The Bill Dance Giant Bass Open is heading to Pickwick Lake on March 8 and 9 out of Pickwick Landing. One of our Southern Fishing News readers, and a former tournament angler, has some reservations about this event and tournaments in general due to tournament-related bass mortality.
The reader contacted the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) to express concern. As a retired bass tournament competitor, I am publishing the exchange to bring to light a growing concern of some bass anglers, not all of course, regarding the mortality of bass caught during a tournament.
The communication sent by the reader to the event email address read, “The problem is that it has been demonstrated and documented that 45% of all bass caught during these endless fishing tournaments, then put in the live well to be transported to the tourney weigh-in die shortly after being released back into the water….the BIG fertile female bass are suffering the most post-fishing tourney die-offs and the body-of-water bass population is plunging in fish per acre…
[Professional bass] fishing is killing off our natural bass fisheries and the recreational fishermen/women are the immediate real losers…”
The 45% mortality mentioned in the reader’s email refers to an article published on January 16, 2025, on southernfishingnews.com, Slot limit proposed for Alabama’s Coosa River lakes.
A graphic displayed on the event website noted that, in part, the bass weighed in were quickly returned to the lake with a 100% survival rate.
Here are some excerpts from the article to provide some clarity—
Damon Abernethy, Assistant Chief of Fisheries, Alabama Wildlife & Freshwater Fisheries said, ” About 40% of those are being caught during tournament competitions. Forty-five percent of them are not surviving the livewell rides and weigh-in process. Because tournament anglers are size-selective, this mortality is primarily affecting the faster-growing fish and larger females.
Regarding the 45% tournament mortality rate—tournament mortality rates were primarily determined from the radio-tagged fish. Each transmitter had a mercury motion sensor. If it went through a weigh-in and then died, the transmitter gave a different tone indicating that it was dead.
Abernethy said, “We aren’t opposed to tournaments, but the time has come for their impacts to be managed. Failing to do so isn’t fair to the other 90% of anglers. They may not realize it, but tournament anglers are in a pretty significant minority. There are more recreational anglers wanting to cut back or eliminate tournaments than there are tournament anglers opposing the slot limit.”
Travis Scott (tn.govgiantbassopen.com) provided a lengthy response to the critical email.
“Thanks for your comment and thanks for fishing in Tennessee! I recognize and appreciate your opinion concerning tournaments. TWRA has received numerous comments concerning tournaments and we are and have been actively looking at ways to better manage tournaments throughout the state. TWRA is especially concerned about summertime mortality and have had discussions with tournament directors and chambers of commerce about reducing or eliminating summertime tournaments or trying the catch, weigh, release tournament style. TWRA also encourages tournament anglers to practice the best handling practices for tournament-caught fish. Tournament mortality is reduced when water temperatures are cooler. The numbers you reference are from a specific study on Coosa River lakes in Alabama. TWRA data does not indicate plunging bass populations in Tennessee lakes. If population level impacts from angling arise, TWRA will certainly look at implementing appropriate regulations to protect the fishery.”
Scott continued, “Organized fishing competitions have been around nearly as long as sport fishing and professional tournament fishing since the 1960’s. It is entrenched in American culture and widely popular throughout the U.S. Events like the Bill Dance Giant Bass Open promotes the great work TWRA Fisheries does managing Tennessee’s aquatic resources. The Bill Dance Signature Lake (BDSL) program is a collaborative effort of Bill Dance Outdoors along with Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and Tennessee Department of Tourist Development (TDTD) to provide high-quality fishing experiences for anglers of all ages worthy of the fishing legend’s endorsement. This program has provided extra funding to increase habitat work, fish stocking, and infrastructure improvements at lakes across Tennessee. Many of these lakes are in economically depressed areas that will benefit greatly from the revenue generated by increased fishing activity. The Bill Dance Giant Bass Open Tournaments are not professional tournaments but targeted at the average recreational angler. In addition, these tournaments limit the number of fish that an angler may have in a live-well to 3 and only one fish is weighed per hour which coupled with current water temperatures should greatly minimize mortality. TWRA is committed to managing our fisheries to ensure anglers of all types have a great experience.”
Whether you agree or disagree with the tournament complaint most likely depends on which side of the coin you are on—recreational or tournament. The solution to the argument is probably to address fish mortality from tournaments to everyone’s satisfaction.
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