Illegal fish at wave wackers?

[curious]

Just wondering if anybody else heard about some of the fish that teams tried to weigh in? Heard there was about a half dozen teams that had fish just over 18". Why they were not disqualified or given tickets? They broke a STATE LAW! Was it because they were some of the well known names in the tourney or related to the tourney director?

[nicolas hanson]

I was at the weigh in on friday and heard there was 6 teams that were DQed for illegal fish. But didn't personally see anything.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I talked to one of the teams that got the DQ.. I assume there were not tickets given out, because, the team that I talked to proved that the fish was legal on their bump board.. but was illegal on the tournament bump board..

But yes, there were teams that got the DQ.

[Shack]

How could this happen? They let you measure up your "bump board" to the tournaments bump board before hand, to make sure things are on the level. I would be doing this 2 or 3 times.

I know tourney time is very hectic though.

Hate to hear some one get D.Q.'ed also. A lot of time and money goes into getting into this tourney (I have checked) and that would be a bummer.

Are they allowed back next year then?

[curious]

They did not get disqualified from the tourney. They just got their wieght thrown out for the day. With the small weight totals, there were teams that had illegal fish the first day that had a good second day and passed alot of teams that didn't break any laws. Just thought they should have been thrown out of the tourney. Bill Herrick even preaches at the meeting on wed. night that if the fish is close, don't even bring it to the scale.

[fishinmajishin]

So what's the difference in bump-boards...Shouldn't an inch be the same length in their boat, the official tournament board, my boat, your boat, the local CO's boat? All I know is if I have an illegal fish, I'm due a ticket.

[Shack]

Curious,

You are correct!

I just relived the rules .

With the money on the line, I guess one would push the limits and try to "push" a fish threw. If it fails, you have another day.

All in the game of WW fishing!

[deadminnowcatcher]

Yhey should have been eliminated from the tournament and banned for life from it. They broke a state law and a tournament rule. now some tournaments you get dq for being late or not wearing your life jacket. that is an appropiate action for those violations of rules. but to break a state law should be termination-------lifetime from the tournament. Who you are should not matter

[John Mickish]

Have any of you guys ever measured a fish after it's been in your livewell for a few hours? On red this year we put several 16.5-16.75 (17 inch slot) fish in the livewell only to measure them later at 17.25+!

It has been my experience that fish will tend to "relax" in your livewell and grow a tad, so IMO these guys probably put legal fish in their livewell. The problem isn't what you put in it's what you take out.

[ifish4food]

Very interesting...

Has anyone out there measured a fish before cleaning it and then measured it after taking the girth out of play?

My point is, a fish with a big girth might measure shorter than it really is if you push the tail tight to the ruler vs. keeping the fish perfectly strait when it's measured.

[Kyle Sandberg]

Yhey should have been eliminated from the tournament and banned for life from it. They broke a state law and a tournament rule. now some tournaments you get dq for being late or not wearing your life jacket. that is an appropiate action for those violations of rules. but to break a state law should be termination-------lifetime from the tournament. Who you are should not matter

Why should they be elimated. They proved to the board the using their bump board, the fish was legal. It was equipment error, not human, that caused them the mishap.

[rodmaker]

You are right on the fish "relaxing" in the livewell.

Is there a web site to go to see results from the tourney????

[18 inch Crappie]

Rodmaker,

fishermanswharfmn dot com

[Shack]

Have any of you guys ever measured a fish after it's been in your livewell for a few hours? On red this year we put several 16.5-16.75 (17 inch slot) fish in the livewell only to measure them later at 17.25+!

It has been my experience that fish will tend to "relax" in your livewell and grow a tad, so IMO these guys probably put legal fish in their livewell. The problem isn't what you put in it's what you take out.

Actually I have not. I catch and release all my fish. I think the last time I kept a walleye was in like 96 or 97. Very interesting though.

I thought the “bad” thing about culling is because it stress’s the fish out, not relax. I know for a fact, some fish tend to release inner matter after they are caught and this has a bearing on them loosing wait, but I never heard of a fish getting bigger.

I will say what you say has some credence though and that is why I would have listened to this and adhered by

Quote:

Bill Herrick even preaches at the meeting on wed. night that if the fish is close, don't even bring it to the scale.

If there is some truth to the fish relaxing and getting longer in the live well, I would have listened to Bill Herrick’s word. But! Like I said when that money is on the line and you think you can pull out all the stops on the next day, anything is worth a try. As long as you do not get kicked out of the tourney and will be invited back next year.

[Harwad]

I fushed the Wave Wacker and people need to measure the fish again before going to the scales. It is true that a fish will relax and lengthen especialliy with a non-live tournament like the Wave Wacker. If a fish dies it will get longer which is why they should remeasure. Also, you can only weigh 7 fish which gives you one extra in your livewell. There is no excuse for a mistake. Another point is Bill Herrick tells everyone at the rules meeting that they use the "judge" as the official measuring device. The judge costs $30, we're paying $1,450 for entry, go buy one.

I also think they should be DQ'd from the tournament for that year not just the day. We had one fish that the tip of the tail hit 18" and we threw it back - not worth it. We finished barely out of the money but who knows someone who did get in the money may have been DQ'd for one day.

[fishgutz77]

Back when the slot was up to 20" I lost a tourney due to a fish I put in the well at 19 7/8", at the board it hit the line and I was DQ'ed. I put my board aginst the tourney board and they where exactly the same. that cost me a nice check. The best lessons are painful and expensive.

[fishinmajishin]

Three questions...

If these are experienced tournament fisherman, shouldn't they know that fish "grow" in the livewell and compensate for it?

Why wouldn't they remeasure the fish before weigh-in?

If these fish were deemed illegal on the tourney board, aren't they technically breaking the law,too? I would bet a CO would have a few fine words to say to the average joe who had a fish or two over the slot by 1/4".

Any answers/clarifications?

[fishgutz77]

How you place a fish on the board and how a tournement offical or CO places a fish on the board are subjective. I could have taken my fish on their board and made it come in as the perfect fish to have. they how ever got the fish to hit the line.

I'm done dealing with the pond slot and only fishing for fun there and a few eaters. Small private tourney's under 50 boats and no up tight, god like officals from now on.

Like I said you bring me a fish thats 1/16" short and I will get it to hit the line. If you bring in a fish thats 1/4" over the line you deserve everything they throw at you, end of story.

[eye1000us]

Measuring fish should be nothing new to todays walleye fisherman almost every body of a water a person fishes has some sort of length restrictions.So measuring fish shouldn't be all that foreign to anyone , especially a tourney angler with any type of experience.In my opinion you bring an illegal fish to the scales on day one of a two day tourney you should be eliminated and not allowed to continue.

A few things to consider in this regard. First no tourney director wants to dq anyone , it looks bad to the public and often can bring with it some pretty hard feelings between those involved.Just not something they want to do.Tourney directors are usually fishermen just like the rest of us and enjoy what they do,dqing someone is not something they enjoy. This is why they tend to harp on being carefull with close fish prior to to the tourney and why they explain how they will be measured and what they will be measured on.Also the device used ( most often the Judge) is almost always available prior to the take off to compare your measuring device against to ensure they are the same ( yes rulers do get bent from time to time ).

Second ,at weigh in,the same person almost always measures all of the fish which ensures that each fish is measured as consistently as humanly possible.If there is any question about a fish another set of eyes ,usually the TD, is brought in to verify everything.

Third ,generally speaking , a tourney director is going to measure and scrutinize measurements much more closely than a DNR warden will.This ensures that the playing field is as level as possible.A game warden will give you the benefit of the doubt on a fish that "touches the line" a tourney director will not.I think most competitors want it this way.

As for fish growing in the livewell ,absolutely. A fish a quarter inch short of being over is a dangerous fish.There is no doubt that fish will grow and depending on conditions it may very well get too big. That said I have never had a fish that was a half inch short of being over get too big. Anytime we put a "close" fish in the box that fish is measured repeatedly throughout the day with the last measurement coming right before it gets put in the bag or box and taken to the scales for weigh in. This includes measuring both sides as a fish is not 100% symetrical and generally measure slightly different depending on what side they are laying on. If at anytime that fish gets too big ,back in the drink it goes.In 20 plus years of tourney angling we've never been dq'd by following this procedure and just by being extremely careful in our measuring and care of the fish.

There really is only one case where bringing a possible over length fish to the scales is even remotely acceptable and this is when a fish grows between the boat and the scale at the weighin site ( yes this happened this year to a prominent Mille Lacs guy ) and even in this case I personally would have serious doubts about putting a fish that close in the weigh bag.

That said ,having been in probably 100 tournies over the years people have gotten alot better at measuring fish. In the early days of the Mille Lacs slot there used to be alot more dq's than we see today. It used to be fairly common but now its actually quite rare.

[broodwich]

Kick them out forever... In fact put an end to these meaningless tournaments... Do we really need to have so many tournaments? Fishing used to be a past time but now so many consider it a sport, which I think is ridiculous.

[Gary Crichton]

So lets say the slot rule is nothing over 17 inches and you catch a 16 3/4 in and it magicly grows in your livewell, and I have read that you should not keep a fish that is close to the 17" because of it. Now your magic slot # has been reduced even more. That does not leave the fisherperson alot of room or much of a chance with such a short keeper range.

I am begining to think the walleye is an endangered species.

G.C.

There are to many tourneys and I would think, more difficult to control and judge. They should have a referee in each boat to measure, photograph, weigh and release on the spot. Therefore at the weigh in, it would be just pictures.