# Major League Bass fishing on CBS - weigh as they catch



## el9surf (Dec 23, 2008)

It's rainy here so watching tv. Major League fishing is on CBS at the moment. While I haven't watched bass fishing in a long time I'm starting to think they are ahead of the Saltwater tournament guys. 

Instead of the traditional boat ramp weigh in / displacement you would expect they have changed it up. Every fish being caught is being weighed and released immediately in the exact spot they are catching it. These guys aren't messing around either. The fish is getting weighed and put back inside of 20 seconds.

If the freshwater crowd can implement this surely the redfish tournament circuit could follow suit.


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## WillW (Dec 6, 2012)

Also if the fish touches any part of the angler except hands/arms or if it makes contact with any of the boat interior then a time out penalty is added. In addition if the fish isn't placed gently in the water, then another penalty. It's an interesting format.


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## el9surf (Dec 23, 2008)

WillW said:


> Also if the fish touches any part of the angler except hands/arms or if it makes contact with any of the boat interior then a time out penalty is added. In addition if the fish isn't placed gently in the water, then another penalty. It's an interesting format.


I think it's a great format. It promotes a good message to the general fishing public about how to handle fish that are going to be released. It also shows pro anglers leaving as little an impact to the fish and the lake /estuary as possible. Not a fan of hanging the fish to weigh, but this is still a huge improvement from culling and displacing fish to a live weigh in tank.

I'm a little surprised the bass guys are the ones to implement this. I figured it would have started in the salt. Good for them though, hope it catches on!


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## fishicaltherapist (Mar 9, 2013)

TV major network coverage = $$$$$$ Little or no coverage = live weigh-ins for the folks attending and spending their $$ on the spot. I really like the quick release system, I wouldn't want to be held by my bottom lip for 1-3 minutes without oxygen, just to have pics taken !!!


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## YnR (Feb 16, 2015)

Don't think you'd ever see this in something like the IFA. You'd need an official on every boat. It works in MLF only, because it's a limited, invite only pool.

Granted the kayak redfish tournies do catch and release so there's some hope.


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## sjrobin (Jul 13, 2015)

Also the total weight in a given time method eliminates all luck and truly defines the top talent in fishing. Total length of fish caught in a day would be good for saltwater. The Herman Lucerne is set up for total length I believe.


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

Lots of fly tournaments have the right idea -- you just snap a photo of the fish on the deck with a tournament ruler to prove you caught it that day, then the scoring is based off total length for your top 3 fish or something similar.

I've also fished tournaments where you just get release points for any fish meeting the minimum size requirements, kind of similar to offshore release tournaments. You can have different point values for different fish, so you can do some fun stuff with the scoring.


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