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If the hook is not visible or can ’ t be removed within several seconds , you should cut the line as close to the hook as possible and even remove the eye of the hook if it ’ s accessible . Once the hook has been removed , taking pictures or weighing the fish is a great way to memorialize your catch , but it should be done quickly . At that point , the fish can be released and allowed to recover naturally .
At any point , if you notice the fish is bleeding from the gills , your best practice is to get it back into the water immediately . The way water flows through the gills creates a backward current that will stop the bleeding more quickly than anything you can do in your boat .
about those livewells
If you ’ re competing in a weigh-in-style event , you will of course need to livewell fish for transport . The livewell systems on most boats can be extremely safe environments if you keep water moving through the system . It ’ s best practice to know the water temperature of your livewell and to keep it within 5 degrees of the water temperature you removed the fish from .
Water should be added to the livewell periodically to ensure that oxygen does not become depleted and that harmful gases are periodically flushed out . Your recirculation pumps should also run continually . If you ’ re culling fish during the event , you should use a clasp-style cull ring that does not penetrate the mouth of the fish in any way . When you arrive at the weigh-in , you should minimize the time the fish are in the weigh-in bag , as this environment can cause stress and rapid loss of dissolved oxygen .
fish care from a tournament perspective
Weigh-in is where most organizations start their fish care . MLF holds 200-plus events every season using a five-fishlimit weigh-in format in addition to the Bass Pro Tour ’ s format , so we get to spend a lot of time perfecting our fish-care procedures .
At weigh-in , the key is to minimize the time a fish spends in a bag . The holding tanks leading up to the weigh-in stage should be equipped with cold water that has diffusers you can put into your bag to incorporate air movement . If there isn ’ t a diffuser , you can splash water into the bag to try to increase its dissolved oxygen content .
Immediately following the actual weighing of the fish , the bag should be refilled with water and transported to a liverelease boat , where the fish are placed into larger tanks that have dissolved oxygen diffused into the water continuously . Our live-release crews monitor the pounds of fish going into each tank , the dissolved oxygen and water temperature to ensure that all fish can have an optimal environment to get them safely back into the fishery .
If any fish was caught in extremely deep water or is experiencing barotrauma , our live-release teams will remove gas from the swim bladder to alleviate that stress . As the weighin concludes , the live-release boats can then travel out to designated release points that provide the fish the ability to quickly recover from the tournament stress .
We try to diversify our release locations to minimize our impact on stockpiling fish in specific marinas .
our promise as an organization
Major League Fishing prides itself on setting a very high standard for fish care , including our live-release percentage at all MLF5 events and exclusively using the catch , weigh , immediate-release format on the Bass Pro Tour and in the MLF Cups . Over the coming years , we will continue to innovate new possibilities to monitor fish health , maximize their survival and provide opportunities for more catch , weigh , immediate-release tournaments .
PHOTO BY JODY WHITE
PHOTO BY JODY WHITE
18 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2021