cresent lake results/practcing catch & release

First I like to comment on a great outing definitely "Top shelf " rely enjoyed Larry from Shasta Tackle/that jacket for angler of the year was awesome. This was are first tournament, the lake was beautiful and weather was fine. We pre fished on Friday we tried every thing swing blades etc. like everyone else no luck/ we did limit the boat with 15 nice big fish. I used a willow blade flasher (silver) and went to a spin glow and special magical scent. I don't know why but a spin glow turned them on /they didn't want a small blade,and these were very large fish. Saturday we were there, first light ,but the fish weren't. Skipped to a new area landed 12 by 9.AM was looking for bigger fish so we decided to go back to that 80 ft water we smacked them on Friday/ we'll I had are fish in are water basket next to the boat started to go, We realised the fish(still alive) were still in the water. Yep all gone/ thought my wife was going to cry its 10.30 / O'well well we got another limit but the fish were alot smaller fish, but I never been on this lake before so I felt we did good.

If I may suggest, ALWAYS put your koke's on or under ice immediately after they are caught, it will improve the taste dramatically and prevent the little problem you had with catch and release issue.

I'm glad you had a good time, last time I saw that boat on the water it was battling some record wind waves on the John Day. It appeared to handle calm water just as well.......

MrMike,
I prefer a cooler with a bag of ice and about six inches of water. The ice slows down the metabolism of the fish and the water keeps them alive and plump. Dragging fish around in the fish basket stresses them and drops the quality of the table fare.

Thanks for the heads up never to old to learn by the way the basket know sleeps with the fishes.

My dad and I were taught a lesson by a 23" trout many years ago about not using those baskets. One good sized fish like that can empty the entire contents in only a moment. Have never used one since.

The side bonus of the cooler/ice method is that the slower metabolism, less stress will keep the fish from losing as much weight from catch to weigh-in and when most of these derbies are so close in weight, that may gain you a placing or two.

Will there be that much difference between a bonked fish and one that you keep alive in ice water? Not much stress on a fish that has been bonked.

I am not a big fan of keeping them alive during a derby, you could be accused of keeping a fish until you get a bigger one, then turning the small one loose, which is a no-no in the rules.

I'm with David,
I whack'em dead fish don't stress!

I bonk them before icing them unless I we have three or 4 fish hooked up in which case a casual toss to the cooler and on to the next fish. The part of the metabolism I am trying to slow is all those involved in the autonomic nervous system digestive system secretory glands (slime) etc... Most of these don't stop immediately after death. I don't really know if there is that much difference but with placings often coming down to the hundredth of a pound I take every advantage that I can get. As far as keeping live fish for release, a cooler of ice generally causes death within a few minutes anyway. Even when I am not in a tournament and drop them in a live well, kokes usually die pretty quickly. I have had bass and trout swimming around belly up kokes in my live well many times. I would never try to release a koke that has been in a live well, I really do not like to release them at the back of the boat, there have been several studies showing pretty miserable mortality rates for released kokes which says to me the only appropriate release for a koke is into a pan, bbq or smoker.

Don't forget to add the all too familiar long distance release. Okay, so I don't enjoy that release but I promise you that I am way guilty of that one at times.

I was surprised to discover that when I fish for kokanee and put them in a 5 gallon bucket, they live for a very long time. Now this happens to be at a lake that is very high in elevation and at a time of year when the water is only barely warm enough for the fishing to turn on. But none the same, the kokanee I catch and drop in a bucket of water will live for a couple of hours or more if I don't take steps to shorten that time. Like bonking and icing for example. Gilling also has a certain quick dispatch quality about it. That may not help your score at the weigh in table but it sure wins a lot at the dinner table.