Newell Derby.

[packhuntr]

My partner and myself hit the water to defend our title at Newell on saturday. Not sure of the guys name who won, but 41.08 lbs took the deal. We were sitting tight in top spot at just over 23 pounds on three, till two hogs came in right at the end{15minutes to go}, and knocked us into 4th overall. Still a decent showing for us, but i felt them step on my face as they blew by . All in all a fun day on the water. A little choked though, that these guys who show up, dont have the facilities on board to house the big fish. Every big fish that came in, was so stressed and deprived, that recovery was impossible, rendering these old fish dead. I like the catch and release aspect, and didnt fish these tournaments until it was implemented, but there is alot of ground that needs to be covered in my opinion.

keep a strain on er, packhuntr.

[FisherPotch]

Too bad the last 15 minutes didn't go your way. Good on you for actually caring for the well being of the fish. Isn't there a minimum size for livewells though?

[cujo1969]

You cant cull the fish to get bigger in the live well and anything in the live well must be ur limit and not released back into the water. If the fished arnt releasable I didnt think they could be weighed for tourny and team disqualified? Just tryin to figure out how these work

[sportster]

packhuntr, was that the elks derby, how big was the biggest pike.






tightlines, sportster

[packhuntr]

The biggest weighed went 22 pounds sportster, and correct, it is put on by the Elks. Cujo, i wish that were the format for all, not just the walleye tournaments, but they are what they are. In this one, you could weigh 3 fish, and as the day progressed, you were allowed to "upgrade" your fish at weigh in as you caught bigger ones. I would think this format would subject a whole lotta fish to unnesesary stress/death. This Derby is fairly small, and i understsnd the organizers are busy, and its tough to take a stand on even small infractions, especially when a guy has just brought a legally caught fish to them to be weighed, even if it shows signs of stress, and probuably not going to make it. But if it doesnt get tougher, and the rules arent followed to a tee, we will continue to see fish dying due to a huge number of differing factors. And some of these large old fish, are near irreplacable when removed from a fishery.The 22 pounder was put into the trough for revival/recovery, and she was showing signs of severe stress, i watched one of the officials trying to tail her and get her to come around, when the angler that caught her walked up and said, "let it die, i want to keep it." The official said ok, and let go, and the hen went belly up. I reached in and tailed her to try to keep her upright in hopes she might just need some time, but was told to let go, the owner wants to keep it. I wasnt very happy, but what do you say to these people ?????? All in all, I suppose i would like to see these tournaments put on in true C&R fashion. Mabey something along the lines of, everyone has to have a digital camera, and they will be issued a measuring stick at the registration, that is marked in such a way, that the mark or color changes evey year, so no one can have a pic of a fish with a duplicate of last years color code for example. This would ensure all fish are being released near immediatly. I dislike the weight thing, i think it is VERY harmful to the fish, and subjects them to a multitude of handling techniques, all but the right ones, and for an extended period of time. Measurement would be the only way in my opinion. Anyways, i will quit ranting, i think i saw that tree had started a thread about that, and my rant should prob go there. At any rate, it was a good time, and i understand the elks was pretty happy with the turnout. Good time all around i guess.

keep a strain on er.

[sportster]

I myself have been in the elks derby before, lots of fun because it didn't attract a lot of high priced boats or at least it didn't used to. kind of a good derby for father/son team, especially the timing of it. haven't made to the last couple because i'm trying to get boat motor rebuilt, hopefully by this summer. the elks usually have pretty good door prizes as well, my partner a couple years ago won a under water camera.

thanks for the response packhuntr

[chef]

The 22 pounder was put into the trough for revival/recovery, and she was showing signs of severe stress, i watched one of the officials trying to tail her and get her to come around, when the angler that caught her walked up and said, "let it die, i want to keep it." The official said ok, and let go, and the hen went belly up. I reached in and tailed her to try to keep her upright in hopes she might just need some time, but was told to let go, the owner wants to keep it. I wasnt very happy, but what do you say to these people ??????
The tourney isnt catch and release ,its unfortunate that some fish die but thats what fishing is ,, its not always a throw em back sport ,,
This guy had every right to keep his fish ,
Sorry to say ;you stepped out of line by grabbing his fish to revive it even after he said he wanted to keep it ,
You have no right to judge nor be angry with an angler practicing his rights as an angler.
If your not feeling right about fish dying then dont go to the tourney and stress yourself out . be happy dont worry!

[packhuntr]

Chef, absolutly you have a good point, and i also enjoy eating afew fish from time to time. Though i will admit, it doesnt take place as often as it did when i was younger. Fact is, we have a bunch of collapsed pike fisheries, that are also stunted from years of over harvest. The old boys didnt think there was any end to the pike, they just kept on biting, so what the heck, they must go on forever hey. I was recently talking to a C.O. on my spring bear hunt, and we got talking about the fisheries up there, a quote from this guy, " we are managing these fisheries for what the user groups want, starting with natives and working our way down, and walleye are the fish being managed for, for the most part, but we really dont understand the biodiversity, and arent sure how this approach is going to long term affect the other species". I also see it down in the south here. We have Crawling Valley for example, loaded with walleye. My question is, how do the other more scantly dispersed predators do with a lake thats being managed for basically one predatory species? Anyways Chef, theres lots of things afecting the fishery, and all derbys and tournaments Alberta wide, now have to comply as Catch and Release. I think its a good move, but like i said before, i think theres alot of ground yet to be covered. Heck, if you want my opinion, i think the most pressure put on a species all year long, comes on derby day. Does it make sense to have all these anglers out, looking to make the big money, and clubbing every 10 pound pike they catch, cause they think its gonna win? All in all, you have a good point though.

keep a strain on er.

[chef]

PACKN ,,
I know what you are saying and where you want things to be as well as most of us that wanna keep fishing , as well as our youngens and grandkids
.
By the way , im taking both this weekend for some fishing and camping, My stepdaughter and grand daughter.,but back to my point of catch and release , im all for it and do conform to it .
Occasionally i want to cook a couple fish that are somewhat edible,, i hope !

Our stoking program allows this and is for just a purpose.
Your right about the big uns being the last of thier kind somewhat and we need to keep them going ,but if a man has a right to keep his fish legally , you dont have the right to step in and try to prevent this from happening .

When a full catch and release tournament is in progress , one has to conform to the rules and have a proper setup to allow for such a program.
Sometimes a fish doesnt make it for certain reasons ,though we cant shut down all tourneys and all the fisheries because of a couple dead fish.Just keep reeling them in and enjoy whats left and do your part to helpthe future of the fisheries.