I am a tournament fisherman, but I don't "technically" disagree with Uokman2014, I have long believed the mortality rate is exceedingly worse than most people think (actually I don't think 99% of tournament fishermen EVER even consider it, not that they wouldn't care if they knew, but it's just not a concept they ever think about). I don't think many fish die from one tournament day in a small local tournament, but the sport of fishing has grown so much in the last 20 years that it sometimes feels like every fish in the lake is caught over and over and over and over, I mean there's a tournament or two virtually 7 days a week on many lakes (cough, cough, Logan Martin). I believe I can tell the affect of fishing pressure everywhere I fish. But to back up Uokman2014, it's just plain selfish and stupid to catch fish all day, ride them around in a livewell all day, transport them 1.5 or 2 hours by road, they still might stay in a tank or livewell for a while before and after, then be driven that far back to Guntersville. That is not conservation minded, and there is no defense of it. I absolutely hate MLF with 10 purple passions, but they are right about the catch and immediate release.
I also hate professional tournaments coming to a lake, it escalates the pressure beyond even the regular harmful amount. I also hate seeing them violently boat flip every frickin' fish they reel in, it's like damn you ain't gotta do that.
