You ever go too far for a floater?

[Aric11]

Rules? Lol. They're no rules that's why it's called fun fishing.
Did you need that 80k boat to catch those fish or was it to feed the ego? Did you need those 7k graphs to catch those fish or was it to feed your ego. Where in the rules does it say you need those things???
Btw how many tournament guys hold up their 5 fish limit after weigh in for a pic? From what I've seen a lot! Btw that's normally at the ramp to show everyone their bag.

Pretty funny talking about egos. Fun fishing alone taking a pic in the middle of the lake. Compared to guys wanting to boast about winning a tournament.

Bass Fishing is a sport, whether you play for fun, in competitions for bragging rights or to earn a paycheck, it’s still a sport at all levels. What’s the difference between school yard ball and the NFL/NBA? Does participating in either one make it more or less of a sport?

Conversely does the level you play on or the equipment you use determine the level of Ego you have? Every sport is going to have guys with Egos, but this has less to do with what they have or what they’ve accomplished, it’s more just a part of who they are. My guess is they would still have that Ego whether or not they owned an 80K Bass Boat.

I know a lot of hot heads that think they’re God’s gift to whatever sport they play and I have nieces and nephews that could school them up and down the block when it comes down to their actual skill level. On the flip side there are a lot of Pro Athletes who are some of the most humble and down to earth guys you will ever meet despite having “everything”.

The point is you’re focusing on what a person has and assigning a generalized personality to them. Lots of Egos at all levels, but lots of straight up people too. Why not just be happy with who you are and let the Pro’s be Pro’s, the Joe’s be Joe’s and be thankful that we have a sport we have the opportunity to be either one in?

PS - Last time I checked, wasn’t all fishing “fun”?

Just my $0.02

[5-Dinks]

For the record I'm against anything that may harm the fish long term if they are not going to be harvested. That could be holding them in your wells too long for a picture or tournaments not managing the fish correctly and thus causing delayed deaths after release. It pisses me off to no end when a tournament is conducting a weigh-in and you can see the manner in which they are conducting it resulting in dead or dying fish. Things like long weigh-in lines, bags with hardly any water in them or guys taking selfies with they limits when the fish have been out of the water for minutes. I strive my best to avoid doing any of that.

[g352nv]

Bass Fishing is a sport, whether you play for fun, in competitions for bragging rights or to earn a paycheck, it’s still a sport at all levels. What’s the difference between school yard ball and the NFL/NBA? Does participating in either one make it more or less of a sport?

Conversely does the level you play on or the equipment you use determine the level of Ego you have? Every sport is going to have guys with Egos, but this has less to do with what they have or what they’ve accomplished, it’s more just a part of who they are. My guess is they would still have that Ego whether or not they owned an 80K Bass Boat.

I know a lot of hot heads that think they’re God’s gift to whatever sport they play and I have nieces and nephews that could school them up and down the block when it comes down to their actual skill level. On the flip side there are a lot of Pro Athletes who are some of the most humble and down to earth guys you will ever meet despite having “everything”.

The point is you’re focusing on what a person has and assigning a generalized personality to them. Lots of Egos at all levels, but lots of straight up people too. Why not just be happy with who you are and let the Pro’s be Pro’s, the Joe’s be Joe’s and be thankful that we have a sport we have the opportunity to be either one in?

PS - Last time I checked, wasn’t all fishing “fun”?

Just my $0.02

Lol I agree with what you have to say! My response was in regards to my "ego" for taking a pic at the end of my day. You just said it better than I did. If a person wants to tournament fish, fun fish, it makes no difference to me.

[lakefolk]

If I’m having a hard time reviving a bass I’m throwing it back in the box and knocking the sides off it when I get home. I’m guessing if you have to work to the point of wading in the water trying to revive a bass it’s pretty much finished. Maybe it makes you guys feel better watching it struggle as it swims away but I’m guessing those fish have about a 10% chance of making it. It’s just part or bass fishing, sometimes they get hooked in the tounge or in the gills not much you can do about it.

this^^^^
if a fish has "floated" you might as well eat it.. 99.9% of are gonna die anyway, i dont care if you did open heart surgery on it you're just wasting your time..

[g352nv]

For the record I'm against anything that may harm the fish long term if they are not going to be harvested. That could be holding them in your wells too long for a picture or tournaments not managing the fish correctly and thus causing delayed deaths after release. It pisses me off to no end when a tournament is conducting a weigh-in and you can see the manner in which they are conducting it resulting in dead or dying fish. Things like long weigh-in lines, bags with hardly any water in them or guys taking selfies with they limits when the fish have been out of the water for minutes. I strive my best to avoid doing any of that.

Agree, that tournament director was fined and banned for the year.
In places like Clear lake where the temp gets up to 100 theres going to be dead fish in Tournaments. I have no idea how to avoid that other than a system like MLF does. I dont have those temps where I fish now and the fish look ok in the box. Sometimes Ill get a floater when I put them back. Ive yet to have one die but I just have to work with the fish a while.

[rboren]

I don't tournament fish anymore so what I do is catch,take a picture,and release. If I wind up catching several good ones and someone thinks it the same fish took over and over,that's nothing to me. I guess you could time stamp pics. If a fish goes into the livewell in my boat, now days,it gets eaten.

[basscat tyler]

The whole posing with a bunch of fish thing is completely driven by social media. Personally I think it looks rediculous when I see a picture of someone trying to hold us 5 fish or whatever.

[SOONER*REDNECK]

I handle fish with care so they have the best chance to survive when released. If I take a photo it’s quickly with my iPhone.
Not sure what I’ll do if I ever catch a double digit fish while fishing solo. Take pictures, measure, and weigh, and then release it?
What do you guys do when you catch a true trophy fish while fishing solo? I’m not really one to drive around with fish in the livewell so I can get picture taken later.

Not a bass, but I caught a crappie yesterday while fun fishing. By far the biggest crappie I have caught. No scales and was by myself. I let him go to catch again another day about 20 seconds after I pulled the hook out.

[Deadeye1]

If a guy wants to put a nice fish in his 55 gallon livewell in his 70k boat who does not fish tournaments to take a picture later in the day. Who is anybody to have something to say about it. Im sure the same livewell you guys consistently put 30lbs of bass in on TX day can handle one for a couple of hours. He can filet them by all rights. People are over sensitive these days. Im sure this is not what's stressing out fisheries.

Kind of funny to see how many think it's not an issue to drag a bass around beating on the sides of a well for up to 8 hrs, just as long as it's for a tourney. But let the Fun Fish Guy put one in the well so he can take a nice pic of the best 3-5 he caught that day for something to preserve the memory and BOOM All He!! breaks loose.