Tournament Pressure

[Mickey]

With a number of tournament anglers reading this board, I would like YOUR OPINION on something that has been going thru what little mind I have left,(so my family tells me) when do you draw the line on the number of fishing tournaments on a body of water? I live near the Madison Chain of lakes, and during the summer there is a bass tournament, sponsored by different "bass clubs" at least 3 nights a week, plus weekend tournaments from non-local groups, and although the same group doesn't fish the same lake weekly, one of the other "clubs" will fish that lake so there isn't a week that goes by without a tournament on that lake,not to mention all the pre-fishing that also is going on. I wonder how it affects these fish to be caught, bounced around in a livewell, weighed and then put back in the lake far from its "home" week after week. I don't want to ban tournament fishing,(I have fished in a handful myself and had fun) but, when is it too much? Sorry about the long post, especially since it pertains to "Bass Tournaments", but I value your wisdom!!! Mickey

[Mickey]

I want to make it clear that I am not related in any way to Twogun. My hope was to get others views on the amount of tournaments held on 1 body of water. Although my original post concerned mainly bass(oops, probably a 4 letter word on this site) tournaments, I suppose any tournament which brings LOTS of extra boats on the already crowded lake,week after week, would be a concern. Thanks again for your views !!!

[Oh Mickey]

I would be a little more concerned about the DNR and the locals desire to kill every last weed on the chain. Unfortunately the water skiers and such do not like Icky weeds, and the DNR goes ape and tries to kill every last one. The DNR also is supposed to regulate the amount of tournaments on a given body of water. The Madison chain is a very large body of water and should be able to handle the fishing pressure by tournaments. I would be willing to bet that even with the worst projected catch and release survival rates, the angler harvest rates (kept fish) are much much higher and will do more "damage" than tournaments. However, I rate the wanton destruction of the habitat (weeds) allowed by a DNR that cow tows to political pressure a much higher concern.

[Mickey]

I agree that the DNR should try and keep the lakes as a "natural resource", not a "swimming pool" as the water skiers would like, and I actually was VERY INVOLVED in the late 70's with trying to stop the chemical spraying of our lakes, but, as is the case with most things in life MONEY TALKS, therefore Dow Chemical wins. But why not limit the number of times a group can use OUR natural resource so the residents of that area can use the lake also. If you have fished Lake Waubesa for example you know how many tourists are using the lake, add the locals, and then bring in group after group of tournament anglers, week after week, and you can understand why I think this is a concern. Lake Waubesa is less than 2100 acres in size, not a large body of water. IMHO Mickey