Falcon Lake not heard about

[jgip087]

I have another post about the importance of using proper livewell sedatives such as Please Release Me and Catch and Release to calm your catch, remove amonia, and boost oxygen transerfer in your catch. Using hydrogen peroxide is also a great idea for fish care, I'm going to ask Dan about posting a pdf file on how to properly care for your fish so that they will not continue to die off. Anyway, after the Falcon event Zappata, Texas is not very happy! Over 4,000 pounds, 2 TONS, of bass were killed due to the tournament. How can this happen? Well much like an angler from St. Clair told me that at least 20-30 fish would be floating belly up after the weekend tournaments, multiply this by the number of tournaments and you get a huge number. We really need to protect our fish and preserve them because they are critical in developing trophy fisheries like Falcon and Amistad and sustaining them. If you have questions on this post just call the Zappata Chamber of Commerce and ask about it.

[skeeterman190]

 This is a huge set back. Look at the weights from amistad also!!! Not to mention what Ive heard on the meat fisherman! I really think tournaments at these kind of lakes are harmful and STUPID!( i mean look@ Aaron Martens he checked in early because his livewell was too small to hold his fish) I as a fisherman and tournament veteran am not impressed by these guys catchin these fish. Maybe im by myself on this one but thats not a challenge to me!! Were all in this to make it big and expand our horizons, but this is something that we need to keep close to us. If they keep doing this then hey were all gonna be fishing for 10lbs in 10 years.  What there doing(ESPN,BASSMASTERS) is harming our resources.Yes its gonna bring more veiwers and ratings now to make the big buck but what does the future hold? You cant keep doing this and expect the same results. Falcon in 2 or 3 years will be done for 10 years. I also hear what Johns saying on ST.Clair and Erie. Its not as bad but it has an effect.-skeeterman-  (I think i may have got off the subject)??

[Team houston]

Officially 158 bass were weighed in dead. That was 11 percent of the catch. While it was a shame to see so many big fish dead and better care needs to be taken. That is a far cry from 4000lbs of bass that was reported. There is an estmated 2 million bass in Falcon. It is common knowledge that the netting on the lake 24/7 is obviously way more damaging  than bass tournaments. Even add in delayed mortality and that is still a drop in the bucket. For the record those kind of slugfests bore me. I still think the most exciting tourny I ever saw was the classic in Pittsburgh.

[cr]

OK I called Zapata CoC and they said the event was a huge success , the pro's were awesome and they couldn't wait till next year . I'm waiting for Peggy , the president of the CoC , to call me back to make sure , but the lady I talked to wasn't aware of any huge die-off or any problems of any nature . I have seen some fish floating belly up after a LSC event but I'm impressed with the effort made to save stressed fish , its alot of work to transport the equipment needed and set it up . 100% success rates would be great but how do we achieve it ? Maybe no dead allowed at weigh in ? I think its the tempature of the water in the well more than any else . The cost of these products are the main reason I don't use them . If the manufacturer cared about the fish they would provide this product at a better rate , I hate pouring my money in the water . The big picture is nature kills more bass than we do , between cormorants ,muskies and other predators . Then there's the meat fisherman , who well within their rights , keep everything they catch .

[Team houston]

Personally I am still waiting for the companies to come out with a temperature controlled livewell.

[VinceR]

Personally I am still waiting for the companies to come out with a temperature controlled livewell.

One manufacturer (Charger), has already moved in that direction. They route the livewell plumbing around the cooler to cool down the water being pumped into the livewell. They've been using this system for several years, now. Frankly, I'm surprised that no other manufacturers have caught on to this, yet.

[Team houston]

Thanks Vince. I did not know that. Hopefully all the companies will follow suit

[jgip087]

158 were dead according to BASS. That doesn't account for the ones that died after release. I agree netting is a problem as well but that is a totally different subject. The lake is filled with bass and obviously Zappata is going to gain in economic assets from Bassmasters so why not bring them back? I'm going to stand by my main point on the fish dying due to improper care. Martins could have kept his bass alive if he used the proper techniques. I don't live there but am only going on reports from the locals and Texas sources so it could be exagerated and I appologize. Like I said though on the fish floating belly up on the Great Lakes how many of those are counted dead by tournament officials? I can answer that, not a fraction of the actual loses. At the fish off on St. Clair 2 years ago a ton of bass needed fizzed and didn't get it by weigh in, it was so sad to see but they were not dead during the weigh in so they were still counted as alive but I doubt many of them made it because by then it is too late, 2-3 people were trying to fizz non stop during both days of that event. Look at the main point and if my numbers are wrong I stand corrected and appologize but in either case it was a huge number of dead bass and we need to step up and care for our fish. However, if the average is about 10 dead fish to the actual number counted dead then the number now is over 1,000 that died due to the tournament, before and after weigh in, and that number would be very accurate. So don't always look to the official dead count but you have to account for post release mortality in fish. Just please take care of them! Ice and hydrogen peroxide at the least and thats a cheap way out and it doesn't push any products. I actually have bought 2 fish tanks over the last year and keep fish in them at times with seperate formulas and combinations of hydrogen peroxide to see what is best for them in the long run, I really incourage this practice if you are in doubt and want to protect the sport. I'm a big finatic on fish care so sorry to go on so long, I've put a lot of time into my research. To me it's just as important as the lures I choose or design at home.

[jgip087]

I just googled the topic myself instead of going by word from my sources, whom I believe to be credible. Go to this link and maybe ask some more on the topic, it's actually already started....http://www.texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/2152552

[Team houston]

jg   I am impressed with your passion. I too hate seeing fish die and do everything in my power to stop it.  I did mention the OFFICIAL tally and  the delayed mortality becuase I am not naive enough to realize plenty more fish died. Lets look at the bright side. Maybe this will be a wakeup call to the powers that be to come up with some answers for better fish care. I just do not want any anti tournament people to get a hold of inflated numbers and use them against us. Do you fish any circuits? if so which ones?

[Dan]

Have you read this yet?

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/rstrait/stories/MYSA041308.03C.strait_column_0413.en.3698856.html

[dashaver63]

I know a livewell with 20lbs. of smallmouth is pretty crowded, could you imagine 40lbs of largemouth? Also deep caught fish is always an issue, fizzing should be a mandatory part of live release by tournament committees any where fish are caught in deep water lakes.

[cr]

I too am impressed with your passion JG , but again I went to the TFF site you posted and read all the post's and in my opinion 80% of the post's were positive , with one guy , "champ203" putting most of the negative post's on the site . I particularly liked the post that stated "imagine the impact if every pro had kept his 5 fish a day as they are entitled ". In the old day's all the fish died . Now most survive , with a few not making it , but still its a lot better than before . Yes 100% would be better but lets not tear down our sport for the profits of a select few . The people putting on tournaments at LSC NBAA and other local events are pretty much donating their time so we can have the fun that is tournament fishing and to point the finger at them or make it tougher to stage such an event is not the answer in my opinion . By all means lets move foward and continue to improve and your efforts to raise awareness is a step in the direction .I for one don't think that the few fish lost will ruin our sport .

[Team houston]

I really could not have said it any better CR.

[djkimmel]

So... I come home the other day and there's a message on my phone from Zapata Chamber of Commerce...?? I think, hmmm?!? That's odd...?

Must be a fluke. Then I listen to the message and a nice lady from the chamber says they are getting a bunch of calls regarding an article on my web site and they would like to respond...

Ok?? Must be they meant to call ESPN... or BassFan... or maybe BassZone, right?!? I know all of my articles and I don't recall one involving Zapata (I'm not even sure where it is, but I think I recall it being near Falcon Lake.

Too late to call back, so I check the only place Zapata C of C might be mentioned and I don't already know about it - the forum. To my surprise, you guys are not only talking about Zapata C of C, but you really did call them!?! Shows what I know... and shows how having a web site means never a dull moment

I have not talked to them yet, but apparently they tracked me down and wanted to go on the record in the positive about the tournament and wanting them back again.

Like I always say, you never know who is reading these things, do you? If they get back with me again, I'll post what they say.

[jgip087]

Awesome that they contacted you. I'm sure they want BASS back to town with all of the benefits they bring. If you hear from them again maybe you can get some numbers for local tackle shops so we could talk with them about the lake after the event as well. I read something from a store, Falcon Lake Tackle, check it out. http://www.tackleandrods.com/lake/flash.htm . Again nothing bad meant towards bass or their care of the fish, they do a great, great job. I just think as anglers we all need to do a little bit more. If 300 something fish died on the low end like he's saying in the article and the average one was 5 pounds that puts the total of dead fish to over 1,500 pounds. I guess the big bass for the tournament died too, it's just a shame that it happened. Nothing bad about BASS or Zapata, who knows maybe the lake needed it because the TPWD apparently wanted BASS to keep a few of the fish from a site I was on so who knows, but still put the most care into your fish as you can.

[djkimmel]

We can always take better care of our bass. I've seen a few anglers who have to improve for all of our good. I agree that bass anglers need to always truly practice what they preach. No sense in saying something and not really doing it... or not knowing how to do it right.

Any tournament weigh in crew is very much at the mercy of how the anglers treated the bass before they get in.

Tournament anglers can't afford not to do their best and that includes taking the time to learn the right things. Not just about releasing bass, but also how to teach others who don't know, why we do what we do and what impact we are, AND aren't having.

If Zapata calls back, I'll see what they have to say.