....and hopefully the game and fish depts. of every state takes notice.....!. every lake needs cover and grass provides it if flooded timber/bushes are not available...2. that tournaments do kill some fish but the yearly spawn produces far more replacement fish that tournnaments kill....

I wish they'd just filet them and give them to the poor.....that wouldn't piss me off at all

You should probably show those losers how it’s done!

Tournament Directors and contestants have couple choices, we can chose to provide the new standard, provide the best bass care possible or we can chose the old outdated standard if tournament bass care and provide less than the best summer tournament bass care possible. It is very easy for the public, media and conservation minded folks to actually see those providing the best care possible and those not willing to provide the best care possible now.

Providing less than the best bass care is OK, it’s easier, cheaper, but less than the best care possible does cause more public relations angst for tournament directors and "dead fish penalties" can still cause angst for contestants every summer, especially night C&R tournament mortality.

The Best Summer Tournament Bass Care Possible is done just like this:[b][/b]

Classic fish care plan hits home run with 98% live release Classic fish care plan hits home run with 98% live release | Bassmaster June 24, 2021

In 3 tournament days 495 bass were caught by 54 professional anglers, 98.4% or 487 bass were released alive, Eight bass or 1.6% of the bass in this 3 day tournament were not released alive.

Over the course of the tournament, Classic anglers caught 495 bass, but the lakeside weigh-in on Days 1 and 2 resulted in 50% fewer fish being transported to Fort Worth with a 98.4% live release rate.
Image: Experts testing bass boat livewell water quality, specifically DO concentration, DO saturation and livewell water temperature with a YSI DO Meter in livewell containing limit of bass. Livewell DO water quality testing confirms or denies that the kivewell DO water quality is safe for all the bass being transported. https://www.bassmaster.com/sites/default/files/4_tc_checking_temp_and_do.jpg

The dissolved oxygen livewell test with bass in the livewell (not a livewell with no fish) at the end of the day is a simple accurate way to determine if that livewell is a “Functional livewell.” When the DO is tested and found to be unsafe or deficient in dissolved oxygen with fish in the livewell, that’s a “non-functional” livewell commonly called a “death-well.” A “Functional bass boat livewell” must be capable of insuring and maintaining continuous safe DO water quality for all the fish (total bio-mass of fish) being transported all day from the time of the initial catch early in the morning to the final live release late in the afternoon on a hot summer day.

Image: PURE 100% COMPRESSED OXYGEN BUBBLES - NOT AIR BUBBLES COMPOSED OF 79% NITROGEN GAS https://www.bassmaster.com/sites/default/files/5_sd_oxygen_bubbles.jpg

Testing the dissolved oxygen in bass boat livewells that contains a limit of bass is the real test that qualifies a livewell to be a “functional livewell” or disqualified as a “non-functional livewell.” Testing livewell DO that contains no fish is meaningless, only for show and deceptive. That’s like hiding foam in the livewell and bad livewell water quality using anti-foaming livewell additives and detergents.

Image: Testing livewell water temperature and dissolved oxygen https://www.bassmaster.com/sites/default/files/4_tc_checking_temp_and_do.jpg

Image: Livewell Oxygen-injection system used in bass boat livewells at the Classic to insure continuous safe oxygenation all day transporting the catch. 100% Compressed welding oxygen. https://www.bassmaster.com/sites/default/files/6_sd_removing_bottle.jpg
Image: TPWD staff placed the fish in a cooled, oxygenated fish hauling tank, ready for transport back to Lake Ray Roberts.

Live release boat used oxygen-injection for the final transport to live release site. 100% commercial welding oxygen. Note 2 large commercial steel oxygen cylinders on live release boat.

Image: https://www.bassmaster.com/sites/default/files/10_ac_transfer_to_live_release_boat.jpg

Three weeks after the BassMaster Classic 2021 on Ray Roberts/Ft. Worth: When the experts took possession of the tournament catch they demonstrated the best summer tournament fish care possible… 98.4% live release rate!

The fish care experts raised the bar for C&R tournament fish transport care using new oxygen-injection technology. The new life support technology combined with new tournament fish care procedures improved live release rates dramatically for summetr C&R fishing tournaments.

The Mew Best summer tournament Bass Transport Care Standard was demonstrated by TP&WD Inland Fisheries biologist Todd Driscoll and staff, B.A.S.S. Conservation Director, Gene Gilliland, the live release boat and staff and especially all the tournament contestants that used livewell oxygen-injection systems in 54 tournament bass boat livewells in the 2021 summer BassMaster Classic.

All contestants fishing the Bassmaster Classic 2021 in June had to use oxygen-injection life support system in their bass boat livewells. This new teist in tournament fbass care was mandated by B.A.S.S. tournament officials. Contestants had no choice, they had to use supplemental compressed welding oxygen with oxygen-injection livewell systems.

This 98.4% summer Bassmaster Classic live release rate was accomplished because they chose to provide a new standard for the best bass transport care possible.

Choosing to provide less than the best bass summer tournament care possible is cheaper and easier, but the summer tournament mortality rates will be substancially greater..

By the way, I did not see any VT-2 air vents installed in any bass boat livewell lids, TP&WD live haul tank lids or installed in any live release boat tanks. Why’s-that I wondered? That's a great question for Frank the Tank.

Frank the Tank is probably the greatest VT-2 air vent promoter/salesman on the planet; totally focused, direct and persistent with every forum air vent sales pitch he makes. Is it possible that someday we might actually see/read or even hear a 3rd party research publication revealing testing on these VT-2 air vents. I’m not getting my hopes up as none been published to date.

Frank, why are there no VT-2 air vents seen or installed in 54 bass classic boat livewells, TP&WD live haul tanks or catch and release boat haul tanks in the June 2021 BM Classic. Surely there must be valid reasons why there are no VT-2 air vents used in any Classic boat livewells or live haul tank.

A pair of $5 dollar plastic Amazon air vents would be the cheapest way to insure minimal safe livewell oxygenation in summer bass tournaments. IF VT-2 air vents really insured continuous safe oxygen-rich livewell water with winning stocking densities of summer tournament bass, that would really be sooooo impressive. I like Frank, he's funny.

Now who would like to Provide the Best Summer Tournament Bass Care Possible using the newest standard for bass care extablished and used by by B.A.S.S., TP&WD Inland Fisheries and state of the art live release boats?

The best in the world left BASS in 2019

I couldn’t care any less what BASS does for fish care or what their mortality rates were. It’s just some fish. I’ll take my $35 livewell vents and crazy lively fish at the end of 9 hours of summer derby fishing any day over an oxygen livewell system because Ranger told me too and gave me a satiny jacket and told me I was “in the club”.

Hello Frank – thanks for sharing your inner most personal feelings, I appreciate getting to know you better and like you even more now.
I believe you’re are right. Like you, I think most bass tournament fishermen could care less about tournament mortality rates because overall bass tournament mortality is the Tournament Directors problem. The tournament organizations can pay a very steep public relations price when tournament bass die or they are careless, kill fish and the public and media sees the slaughter floating on beaches and around public boat ramps.

Tournament bass fish represents much more than just a fish to eat these days. In only 50 years the public has been reprogramed and convinced that a tournament caught bass has become symbolic. The fish is now a powerful public relations symbol representing fishery conservation. That fish symbol generates millions of dollars through thousands of bass fishing tournament orgs. yearly… that is big business as I see it!

Bass mortality is only the fisherman’s concern and problem for 7-8 hours when the fish are caught, confined in a small boat livewell and transported all day or all night. If 1-2 bass before the weigh-in and the fisherman is hit with the dreaded “dead fish” penalty. The fisherman is directly affected in the pocket book and will lose tournament money all because a bass died in his livewell during the day. The fisherman is totally responsible for keeping bass alive in his boat livewell for the 7-8 hour boat ride beginning from the catch and lasting to the weigh-in scales.

The going retail price for a pair of these VT-2’s is $50. You buy a pair for $35. Is your sales commission $15 per pair? Sales seems to be your bag of tea.

You remind me of “RAY SCOTT and BUBBA POWER.” How and why Ray Scott changed tournament bass fishing ½ century ago from tournament catch, kill and fry to catch and live release. Oh back in those good old bass tournament days, pre 1970, before bass tournament fishing evolved into commercialized big business.

Now to really be popular in the tournament bass fishing world a fisherman must have at least a $70 K dollar bass fishing rig, at least a flashy fast 90 MPH bass boats adorned with plenty glitter and a cockpit looking like the [censored] pit of and a couple those $500 bass fishing uniforms.
“RAY SCOTT and BUBBA POWER” is on the internet. It’s about how Scott and his associates discovered, invented, implemented and sold the new “BUBBA POWER” image to all his “BUBBA’S.”

Search “RAY SCOTT and BUBBA POWER.” This is Scott’s original new, innovative concept that was the core concept for C&R bass tournament fishing 1970 that introduced livewells and air bubbles.

Just wondering Frank, how you feel about using the popular G-Juice livewell chemical?

Have you ever used G-Juice?

No sir, I have not. Don’t use livewell treatments anymore. Don’t have to. Just the vents.

You wrote all that based on a misunderstanding. Frank wrote that he COULDN’T care less...not that he COULD care less.

Yeah yeah and now live wells are evil and ducket rods are the best. What a reality you live in