Good points but what makes you think no matter how careful you are with those bass there isn't a delayed mortality?
Absolutley there is small percentage of delayed mortality involved in any catch and release fishing, and this delayed mortality is not just limited to tournament anglers but to evey angler who practices catch and release on a regular basis.
BTW - it's not the pulling of LMB off the beds that concerns me, it is the hot summer months of late June, July, and August where delayed mortality is at it's highest from tournament angling that bothers me. Just so you know, Missouri does not allow live weighs in in July and August because of the high delayed mortality rates.
I once saw a fellow put ALL THE BASS from one tournament into his livewell and take them out ot the lake to release them. Any idea how stressful putting what appeared to be 50 or 60 bass in one livewell can be?
That is simply bad practice from one tournament director, with NE Bass Federation tournaments that I occasionally fish the LMB are simply released back into the water next to the weigh in sight after they have been weighed. In most bigger money tournaments there is a specially designed boat that they use to release the fish back into the main lake.
