# Question For The Catfish Tourney Guys



## H2O Mellon (Apr 5, 2004)

Here's a question I have for the guys that fish cat tourneys:

Most of us are concerned for the well being of the cats, especially the trophy ones, so why is it against the rules of just about everywhere NOT to go back to the weight in and weight a huge trophy cat then release it while the tourney is still going? Wouldn't this be a safer way to treat the fish rather than having to keep it possibly several hours in a small tank, which would increase the chances of harming or killing the fish?


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## JUSTCRAZY (Apr 6, 2004)

Flatheads are some tough critters when treated correct. I have seen them out of the water for longer than one might think, and they swim away. You have to keep them wet/moist and run water over the gills. Yet I am not encouraging anyone to do it specially those with no knowledge of what they are doing.

Channel cats are a different story. I have struggled to keep them alive in aerated tanks, live wells, and on stringers when the water warms up. Yet on the other hand I have see some guy shove three fish head first in a 5 gallon bucket with there average wieght over 7lbs and they live just fine.

Just what I have seen
Rob


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## neocats1 (Oct 14, 2006)

It is not against NEOCATS rules and is actually encouraged. Any fish that is weighed in will be released and if you don't think a fish will make it to weigh in, anglers are advised to bring it to the weigh in site, have it weighed and photographed so it can be released as soon as possible. We will be running a leader board for this reason.


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## H2O Mellon (Apr 5, 2004)

neocats1 said:


> It is not against NEOCATS rules and is actually encouraged. Any fish that is weighed in will be released and if you don't think a fish will make it to weigh in, anglers are advised to bring it to the weigh in site, have it weighed and photographed so it can be released as soon as possible. We will be running a leader board for this reason.


I really like that idea.


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## Doctor (Apr 5, 2004)

DuraCats tournaments it is encouraged to do that, there is somebody at the weigh-in scales from the time we leave and they have a camera. CPR is highly stressed by the tournament director.

Most have taken the time and money to develop livewells that will support a fair number of large fish, In my case the fish seem to be in better shape when I pull them from the livewell than they were when I put them in, they just don't want to leave the motel.

Some tournament series do allow a dead fish to be weighed, only one but Lynn and I have released any fish that we find questionable to make it, for us the fish is the priority. I want my Children, and my Grandchildren to experience the thrill of a lifetime just as we have.
Doc


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Good info Doc, anyone know what Acats stance is on this? 
Bryan, I imagine that smaller tourneys would rather not have someone sitting around the doc all night just in case someone showed up but the bigger tourneys would encourage that, also having someone around the doc would make folks feel better about leaving there cars there and have a point of contact should an emergency happen.

Salmonid


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## Flathead King 06 (Feb 26, 2006)

JUSTCRAZY said:


> Flatheads are some tough critters when treated correct. I have seen them out of the water for longer than one might think, and they swim away. You have to keep them wet/moist and run water over the gills. Yet I am not encouraging anyone to do it specially those with no knowledge of what they are doing.
> 
> Channel cats are a different story. I have struggled to keep them alive in aerated tanks, live wells, and on stringers when the water warms up. Yet on the other hand I have see some guy shove three fish head first in a 5 gallon bucket with there average wieght over 7lbs and they live just fine.
> 
> ...


I fully agree justcrazy... back in my more ignorant days... the flatheads we would catch and take home would survive the 1 and a half hour ride home, in the bed of a truck-with a stringer through their gills/bottom jaw- in unbearable summer heat/sun - to revive themselves in a little holding pond where they would stay until we would clean them (1-7 days later). Now since i have more knowledge of what a complete @$$ i was being back then, they all-except for the 1-5 lbers, get photoed, weighed, and released. So i wouldn't recommend it but i believe that the flatties caught in a tourney should be just fine until released... but that depends on the condition of the fish too. Now like you said the channels are very hard to keep alive as well as blues, they just dont seem to be as tough as the flatties.


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## H2O Mellon (Apr 5, 2004)

Doctor said:


> DuraCats tournaments it is encouraged to do that, there is somebody at the weigh-in scales from the time we leave and they have a camera. CPR is highly stressed by the tournament director.


I'm glad to hear that Doc. Way to go.  If I get the boat I want next year, your going to have a new guy fishing those DuraCat tourneys! I've heard nothing but good things from them.


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## tcba1987 (Jun 22, 2004)

i run a SMALL catfish club, so i can tell you what we do as far as weigh ins. the first thing i gotto say is that ALL year last year we had maybe 5 flatheads weighed in at our tournaments (most guys are channel catfishermen in our club) and ALL of our FLATTIES were released alive. which is kinda impressive considering we fish our club tournaments on a SMALL river system and do NOT allow boats, however most if not all of the guys have built small "livewells" for in their car or truck to transport the fish ALIVE to weigh ins. we ALL do everything in our power to assure that the fish are turned back in alive, in fact NO flatties were ever kept to be eaten even though we had one guy (who just showed up at one of weigh ins) try to take two flatties home to eat and i said NO ..........NOONE is filleting a FLATTIE from our tournaments. Now im not gonna sit here and lie some of the channel cat died (most from swallowing a hook) but all of these were taken home and eaten , they were NOT wasted !! i really wouldnt be too concerned about the fish that are turned in at these tournaments, most tournament directors are like you guys. we want to see ALL of these fish released alive so that the next generation of catfishermen can enjoy catching them. i think the MOST any of us CATTERS can do is try to educate the less informed catfishermen about catch and release and try to talk these guys into releasing the big flatties and keeping a few of the smaller channels for a sandwich instead of killing a potential trophy fish. 

On a side note i fished Salt Fork 4 times last year and 3 out of the 4 times that i was there i saw guys hauling BIG flatties around in the back of pickup trucks and a jeep with NO water on them. the one fellow even asked me if i had a scale to weigh the fish for him (it was a 48 lber) i asked him what he was gonna do with the fish he said he was gonna haul it home and get a few pictures and show it off to people. i then asked him what he was gonna do with it , he said release it and i told him it was gonna die with NO water and he said oh well i'll use it for fertilizer in the garden then. NOW THAT P---ED ME OFF !!! the other 2 guys i saw with flatties were hauling them around too for pictures and showing anyone who would look at them (the fish) and im sure these fish probably died too. those are the guys we should be concerned with, im not sure what...... if anything we can do about that kinda stupidity but it goes on ALOT !!! The sad part of it all was i wouldda loved to catch any one of the three fish that these guys PROBABLY killed because they were bigger then my personal best !!! that kinda stuff i see as a PROBLEM (because these guys seemed to fish the lake ALOT and know there way around so im sure they do that stuff ALOT) not MOST of the tournament clubs because i am pretty sure that we all do EVERYTHING we can to keep the fish alive until they are released !! 

i do agree with most of the guys on here FLATTIES are tough and probably wont die in most situations but we should ALL do everything we can to keep them alive !!!


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## neocats1 (Oct 14, 2006)

Salmonid said:


> Good info Doc, anyone know what Acats stance is on this?
> Bryan, I imagine that smaller tourneys would rather not have someone sitting around the doc all night just in case someone showed up but the bigger tourneys would encourage that, also having someone around the doc would make folks feel better about leaving there cars there and have a point of contact should an emergency happen.
> 
> Salmonid


As the director of NEOCATS, I will be "fishing my own tournaments". Where ever we hold the weigh-in, I plan to throw out a couple of lines. I do in no means think I am trying to win, but my main purpose is to stay available to anglers, DNR, or others who are interested in whats going on. There needs to be someone in charge or responsible at a designated area in case the need arises. Even late entries are allowed at NEOCATS tourneys. We have a pre-tourney meeting each time to inform everyone of this. We are still small, but hopefully this aspect can help us increase our attendance.


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## buckifan43221 (May 27, 2006)

I love the thought of sticking around the dock, but we don't for our tournaments. We have taken the steps this year to run a proper, organized tournament in Columbus and our rules call for baskets and livewells only, except for fish over 26". Anyone bringing in a fish under 26" on a stringer is penalized. We are just starting, so I am sure we will make improvements as we go. We are extremely concerend with the welfare of the fish though. All fish must be released. You can se our rules at this link, http://ohiocatfish.com/rules.aspx

I have been fishing small tournaments for 5 years now and I haven't seen a fish brought in dead yet. I just wish I didn't love to fish the tournaments so much and I would sit at the dock. Of course, I realize that the chances of bringing in a trophy flattie on Oshaugnessy is rare, but i suppose it could happen. Last year we didn't wiegh in a single flattie, but we did catch 2 when out fishing by ourselves. Only between 1 and 2 lbs.

Good topic though. I am glad to hear some input on this.

P.S. Neo, if we don't get all of our request dates form the City of Columbus, I may try to come up to the Charles Mill tournament you are having this year.


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## neocats1 (Oct 14, 2006)

Hey Buckifan, you are more than welcome. Also keep in mind that our tourneys are qualifiers for Cabela's King Kat Classic.


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## buckifan43221 (May 27, 2006)

Is that each tournament winner qualifies? Judging by last years king cat winners, I wouldn't know where to start. I am getting better at tracking down channels, but I don't have that kind of experience. Guess I have never really tried waters that hold those fish though. Have to see what the city of Columbus sys though. I fished Charles Mill last year and caught close to 20 channels in about 4 hours. 3 of them were really good size too. I would love to give it a try.


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## neocats1 (Oct 14, 2006)

Each one of our tournament except our championship will quailfy the top two teams to Cabela's Classic. The top two teams from our championship will be qualified for the 2008 Cabela's Classic. If the top two teams have already qualified, then I can qualify the next two and so forth.


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## zcat (Aug 24, 2006)

I ran night time bass tournment on the grand river for 3 years. And you were only able to keep 4 bass per team. I did this to keep the stress off the fish in the tournaments. Eveyone liked the rule of 4 fish. A win is a win ,no matter how many fish you are aloud to weigh in. Im surprised that the limit for cat tournaments dont have smaller limits per team too. 1 cat can wiegh more than 6 bass. Would be much less stress on cats and easier to transport large fish without the risk of fish dying.


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Zcat, I think the reason more fish are allowed is to allow others who bring in 5 fish to over weigh someone with 1 real big fish, considering with flats or Blues that there could easily be 30-40 difference in weights between the biggest and smallest weighed in. If I had 5 -7 lb fish and someone got lucky with 1- 36 lb flattie, and I lost, Id feel that the skill level may not have been the highest to win the tourney, ( Im not saying that a 36 lb flattie would always be a lucky fish but I think you guys understand where Im going with this) 
Does that make sense?

Salmonid


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## Fish-N-Fool (Apr 12, 2004)

Too bad in the large cat tourney circuits you need your limit of 30-50 lb fish to compete - I can't imagine  I have checked out some of the winning weights and it blows me away!

I am getting a lot of pressure to fish the 07 ACATS series from a few freinds. I'm just not sure as I only fish for pleasure and have never really tried tourney fishing. It does seem like it would be fun getting together with a large group.

I would be concerned about the fish during say a 12 hour outing. I like the idea of being able to come back to the launch ramp and weigh a big fish, then release and get back to it. It would at least provide the option in case a fish didn't look to good.


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