WEBSITE UPDATED Tuesday January 25, 2022
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Bass tournament rules state that all bass boats livewells must be pre-judged “FUNCTIONAL” by a tournament official to compete. If the boat livewell is judged “Not Functional” the boat is disqualified.
“Functional” livewell means the mechanical aerator motor or livewell water pump motor must hum, be heard when turned on. The motor hum alone qualifies the well as “Functional.”
If the motor hums, tournament officials assume the mechanical aerator/livewell water pump insures continuous, safe DO water quality in fully stocked livewells. The livewell is safe for 7–8-hour live fish transports on a hot summer day/night.
All catch and release freshwater and saltwater fishing tournaments endorse and enforce a “Functional Livewell Rule.”
Many C&R tournament “Dead Fish Rules” intentionally punish contestants for presenting dead fish at the scales (PUNISHMENT IS NEGATIVE MOTIVATION FOR FAILING TO KEEP FISH ALIVE IN YOUR LIVEWELL). The more progressive C&R fishing tournaments reward contestants when weighing-in live fish (REWARD IS POSITIVE MOTIVATION FOR KEEPING FISH ALIVE IN YOUR LIVEWELL).
What is the purpose of the “Dead Fish Rule?” This punishment is supposed to motivate contestants to make extra effort to keep his catch alive and healthy all day during transport in his bass boat livewell. Tournament officials (weighmaster) assumes responsibility/care for the fish through the weigh-in process. The live release boat Capt. then takes responsibility for transporting the fish to final live release.
Live released tournament fish present a positive public relations image, sportsmanship, conservation of resources to the audience and the media watching the event.
Is the “Dead Fish Rule” has cost Professional and amateur anglers hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years in summer fishing tournaments all because 1 fish died, suffocated in an aerated boat livewell when the boat livewell aerator pump is new and working perfectly.
Functional means “having or serving a utilitarian purpose, capable of serving the purpose for which it was designed.” http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/functional?s=t
Mechanical aerators are designed to aerate livewell water, mechanical aerators are not designed to ensure minimal safe livewell oxygenation.
The Edge oxygen-injection systems are designed specifically to oxygenate livewell transport water, specific O2 dose adjustments ensure safe, continuous DO requirements for hours of transport maintaining safe DO water quality for all the catch; (5 lbs. – 200 lbs. of fish) all day/night. The Oxygen Edge™ system is not designed to aerate (ventilate) livewell water. But the pure oxygen bubbles produced by thr diffuser also doubles as a protein skimmer.
Some fishing oxygen systems are poorly engineered and designed failing to produce enough oxygen continuously and must be used in conjunction with mechanical aerators in the summer.
Some types of oxygen systems generate 100% oxygen, but they fail to produce and deliver enough oxygen to maintain minimal safe, continuous DO for even minial stocking densities of fish being transported. Failure of the device to ensure safe, continuous DO water quality often result in deadly low livewell oxygenation, suffocation, hypoxia, >tournament mortality, morbidity and fish disease every summer.
Livewell means “A livewell is a tank found on many fishing boats that is used to keep bait and caught fish alive. Dissolved oxygen is the single most important factor for keeping bass alive. An understanding of factors that affect oxygen levels will better enable anglers to keep their fish [aquatic animals] alive.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livewell
Therefore a “FUNCTIONAL LIVEWELL” must be capable of safely sustaining no less than minimal dissolved oxygen saturations (fish hatchery live transport DO standard is 100% DO Saturation continuously for all live fish transports) in livewell water containing 1 bass or heavy limits of tournament caught bass all day, for the duration of the live transport and captivity, summer or winter. The livewell water quality (specifically DO Saturation) must be sufficient to keep the total catch (which may be 10 – 40 lbs. of bass) alive and healthy for 7-8 hours during an all-day transport in small bass boat livewells during summer tournaments.
A aerated boat livewell that does not, cannot maintain minimal dissolved minimal safe dissolved oxygen saturations, minimal safe water quality while transporting live fish… IS NOT A “FUNCTIONAL LIVEWELL.”
HOW TO TEST AND CONFIRM THE BOAT LIVEWELL IS FUNCTIONAL
The “functional livewell test” is certainly not as simple as a tournament official hearing the water pump or aerator motor humming, spraying water or circulating water in the boat’s livewell.
Testing livewell Dissolved Oxygen with a DO meter while the livewell contains full limits of tournament bass at the end of the day, when the contestant’s boat arrives at the marina (weigh-in site) will effectively determine if a boat livewell is a FUNCTIONAL LIVEWELL.
*FACT: 100% DO Saturation or DO supersaturation is required in live transport water containing 1 lb. or 500 lbs. of live mature game fish. 100% DO Saturation or DO supersaturation is require for all live fish transports; considered to be “SAFE DO SATURATION” by all Federal, State and private fish hatcheries in America.
Test the livewell DO Saturation when the boat arrives at the weigh-in with fish in the livewell. The boat should be disqualified then IF transport water DO is not safe for all the fish.
Dissolved Oxygen Saturation transport water quality standards are required and practiced daily by State and Federal Fish Hatcheries. Summer bass tournaments DO Saturations water quality standards in bass boat livewells should be the no less than professional DO transport water standards.
What does this FUNCTIONAL LIVEWELL RULE really mean?
The popular tournament “Functional Livewell” rule certainly does not verify or ensure that bass boat livewell DO water quality is a safe for live transports in fully stocked livewells. It means a tournament official in charge of enforcing this rule heard the hum of a livewell aerator motor or a water pump motor humming when the switch is turned on. Hearing the hum of these electric motors is proof-positive that the boat has a “FUNCTIONAL LIVEWELL” and is capable of maintaining excellent transport water quality for hours in fully stocked livewells in the summer.
Functional water pumps hum and functional aerators hum when turned on. Functional aerators pump ambient air at ambient air temperature when turned on. Functional air stones make bubbles in livewell water when the air pump is turned on. Functional spray bars are powered with water pumps, electric water pumps hum pumping water to spray bars.
Aerators do not ensure minimal safe, continuous DO water quality in fully stocked transport tanks (livewells). Air is mostly composed of Nitrogen gas, not oxygen gas.
The only way to determine if a bass boat livewell IS FUNCTIONAL and safe is to test the DO Saturation in the boats’ livewell water containing full limits of fish when the contestant arrives at the weigh-in. Then and only then is when the livewell water quality should be tested and the Functional Livewell Rule tested. The DO should never be tested without fish in the livewell.
Here’s how you, the public, outdoors’ writers and politicians will know beyond any doubt when tournament directors and officials are serious about the bass boat “FUNCTIONAL LIVEWELL RULE” and really choosing to provide the best possible tournament fish care for the catch.
A NEW “FUNCTIONAL LIVEWELL RULE” should require DO TEST CONFIRMATION WHEN THE LIVEWELL is fully stocked with a limit of tournament fish
Tournaments will have an official with a dissolved oxygen meter continuously testing and recording the dissolved oxygen saturations in every bass boat livewell that arrives at the marina, boat ramp or weigh-in site with limits of fish in the livewells. Livewells water will be tested before the fish are bagged and transported to holding tanks.
The DO saturation test confirms beyond any doubt if the boat livewell is functional or not functional, safe or deadly. If the boat livewell DO saturation is tested and falls below 100% saturation or less, then serious penalties or disqualification are in order because the boat livewell water quality is not safe for live fish transport. Contestants would be seriously penalized or disqualified because the boat’s livewell is not functional because it fails to meet hatchery DO water quality standards required for safe transport water quality.
DEAD FISH PENALITY (NEGATIVE RE-ENFORCEMENT)
The standard bass tournament punishment assessed to tournament anglers that fail to keep their catch alive all day in their bass boat livewell and weighing in a “dead fish” is weight reduction, penalized ½ pound per dead fish for failure to keep the fish alive.
LIVE FISH BONUS (POSITIVE RE-ENFORCEMENT)
No angler punishment for failure to keep fish alive in livewells all day.
A new concept of a live fish bonus is proven to motivate contestants to provide the best tournament fish care possible for their catch in boat livewells all day. The live fish bonus offers real rewards for all anglers that present a live fish to the weigh master. Anglers receive additional bonus weight for doing a great job keeping their fish alive all day in their boat livewell. Bonus points/weight added to the actual weight of each fish turned in alive is positive motivation; a reward for providing better tournament fish care and keeping their catch alive.
The “live fish bonus” concept has been used effectively in salt water (speckled trout) catch and live release tournaments for years to effectively motivate anglers to make extra effort providing the best fish care possible in summer tournaments.
FACT: False DO Saturation Test: Livewell water contaminated with Rejuvenade ®, a Bass Medics livewell chemical, consistently demonstrated a false DO test reading. This chemical causes the DO meter to peg off the scale rendering the test invalid and totally useless.
Tournament bass care during transport: Now you know what to look for. You can effectively evaluate and really see who is serious and proactive about conservation and who chooses to provide the best tournament fish transport care possible. Look for the oxygen-injection system, compressed oxygen cylinders and the person testing and recording DO in bass boat livewell, bass weigh-in bags, holding tanks and release boat tanks containing heavy stocking densities of of live fish inside. DO test are meaningless in livewells, transport tanks that contain no fish.