Tournament Strategy #1: 

Don’t bring dead weight to the scales...

That brush pile in 35 feet of water has paid off in a big way, you’ve got a limit, one is a 7 pound bad boy, and it’s time to start culling out the dinks.  You go to check on your fish and realize that half of them are swimming upside down!  This is a serious problem.  First and foremost it is a life threatening situation for the bass.  Second, it is putting a tremendous amount of stress on the fish and can cause them to regurgitate valuable ounces into the livewell (not to mention the dead fish penalty at weigh-in).  There are a few simple precautions you can take to help protect our Lake Anna bass resource. 

 1.     Keep your livewell clean and empty.  Don’t allow lily pads to start growing in your livewell; in fact give it a good scrubbing now and then.  Be sure to rinse thoroughly.  Leave the well empty and when you stop at your first spot turn on the pumps so there is fresh water in there for the first keeper.

2.     While the sun begins to set and the outside temperature drops, open one side of your livewell (provided that you can segregate your fish or keep them from jumping out).  Livewells are typically insulated fairly well and will heat up during the day.  When the temperature begins to drop you can lower the temperature in your livewell by opening one of the doors (or both doors if you still haven’t caught anything).  Remember, even though the surface temperature may be close to 90° it is quite comfy down at 30 feet.

3.     Use a commercial livewell additive.  Most contain a natural sedative that will calm your catch and make being crammed into a 2 cubic foot box a more pleasant experience.  This will also help preserve the fish’s protective slime coating.

4.     If you have done the first three and your catch is still belly up but alive there is a good chance that the gas inside his swim bladder has expanded.  When a fish is pulled from a high pressure environment (underwater) to the surface, the naturally occurring gas in there swim bladder expands.  The greater the change in pressure (deeper the water) the more traumatizing this can be for the fish.  This bladder can be deflated using an 18 gauge 2 1⁄2 - 3 inch hypodermic needle inserted along the lateral line at a 45° angle toward the head as shown below.

 

 According to the Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) Lake Anna Fisheries Management Report, the average age of a citation largemouth in Lake Anna is about twelve years old.  It is due to the high number of bass anglers practicing catch and release that the slot limit has been eliminated.  As the numbers of bass anglers continue to grow it is our responsibility to not only release these fish but to handle them as delicately as possible before doing so.  Not to mention, gettin’ bumped out of the money with an over-heated fish penalty just ain’t cool.

-TM-