Team Tournaments

JoeMo · Post by **JoeMo** » Thu Jun 20, 2002 1:23 am

OK, here's another of those "What's best" kind of questions for all bass anglers out there:
Years ago if you entered a Team Tournament many of them simply stated "2 guys- 2 limits"
Nowadays, more and more T-Organizations as well as Clubs are trying to be more conservative and reducing the Team Bag Limit to 6 or even 5 bass.
What is your opinion of this and tell us why.
Good Fishing, JoeMo

britchie · Post by **britchie** » Thu Jun 20, 2002 3:54 pm

Well I'm glad that they have reduced the bag limits in team events. Simple fact being conservation. You take 50 teams weighing in 10 or 12 fish a tournament, this is hard on the fish. Also, a tournament in my opinion is mostly to do with quality. If I've got 5 fish weighing 15 lbs and the other guy has 10 weighing 16lbs, who's the best fisherman. I went after quality not numbers. So with the bag limits lower I can concentrate on bigger bites. Hope everyone agrees.

ED F. · Post by **ED F.** » Thu Jun 20, 2002 4:32 pm

Hi Joe!

I'm Not really sure I completely understand why bag limits are decreased for team events. Is there a much greater population of anglers at these events? If that is the case then I fully understand. Otherwise, most (hopefully all) livewells meet the specified requirements for holding two limits of fish.
During a regular "every-man-for-himself" tournament, nobody seems to have a problem with ten fish on a boat, so I'm a bit puzzled as to what the major difference might be. If we say that it is specifically to protect the bass, then are we to say that during regular tournaments we simply don't care? Personnaly, to me it really doesn't matter all that much. Limits make for a more interesting contest, and is most likely the reason for them. However, most tournaments are based on total weight, and if we were very serious about protecting the bass, we would only bring our largest fish to the scale for the day. One fish per angler, per event, still awarding the highest total weight, and it also makes light of "River Rat's" question about quality vs. quantity. I think the "winning angler" is the angler who catches the big one, and is also carefull to protect and conserve the resource and the environment at the same time!

brendanc · Post by **brendanc** » Thu Jun 20, 2002 5:42 pm

From a conservation stand point, less fish usually means less stress on the fish, but I'm not sure that I agree with the smaller limit and one big fish idea... After all, if someone can go out and not only catch a lot of fish, but big fish also, wouldn't that make them a more skilled fishermen in your eyes?

How many times do you here stories about a 8 year old child sitting on the shoreline fishing for the first time and landing a monster bass? Are these children super bass phenoms, or just lucky? I can't remember hearing about any of these kids moving on to become the "Tiger Woods of Bass fishing".

I'm just throwing something off the path out there, what do you guys think?

BC

ED F. · Post by **ED F.** » Fri Jun 21, 2002 7:01 pm

Even though my question has not yet been answered as to why limits are decreased during team events, I do understand your point Brendan. However, It may take an angler catching many fish during an event to actually catch "the big one", and to also consistantly catch "the big one" event after event would certainly proove his or her skill level. wouldn't you agree? If there is one thing that I have learned through tournament fishing it would have to be that winning a tournament is a great achievement, but it's consistantcy which separates the "lucky" from the skilled!!!

JoeMo · Post by **JoeMo** » Sat Jun 22, 2002 1:48 am

Guys- I love this. We need to throw these scenarios out to the Bassin' world every week and let the scales fall wherever they do!
I'd like to hear from some other guys. Boy, I love it when someone takes an oblique viewpoint!
JoeMo
PS- Thanks to River Rat, Ed F. and Brendan for starting the ball rolling.

ED F. · Post by **ED F.** » Tue Jun 25, 2002 12:35 am

Joe, your original question was "what's best"? I gave my opinion, but I am still very curious as to why team tournaments are the target of smaller bag limits while regular tournaments (which there are more of) are not? Any insight?

mofish · Post by **mofish** » Tue Jun 25, 2002 4:41 pm

I know from our club that I fish we have a Team tournament every month but we also count the individuals weight for angler of the year. We limit it to six fish, Three each and you must catch your three fish you partner can not catch them for you, but you are still a team.

We reduced the limit to three because here in Texas with the heat that we have most of the year. We figured three fish each was plenty and it would keep from stessing ten fish. That is why we did the reduction. I cant speak for the other tournaments. I know what you are saying and agree. Whats the difference in two guys fishing together in the same boat for 5 fish as aposed to fishing against each other with 10 in the boat. I also agree with the conservation effort to just limit it to 5 fish. Heck I just wish I could get those 5 fish. lol

I dont know if I answered the question or not but I know the we cut our limits back because of the heat and stress that it was putting on our fish.

Conley

JoeMo · Post by **JoeMo** » Wed Jun 26, 2002 1:03 pm

Conley- You hit the nail on the head! In summer (and especially in the South) bass could have a much tougher livewell experience than the same bass would have in say, Michigan.

This assumes that the livewell equipment and additives are the same and the anglers are as dedicated in both areas. Still the southerntemperatures are higher and survival requires even more vigilance

Ed is right about asking why it is important in a team tournament but not in a normal partner draw T. Actually, it should be the same, but I would guess that old habits are hard to break.

Those old cronies (like the Moderator) remember when we brought fish in on stringers. Of course that was 30 years ago and we've all received a conservation education since then.

What we do have to remember is that even if they act lively, delayed mortality can ruin any good intentions. Anything we do to help a bass survive his captivity is a plus.

Any other opinions out there? JoeMo
PS- Much obliged, fellas.

ED F. · Post by **ED F.** » Wed Jun 26, 2002 2:36 pm

Thanks for trying to clear things up for me guys! I guess the answer that I will have to settle for is that any form of conservation, no matter which type of tournament it affects, or targets, can only be a good thing! I think until someone invents an on-board livewell thermostat to control the temperature of the water in the well, we will continue to have high mortality rates in the warmer weather. I bet it's not too "far-fetched" an idea either! I'm sure years ago no one ever imagined having depth finders, or all of the other electronics on our boats like we use today!