Bass Fishing Catch and Release Mortality Study Tournament Directors Guidelines

• Increase your penalties for dead fish to encourage anglers to take better care of their catch.

• Decrease tournament creel limits so fewer fish are held in each live well. This is especially true in draw-partner events when two contestants' limits may be in a single live well.

• Use fish-friendly weigh-in procedures such as those described in "Live Release of 8ass, A Guide for Tournament Oirectors and Anglers" (available from state fisheries agencies).

• Commercial live-well additives, when used to treat water in weigh-in waiting line tanks help calm fish so they can be weighed faster and returned to the water more quickly.

• Shorten summer fishing hours to reduce the time fish are in the live well. Have weigh-ins before noon.

• Summer night tournaments, while easier on anglers, are often harder on the fish because of extended hours. Have two or three weigh-in times during all-night events to allow more frequent release of fish.

• And safest of all - schedule tournaments to avoid the hotter months when surface water temperatures are above SOºF.

For more information contact Gene Gilliland at the Oklahoma Fishery Research Lab in Norman at 405-325-7288.