Good Ole Boys Bass Club

of

Central New York

Pre- Season paper tournament.

In 2001, the New York State DEC started a test to see if fishing for bass before the opening of bass season on the third Saturday in June would harm the bass populations in New York State. That year and every year since, they have allowed "catch and release" fishing for bass on the western Finger Lakes. As of this year, (2006) the biologist in the NYS DEC have determined that there is no harm done to the bass population.

Also in 2001, our club started a "boots on the ground" approach to determine if as fisherman, we could see any changes in the fishing on Seneca Lake, one of the Finger Lakes open to pre-season fishing.

In 2001 and 2002 we held a small "paper" tournament on Seneca Lake in May of each year. We learned some lessons on holding paper tournaments these two years.  ( More on this later in this page)  In 2003 thru 2005 some of our members continued to fish the lake to further determine fish populations and locations before the season opener.

What our "boots on the ground" approach learned was:

#1    That the bass on Seneca Lake are no where near spawning in      May, and fishing for them does no harm.

#2     That pre-spawn bass go on a feed, and are quite easy to catch if you can be there when they are feeding, and impossible to catch if not feeding. Minnow imitating lures seem to work the best.

#3    Just before spawning, ( the first part of June) the males will start to pick out a place to make their nest, and will drive away any intruders, including your lure. They do not want to be in sight of another bass when they spawn. Their strike zone this time of the year is very large. We guess up to 20' wide. After being caught and released, they return back to the same place fast, and can be caught again within a hour or less. They will return again, but do get "smart" and become harder to catch.

#4    Once the males have made their nests, and they have attracted some females to lay their eggs, they are very hard to catch. They do not chase lures that are away from their nests, and do not feed, but will pick up and remove a lure that invades the actual little place where the eggs are. This "sweet spot" is only a few inches wide. As a club, we would like everyone NOT TO FISH BEDDING BASS.

#5    The females by now are recovering in deeper water, and for a week or so although hard to catch, are easier then the males. A rubber worm, without any weight worked on the outside edges of the weeds will produce some very nice "spent" females.

How we run a "paper tournament"

Because all scales are different, we run our tournaments by length.

Our club purchased from Bass Pro enough of their plastic 25" folding "bump board" rulers for all the boats. That way, everyone is measuring on a similar ruler.

We run a "team tournament". To better explain I will us the following terms.

The "entry team" are the two fisherman, a boater and a non-boater that are on the team that will enter their best 8 fish, but they do not fish together.

The "fishing team" is a boater and a non-boater that are fishing together, but each is on a different "entry team"

When a fish is caught, it is unhooked, placed on the bump board, the tail is folded to make the fish as long as possible. The angler calls out the length and the other club member on the boat must agree with the length. The fisherman then releases the fish ( in timing this, we have found out that on the average, this takes 19 seconds) and the length is written down on paper for that angler. Each angler carries his own "on the water paper".

When returning to the launch site, the club has a paper entry form for each "entry team" The two members on the "entry team" get together and pick out their best 8 fish by length off their "on the water papers", and put those lengths on their entry paper. Because no fish are kept, the 5 fish limit does not apply, and one angler can enter all 8 fish. When that is done, they go to the tournament committee with their "on the water papers" and "entry paper", have the committee check their entries' and total up the length.

Longest total length for the day wins. We pay three places (divided between the team members), but do not pay big bass.

We have found this format very exciting. You never know how well you are doing while on the water. You may have only caught two fish and think that you are out of the money only to find out that your partner has a big bag. Or you may have 6 nice fish thinking that all your partner needs is two fish to put your team over the top, only to find out that your partner did not catch anything.

If your club has never tried a "paper tournament", give it a try.