How many fishing comps/tourneys can Somerset handle?
That is a question on a few folks minds of late.
Most lakes have one or maybe two serious comps a year.
This year on Somerset there are 6 Stessl Bass rounds, 1 BASS Pro, basmania wants a crack now, the stocking group run the Kirkleagh Klassic & theres another mob looking to start a comp series, will they want one on Somerset as well?
So how many is too many?
I dont know, but I'd hate to see Somerset turn into a lake full of rats with no big fish any more. It has taken us 16 years to get some of these fish to the size they are now. Gun anglers whom are adept at targeting big fish & pinning lots of them is a recipe for disaster IMHO.
Stessl round 1 last weekend attracted a record attendance of around 120. That’s well above anything previous I believe. Most of the competitors at tournaments now-a-days are pretty damn good anglers, easily good enough to be guides. So what would the average bear think if there were say 100 odd guides working Somerset in one day? Catch & release or not, 100 guides would stuff any lake real quick! Even fish released as soon as caught do die, putting them into livewells for extended periods greatly increases their mortality rates.
I've got an idea how to possibly save some of the bigger fish in these comps so there’s more there next time around. Tell me what you think of the following. (just an idea mind you)
For length based comps. Any bass over 50 cm are all regarded as just 50 cm & get maximum points. If there's a tie, then the first one to measure-in their bag wins.
The Stessl comps have a great idea where an angler can weigh-in his/her fish & they are given a bright orange “bagged out angler” vest so they can go back out on the water with their partner but not fish for the remainder of the session. This will help get crook fish out of the livewells & back into the lake ASAP. The vest idea allow a good angler to get his/her fish in quick & not have to wait for the co-angler to get their bag, often waiting till the end of the session.
For weight based comps. Any fish that is 50cm or bigger can automatically be given 3Kg for it. Again the early bird will win.
This concept should stop those anglers that already have 2 big fish in their livewell from continuing to catch more & more fish in the hopes of upgrading by a few grams or millimeters. It will also encourage them to take their 2 Maximum points fish into the weigh-in as soon as possible, thus not keeping the fish in the livewells for hours on end & increasing the fishes survival chances.
Smaller fish can hack it, but the big girls are the ones that cant & go belly up far far easier. If something along these lines is adopted it would see the fish get less stress from laying in a tray (for measuring) or on scales waiting for the fish to settle so to get a weight. A quick look, yep its over 50, she gets Max points.
Should also reduce the congested line-up of boats waiting at the end of each session.
Sure all of these comps all claim to be "non-profit" (fair call but who really ever knows) and give a nominal fee to help with the stocking. That is to be applauded however without something given back to the fishery they'd have little no chance of getting permission from the stocking group without it.
Does anyone think that if we were to start stocking again from scratch that we could create a great fishery like Somerset is now with only the donations from commercial fishing comps. I definitely don’t think so. Its certainly a good thing to have commercial comps on our stocked lakes, but is it acceptable for the fishery to suffer as a result? Most definitely not.
Not looking to start a crap fight, simply inviting debate/discussion on the best way to continue commercial comps/tournaments on Lake Somerset with limited impact upon the fishery. I’m sure that if there are a few things that are easily done & will help reduce the impact upon the fishery, everyone would support the changes.
Garry Fitzgerald
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Originally Posted by wizard
