Competitive fishing has become an important element of recreational fisheries for black bass Micropterus spp. in North America. The vast majority of competitive events involve a “live‐release” format, where fish are held in a boat's live well after being angled and are then released following the weigh‐in. We examined the frequency and importance of physical impacts between Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu and the walls of the live well when tournaments are held on large water bodies. Using an experimental live well that included a video recorder, we determined the number of collisions between Smallmouth Bass and the walls of the live well when a 5.6‐m boat was driven on Lake Ontario. During these experiments, 10 of 28 Smallmouth Bass lost equilibrium and became inverted. Live‐well transport also resulted in elevations of intracellular enzymes in blood plasma that were used as indicators of cell damage. The results of these experiments indicate that physical impacts with the walls of the live well may be an important factor contributing to the physiological disturbance experienced by Smallmouth Bass in tournaments on large water bodies. Our results also show that this disturbance can be reduced by simply padding the live well. These findings have important implications for fisheries managers, as well as the competitive angling community.
Black bass Micropterus spp. in North America are commonly targeted by recreational anglers who are participating in catch‐and‐release angling tournaments. In deeper water bodies, Smallmouth Bass M. dolomieu are often caught from depths greater than 6 m and held in a boat’s live well until they are weighed in. Smallmouth Bass that are caught from such depths typically display symptoms of barotrauma, where the swim bladder becomes overinflated and the fish cannot maintain proper orientation. We examined the effects of three common practices that are used by tournament anglers who hold fish that exhibit symptoms of barotrauma: no treatment, weighted fin clips (rubber‐coated weighted alligator clips), and fizzing (venting the swim bladder with a hypodermic needle). After receiving a treatment, the Smallmouth Bass were held in experimental live wells for a period of 3 h and their condition was monitored using reflex action mortality predictors. Condition declined for the Smallmouth Bass that received no treatment, whereas both fin clips and fizzing demonstrated improved fish condition. Fizzing was also found to be a more rapid and effective treatment than fin clips. As the weight and capture depth of fish in the control group increased, there was a significant decrease in final condition, as indicated by reflex impairment. For tournaments that hold fish in live wells prior to release, these results demonstrate that interventions shortly after capture can effectively reduce reflex impairment in Smallmouth Bass that experience barotrauma and that fizzing is more effective than fin clips.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.