Major tournaments bring lots of money to local hotels, restaurants and marinas, but may impact the quality of the fishing experience for local anglers. (B.A.S.S.}

By Frank Sargeant
Frankmako1@gmail.com

Bass anglers in the Southeastern states are tournament-crazy, no doubt about it. This is not surprising considering that Alabama is the point of origin for B.A.S.S., founded by the venerable Ray Scott over 50 years ago, and these days the majority of anglers who pursue bass are at least weekend tournament fishermen. The MLF, started more recently but also a major tournament driver, also has co-founder Boyd Duckett located in ‘Bama.

While big money tournaments have had a monumentally successful impact on the now-massive bassboat/motor/electronics/tackle industries and all of us employed therein, it has also put a bit of a squeeze on some lakes, particularly at this time of year when everybody wants to slate tournaments in the southeast to take advantage of the pre-spawn/spawn/post-spawn window.

On some popular lakes like Guntersville, you’d better be at the ramp before daylight if you want to get a parking spot on any weekend, and all the well-known creeks and spawning flats are chain-fished, with another boat pulling into prime water the minute one leaves. 

The advent of forward scan sonar, now used by the majority of anglers who fish the larger tournaments much of the year, has also bumped up the heat on offshore fish. And in the last few years, tournament kayak fishing has exploded—some ‘yaks now have sonar and gps setups that make them big league fish-finders.

Fishing for money is a different game than fishing for pure pleasure, because when you fish for money you keep right on fishing even if fishing sucks—you can still win if you catch a bag of 2 pounders if everybody else has only dinks—or no fish at all.

Lots of smart, well-equipped anglers can have an impact on fishing that lasts for some time after a major tournament, but biologists say the events don't harm bass populations overall. (Bass Pro Shops)

Multiple studies have indicated that most bass caught in tournaments survive the weigh-in and release process, and biologists tell us it doesn’t take many successful spawners to fill the available habitat on most lakes, so overall bass numbers probably don’t suffer on most lakes despite the pressure.

The quality of the angling experience, on the other hand, is another matter. If you have to fight for a parking space at the ramp the same as at the office, and if the fishing spots are so crowded you can almost drop a Chatterbait into the next boat, something has been lost that used to be important to a lot of us.

Admittedly, in its place is the camaraderie of competition, particularly now with all the social media connections, and the opportunity to learn from others is also unprecedented. Tactics developed by tournament anglers spread rapidly through YouTube and other video sources, so that you see exactly how and where the successful anglers fish. Tournaments are definitely good for the business side of fishing.

That given, do some lakes need some limits on tournaments in some seasons?

While all of us get nervous anytime there’s a suggestion of regulations these days, it might be time to at least discuss whether some lakes might need some sort of crowd management during the most popular fishing periods.

California has some of the tightest regulations on tournament fishing; Events with more than 60 anglers may not exceed three days in duration and no more than one contest is allowed for any water on the same days.

Michigan, Minnesota and several other states require permits for larger tournaments on some lakes during some months. Minnesota, for example, allows only 10 days of permitted contests per month on waters of 55,000 acres of less, but has no limit on larger waters. Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) also uses permits to control tournament pressure and ramp congestion.

Tournament results and tactics are flashed across the country immediately after major competitions, giving local anglers lots more know-how--and also helping to boost the tackle and bass boat industries. (FLW)

But, per Thomas Goniea, Fishing Tournament Program Specialist with the Michigan DNR, who was kind enough to share his thoughts with us, the registration and monitoring program helps the state’s fishery monitoring program in a huge way.

“Tournament anglers handle and release more bass in a year than the DNR will in 10 years’ worth of fishery surveys,” notes Goniea. “We have not found any catch and release fishing activity that threatens population sustainability for any fish species in Michigan, let alone a member of the sunfish family like bass.”

Goniea says rather than seeing tournaments as a negative, Michigan DNR sees them as a way of involving more people in angling. 

“During my career, the number one issue in natural resource management has been the declining number of fishers and hunters.  There are fewer and fewer individuals heading to the fields or going out on the waters pursuing the sport.”

The loss of participants, and therefore advocates, may someday be a greater threat to angling than the added pressure and occasional inconveniences of tournament fishing on some lakes today. Take your kids fishing, whether for fun or competition, might be the bottom line here.