Keep it up and I'll Spring Sphere your house....

Ya can't have complicated rules, fishermen are stupid drunks, the fishes length grows an inch more with every beer.:wall:

less complicated is better, easier and manageable.

I agree with not weighing heavy bass, then trying to release alive.

good luck

it's already way past the kiss and roundin' 2nd...

my vote is a hand sign or someone said a playing card to be in the pic which is determined at tourney start. Do a weekly thing, state by state cause the get togethers are far from one angler to another. Maybe have a small prize for each monthly winner. W/ the amount of ppl that fish alone a straight down shot over a tape. Shore, kayak and boat categories=bragging rights and 3 prizes a month. If there is a tie, go on the honor system of S-B comments and hope one guy doesnt have more friends than the other. IMHO. I love the idea of a continous C&R tounrey.

"and hope one guy doesnt have more friends "






* or girl

and the kayak might need to be adjusted. maybe the kayak ppl could get a tape measure sticker on thier craft w/in reach or something, not sure how to work that part out

JohnR,
You have any dates in mind yet? Looks like this will have a decent turn out.

looked at that pic carefully
 

and said HUH?

it's a fake

You'll kill more fish #^&#^&#^&#^&ing around with tape measures, cameras, and some kind of identifiable object like a playing card to validate the date.

Fish laid on rocks will thrash and lose scales. Sometimes they'll flop while someone's reaching for the tape, camera or identifier and wedge between the rocks, and big fish are a bitch to get out of the rocks. Fish laid on the sand will thrash and lose much of their slime that protects them against parasites and infections. I think that if you learn how to correctly place a scale inside of a fish's jaw, and how to avoid touching the gills doing it, you'll kill far fewer fish than having them out of the water for an extended period while measuring and photographing them. Most people land a big bass that way anyway--no one who's experienced tries to lift a fish over 30 lbs. by lipping it.

If you've ever tried to remove a hook buried in a bass' jawbone, you know that their jaws are not fragile in the least

First Week of May, supporting a great cause (not S-B) but, well, a great cause. I'm puting out fires at work for the moment, someone decided to run their sysvol (nerdalert) out of space by spamming the world.

Whole week, single anglers OK with photo - must promise quick release so be ready to go. Anglers fishing with another CAN honor system it if the other writes it down. Chance to win some prizes even if I need to buy them ;) . Not biggest or most BUT each photo will count for a prize. Honor system will be key as this is supporting an honorable cause.




Besides, I thought Spring Sphering as wore in line with Autumn Harvest Granola Costume Day? Can Cheryl Crow TP your house with single squares?
:rotf2: would be funny if not for - well, ACLU would sue me for anything I was about to say.

got on of these in my bag. Less than $20. Hopefully will reduce the strain a bit. Gotta be better than hanging by the jaw.

TFG TF GEAR FISH FRIENDLY HARDWEAR WEIGH SLING | eBay

The materialistic price awards and bragging rights can be replaced by a clap on the back by our honorable Clammer.









Just joking
I'm in
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

OK - even simpler:

Single Angler - quick photo with date / times tamp on- size irrelevant
Pair Anglers - other angler can fill out the caught record (a record MUST be kept - form will be downloadable) - size irrelevant.
Eliminate the tape measure altogether.
1 fish = 1 chance. More fish, more chances but everyone will still have a chance.
Each CHANCE is a chance for a prize.
No prize for biggest or heaviest.
Gag prize for smallest.
Gag prize for funniest photo.
Not limited to S-B, you can invite other friends / clubs / sites though tally and raffle will probably be online here.
Payment will be PayPal will be to S-B with a check of everything (less PP fees) to the OFFICIAL 501.C.3 of this well known organization and local favorite and checks can be sent in advance already made out to said 501(c)3 foundation.
Honor system.
Great Cause To Be Announced.


Best hope a "clap" is all you get :tooth:

Sounds good to me, specially the size irrelevant part. Sign me up.

size matters :rotf2:

Very cool! I know many who will be interested in participating
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Could someone create a digital cup or plaque that the winner gets to display somewhere in their profile for the season? End of season, it's up for grabs again? Could become the SB cup and provide for major bragging rights.

What if we were to have a digital plaque or cup that the winner could display in their profile for the year. After the season, it's up for grabs again. Could become the SB cup and provide for major bragging rights.

John, I'm in.Let me know how I can help.

Interesting thought - hmm. Digital Cup for the Smallest Fish :tooth:

Will do....

Its not a question of hurting their jaws. Hanging a big fish displaces their internal organs, often leading to death, days later.Some studies have put the death rate as high as 25%.A sling like Zimmy posted will cure the problem.Otherwise I agree, anything that delays getting the fish back in the water is not good.

This is debatable.

What you are talking about is "isthmus injury". It has been shown to be a problem with snook, but studies in muskies have not shown an increase in mortality with weighing, even in larger fish. There is not much info one way or the other with big bass as far as I am aware. Certainly many fish that are weighed and tagged survive and are caught again.

Our club runs a season long C&R for the largest bass released alive. Simple rules are it must be weighed on a hand scale, witnessed by any person aged 16 or older, and released alive. No special prizes except the winner get the nicest trophy we award and the recognition of releasing a bass the size that most anglers would never consider releasing. Very prestigious award.

DZ

No awards gets my vote. Trophy plaque is good.

So who is the tourney going to benefit? It doesnt really matter, just curious.

Never heard it referred to as that before. But it has been demonstrated in may other species besides snook. Easy enough to avoid if you use a sling instead of holding the fish by the jaw. But you are correct in that I know of no studies that looked specifically at striped bass.

These explain it

Angler Handling Techniques Will Increase Survival for All Released Game Fish

Muskie Fishing | An evaluation of the injury and short-term survival of bonefish (Albula spp.) as influenced by a mechanical lip-gripping device used by recreational anglers

Here is the stuff about Muskies.....interesting because they intentionally were rough with radio tagged fish and found almost no mortality. Chippewa Flowage Muskie Study - Y1

To save you wading through it,

"Although no previous study, to our knowledge, has ever examined the validity of these widely-held beliefs, we too, shared concern for the survival of released Muskies, especially after reviewing tables 3 and 4 of the CFMTP. For this reason, we made the decision to subject the study Muskies to a variety of popular and unpopular holds, netting practices, and release practices, etc. Considering that the catch and release participants of the study have caught and released in excess of 1,500 Muskies; and, for the most part, practice the "proper" release methods, it was determined that it was necessary to expose the Muskies of the study to the same type of conditions, practices and treatment that they would receive while in the control of inexperienced musky fishermen. Only then could we make confident determinations as to the affects of such treatment, practices and conditions on musky survivability. The first year results are in. in terms of the types of holds: horizontal vs. vertical vs. diagonal-- there was no affect on mortality. The same was true of netting and release practices. We had four study Muskies that bled from slightly to profusely from the gills and all survived more on that later. in addition, two others were hooked during battles in one eye. They also survived. At the time of their releases we "experts" would have bet that at least four of these Muskies would have died. But none of these Muskies died! The good news is that Muskies are much hardier than previously thought. in fact, 95.6% of the Muskies caught, radio-tagged and released for the study survived the open-water fishing season! Only two out of the forty-five Muskies of the study expired. Now, does this mean that we should abandon the cautious release methods that most have come to accept over the past few years? Absolutely not. But, these findings illustrate that we must be careful to label something as proper" or accept something as "fact" without appropriate supporting research data."

Thanks! I guess that shows how much variability there is between species. There were also some studies done in Australia on one of their more popular fish, that showed even greater mortality than the snook study. I guess we won't know the real answer vis-a-vis stripers until someone does a similar study on stripers. Meanwhile, I still try to discourage the use of Bogas and similar devices for weighing, unless they use a sling.