By Bob Branan
Phoenix Correspondent
—
Over the first three days of the Bassmaster Elite Series Sooner Run fishing tournament, hundreds of bass have been pulled from the depths of Fort Gibson Lake by the anglers competing in the prestigious tournament.
And thanks to a coordinated effort by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife, BASS, Inc., and the fishermen themselves, every fish caught has been returned to the reservoir to be caught on another day.
“Our goal for our tournaments is to practice sound conservation and make sure we leave a fishing area the way we found it,” said Bassmasters media relations specialist Doug Grassian. “Conservation and protecting our fishing areas for others is one the organizations core beliefs.”
Greg Gilliland, Regional Supervisor for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife, Fisheries Division, said the ODW works closely with Bassmaster and other major fishing tournaments in protecting the fish and releasing then back into their natural environment.
“We’re at every tournament of this magnitude to assist in the catch and release of the fish caught,” Gilliland said. “Fishing, especially bass fishing, is an important resource and we jointly have to make sure the resource is fully protected..”
Both Grassian and Gilliland, and several anglers say the caught fish are definitely stressed. All of an angler’s catches are kept in a live well anywhere from two to seven hours, depending on when hooked; then kept in larger tanks in a holding area for another hour before being weighed; and finally in a special tank for transportation back to the lake for the release for another hour or so..
On the final two days, that’s a 15-minute drive from the launch area to Three Forks Harbor, where the weigh-ins moved to be held in conjunction with planned activities at the original launch site. The tournament was moved from the Arkansas River because of flooding early in the week.
“Being out of their natural habitat for a long period of time is not normal,” Gilliland said. “The fishing industry and Wildlife Departments have adapted certain procedures and guidelines on how to keep the fish from dying while in captivity, to ensure they are released alive.”
Through Saturday, reports indicate that only two fish have died before being returned to the lake. That’s well above the normal survival rate, for starters, Gilliland said.
“National statistics and studies suggest that between 75 and 85 percent of the fish returned to their natural habitat survive,” Gilliland said.
Once transported back to Fort Gibson, the fish were released in several different areas of the lake.
“Bass will not migrate back to where they were caught or to their home territory because they do not have a sense of where that might be,” Gilliland said. “They tend to stay in the area where they were released. That is why we have several release points.”
The release points are kept secret from anglers, Grassian said. But Gilliland noted that even if they were known, an angler could “throw a lure into the area all day long” and probably not catch a released bass.
“Studies show they’ll swim into deep water or a hole and remain inactive and away from other bass from 24 to 36 hours,” Gilliland said. “They’ll just lay on the bottom to recuperate. They won’t move around and feed for another 12 to 24 hours.”
