information gathered during mlf events helps assess and manage fisheries throughout the country
THE
FRONT PAGE
what do fish catches tell us ?
information gathered during mlf events helps assess and manage fisheries throughout the country
By Steven Bardin & Gary Klein
With Micheal Neal ’ s August win on the St . Lawrence River , the Bass Pro Tour officially completed its sixth season . During this time , there have been 40 regular-season events visiting 15 states and 43 unique fisheries .
In the decade before the Bass Pro Tour , MLF ’ s televised events had become a staple of the fishing industry . Pre-BPT , 33 events were filmed on more than 70 unique fisheries in 17 states . Additionally , General Tire Heavy Hitters , REDCREST and General Tire Team Series all feature the league ’ s catch , weigh , immediate-release format . By my count , MLF has now hosted a total of 104 such events ( not counting the four current General Tire Team Series events happening this fall ).
MLF ’ s fish-friendly format attracted many fans , myself included . As a fisheries biologist , I recognized how impactful the format could be for fish care and as a resource for fisheries managers . As I learned more about the format and the data being collected by league officials , I quickly realized MLF had an opportunity to be an industry leader in sharing data to make management more informed .
As we developed the MLF Fisheries Management Division , one of our first tasks was to port all the fish catches into a sharable format and set up a system with the management agencies of all 21 states MLF had visited . This information is shared only with state agencies , strictly as a conservation and management tool . I ’ ve written many times about the data collected by MLF officials and our BUBBA Smart Scales , and how the MLF FMD shares it with stage agency biologists . This time , I want to open the virtual filing cabinet and share how some of that data ( and some really interesting stats ) with you .
the basic numbers
Our data set now includes 117,844 individual fish catches . This data consists of basic information like the species , time , date and weight of each catch , plus habitat and depth range . In total , it includes 77,337 largemouth , 27,278 smallmouth , and 13,229 spotted / other . I say “ spotted or other ” because MLF has visited places like Lake Travis in Texas , where native Guadalupe bass are found , or Lake Norman in North Carolina , where invasive Alabama bass are caught . These fish comprise that spotted bass category .
Combined , the 117,844 fish weighed an astonishing 278,094 pounds .
SOME STANDOUTS : The bulk of these fish catches come from regular-season Bass Pro Tour events . These 40 events combine for 83,363 fish catches weighing 207,750 pounds .
A few events stand out for producing a tremendous amount of fish or weight . v The most weight-all time in a BPT event was the 2021 Stage Five event at the St . Lawrence River in New York , with 11,677.63 pounds coming from 3,743 fish catches .
10 v The most fish all-time in a BPT event came during Stage Six of 2019 on Table Rock Lake in Missouri , with a total of 6,082 fish catches weighing a combined 9,822.31 lbs . v Fun fact : Second all-time is also Table Rock Lake the following month with 5,982 fish weighing 9,595.31 lbs . For the 2024 season , the Bass Pro Tour field completed seven events with 12,456 fish catches totaling 34,256.83 lbs . Minn Kota Stage Seven at the St Lawrence River was once again the leader with the most weight and fish catches . This event logged 2,887 fish ( 518 largemouth and 2,369 smallmouth ) and combined for 8754.25 pounds ( 1,490.75 of largemouth and 7,263.5 of smallmouth ).
I understand that the BPT has had different rules , minimum scorable weights and even numbers of anglers each season , so comparing one year to the next to determine the quality of a fishery likely isn ’ t the best approach . Instead , I worked to develop a statistical analysis program that helps look at the data a bit deeper .
The simplest way to compare fisheries would be to look at the average weight of the fish themselves , although we must understand there is a big caveat for the variable scorable minimum used in a specific event . We can calculate the average weight by species , ignoring the minimum , by dividing the total combined weight by the number of fish .
Lake Fork has produced the highest per-fish average for largemouth in MLF Cup and BPT history , a sturdy 3.74 pounds in 2022 .
v This tells us that , for largemouth bass , Stage Two in 2022 at Lake Fork had the highest average weight at 3.74 pounds . That average was 3.49 pounds two years prior at 2020 Stage Two on Fork .
MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2024