GEAR
CULLING SYSTEMS
PUNCTURELESS CULLING
SYSTEMS COME OF AGE
THE LIST OF NON-INVASIVE CULLING OPTIONS
FOR TOURNAMENT ANGLERS IS GROWING
V
irtually every action a tourna-
ment angler takes from the
moment a bass comes into the
boat until it’s weighed and released
involves one common goal: keeping
that bass alive and healthy both during
the tournament and afterward.
In fact, there’s an entire industry
dedicated to ensuring that bass caught
during tournaments live to swim and
fight again, providing everything from
rubber landing nets that don’t remove
as much of a fish’s protective slime
when it comes out of the water, to
state-of-the-art livewell systems and
water additives.
Now that catch-and-release ethic
has made its way into the manufacture
of a piece of equipment used by virtual-
ly all tournament anglers, but one that –
until recently – hasn’t changed much
over the years: the culling system.
The majority of culling systems on the
market involve metal clips whose ends are
punched through the membrane around
the lower jaw of each bass destined for
the livewell. Once an angler catches his
limit and then starts culling fish, he can
hang what he thinks are his two smallest
by their clips on a culling beam to deter-
mine which one is heavier. He then
returns the lighter bass to the fishery.
Even under the best of circum-
stances a clip leaves a hole, while at
worst it can leave a gaping tear that
could interfere with a bass’s ability to
feed and breathe. On lakes that host
lots of tournaments, bass can be
caught and subjected to the stress of
culling punctures multiple times, mak-
ing it harder to keep that fish alive.
Enter punctureless culling systems,
which typically utilize a clip that attaches
to a bass’s jaw without puncturing its lip.
These new, non-invasive systems are
quickly gaining traction among anglers
looking to minimize bass stress and also
avoid potential dead-fish penalties.
48
By Chad Love
FLWFISHING.COM I FEBRUARY-MARCH 2018