BUZZBAIT [TO U RNAME NTS]
BASS CRASH BY JEFF LITTLE
I AVOIDING A CPR
ROAD RASH
can still feel the skateboard wobble violently under my 11-year-old feet. I
charged a hill too big for my abilities, and lost enough skin to cover this page. The scabs took the better part of a year to heal, the scars much longer. I’ve seen smallmouth with similar scarring, except theirs is shaped like an angler’s handprints. It always disturbs me, because those fish
are much more vulnerable to disease and a premature death. A fish’s slime coat is equiv- alent to our knee and elbow pads. It serves as a barrier that keeps out fungus, bacteria and parasites. When we carelessly handle a fish with dry hands, a cheap knotted nylon net or a dusty measuring board, we strip away its protection. Conservation minded catch, photo, re-
lease (CPR) tournaments represent a big leap forward in minimizing negative fish- ery impacts. Fish are quickly measured on the spot, then released. It’s a little tricky to stretch a fish out on a measuring board, then get it to hold still long enough to snap a good photo. By necessity, the fish are subject to additional handling. That makes low impact tournament fish
handling practices particularly important. Tournament directors are sensitive to the is- sue, and taking steps to educate their anglers. “We stress getting fish back in the water
as soon as possible, and strongly encourage anglers to avoid placing fish on dry surfaces such as dirt and sand,” Drew Gregory of the Riverbassin’ Tournament Trail says. Care- ful CPR is covered in detail during the rules briefing prior to each series event. Anglers who fail to play by the rules risk
penalties. That can include disqualifica- tion of an otherwise winning catch, as hap- pened in 2010 during a KayakBassFishing. com Challenge Series. Series director Chad Hoover felt he had no alternative. “Allow- ing the entry would have sent a bad message to other competitors and undermined the
16…KAYAK ANGLER SUMMER/FALL 2011
EARN YOUR CPR CERTIFICATE
Wet anything a fish will touch, including hands, measuring board and your kayak.
emphasis on proper handling and a safe re- lease,” Hoover recalls. While taking care to avoid embarrass-
ment to the angler involved, Hoover used the incident as a learning opportunity. Por- tions of the fish photo showing obvious mis- handling were posted online, enlarged to show detail. The resulting discussion helped identify better fish handling practices, and what to avoid. Hoover says there hasn’t been a problem since. We all crave that trophy-caliber connec-
tion. Careful handling is especially impor- tant with larger fish. According to fisheries biologist Scott Smith of the Virginia Depart- ment of Game and Inland Fisheries, an aver- age 20-inch river smallmouth takes 14 sea- sons to reach that length. When a large bass dies due to mishandling, it takes a long time for another to assume its place.
Use a rubber-coated, catch and release friendly net.
Avoid handling a fish by the delicate gills.
Work quickly. Fish should be back in the water within a minute.
In the spring, return any fish to the water especially quickly! It might be a nesting female or fry-defending male.
Make sure a fish is fully revived before release. Point its nose upstream, mouth open, allowing water to flow over the gills. Take extra time with larger, older bass.
Another CPR bass in
the bag—gently. PHOTO: JEFF LITTLE
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