Will they live

[Blackdog40]

I was at the weigh in at the Melvern Walleye tournament and a number of fish went belly up when the hit the water out of the chute. They stayed that way for a long time, some where returned to the holding tanks again and then put back in the lake they still were belly up for awhile, most did swim away. My question is will they survive long term.

Also a number of fish flopped out of the chute that they had set up and the only people that were there to return them were spectators like myself. No official seemed to be watching.

[Slabsmacker]

The fish you see belly up are mostly almost dead before they hit the chute. I fish all the tournaments and usually the dead fish are due to riding in peoples livewells all day from being caught in the early morning. Melvern was actually a good day due to not many fish being dead. They will take all the walleye and put them in coolers and some of the fisherman will take them home. The tournament directors kids usually will be at the basket helping fish take off which they were yesterday as I was standing right there. It is a shame that fish die but I know the guys do their best to try and keep them alive.

[Blackdog40]

Seems like they should cut the time down to 1300 check in that might save some fish. Those big sows are to expensive to loose.

[walleyecrazy839]

It could be a kill tourney like the Crappie Tourneys, they do there best to keep the fish alive some get over stressed in live wells ,Its the KWA that help with the rearing pond that makes the walleye fishing so good . They also throw in moneys to help with stockings of our area lakes. So in my opinion the good they do for the fisheries out weigh the bad.

[slabby joe]

It could be a kill tourney like the Crappie Tourneys, they do there best to keep the fish alive some get over stressed in live wells ,Its the KWA that help with the rearing pond that makes the walleye fishing so good . They also throw in moneys to help with stockings of our area lakes. So in my opinion the good they do for the fisheries out weigh the bad.

I'm sure the KWA does alot to keep the walleye fishing good but I would have to think the 90 - 100 millon eggs that are stripped ,fertilized and then hatched at Milford is the BEST reason we have a good supply of walleyes in our Kansas lakes.

[walleyecrazy839]

The rearing pond is Melverns own project that keeps that a hot lake year after year funded in part buy the KWA through labor and money,just saying what other group of fishermen organized or not is doing that. Working together with the Wildlife and parks to keep our lakes full of trophy walleye that we can enjoy year after year as I said in my earlier post also help with stocking. The KWA realizes that putting a large number of good fishermen on a lake keeping every fish they catch tourney day and prefishing Would deplete the resources so they try there best to catch and release all there walleye. Do some research on how many of those fry survive to maturity it will shock you. Tournament fishermen have help with all the new toys we enjoy today and fight to keep our fisheries in good if not great shape . I've seen more Walleye killed buy fishermen ripping the hooks out of small walleye than our lost threw tourney s Trying to save a 15 cent jig. Catch and release , cut and retie. Then go catch some Kansas Walleye for dinner.

[fishfearme]

Seems like they should cut the time down to 1300 check in that might save some fish. Those big sows are to expensive to loose.

As past members of the. KWA, my partner and I witnessed very little mortality on the released walleyes. It is unfortunate that some does occur but compared to what valuable trophy females are taken by the "walk snaggers" each spring, the numbers are not even close. The KWA is a very valuable asset to our walleye populations. If only we were fortunate enough to create the rearing ponds at each major reservoir that would be a great thing.

[Craig Johnson]

I was at the weigh in at the Melvern Walleye tournament and a number of fish went belly up when the hit the water out of the chute. They stayed that way for a long time, some where returned to the holding tanks again and then put back in the lake they still were belly up for awhile, most did swim away. My question is will they survive long term.

Also a number of fish flopped out of the chute that they had set up and the only people that were there to return them were spectators like myself. No official seemed to be watching.

Blackdog40,

Like any other event/tourney dealing with live fish, some fish make it and some don't.

The weigh-in of a release tournament cannot 'make' good survivability of fish, but it sure can 'break' it! Even the best operated and organized weigh-in cannot magically heal those fish that weren't cared for during the entire tournament. However, the best cared for fish that are in the best shape can be quickly stressed by a poorly run weigh-in.

The KWA runs a very organized and efficient weigh-in. Anglers do not wait in long lines with fish stressing in bags while they wait. Tanks with fresh, circulated, and aerated water are available for the fish before and after the weigh-in. Many event organizers are on hand to make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible. Unfortunately, walleye that are brought to the scales in poor shape cannot be 'fixed' at the weigh-in to allow for 100% mortality free release.

KWA participants receive a 0.10 pound bonus per live fish they weigh-in. Dead fish receive no bonus. A team weighing in a limit of 6 walleye receives 0.6 pounds of live bonus weight added to their total. This is an incentive given by the KWA to anglers to care for their fish.

While live release tournaments do result in some loss of the target species, percent mortality is obviously far less than the 100% one would have if all legal walleye that were caught were prepared for the table.

[imajigger2]

i am a strong beleiver in fillet and release

[Blackdog40]

I was not making a judgement I was just asking a question for my own knowledge. So the answer is the fish that go belly up when returned to the water will not live. Is there something that can be done to prevent this?

I too like to eat a walleye fillet but I do not keep the larger fish, I prefer the smaller fish for taste anyway.