Other Quality Events
March 27th Sammamish Open
April 24th Silver Lk Memorial
May 22nd 23rd Lake Chelan Open
August 7th and 8th Spokane Valley Marine Open Banks Lake
Guidelines for Handling Bass to be Released
There are three critical stages when handling bass to be released, that will determine how well the fish will survive.1. Removing the hook
Handle as little as possible. Hold the bass gently with thumb and forefinger, by inserting your thumb in the fishes mouth and grasping the lower jaw. If the hook is deep, and removing it would injure the fish, cut the line. Don't hold large bass by the jaw alone, support the belly with your other hand. You could break a jaw if you rotated a large fish.
2. The temperature of your live well
Oxygen dissolved in water is what the bass breathes. Cold water can hold more dissolved oxygen that warm water. You can't over aerate. Run your aerator pumps! Don't let the live well drain dry while running between spots, shut the drain valve. Try to keep the live well temperature close to the lake temperature. If you don't have any ice, you can wet the carpet on the live well lid to lower live well temperature through evaporative cooling.
3. The weigh-in
This is the toughest time for the fish. Here in Washington, we are lucky to have cooler waters and higher oxygen levels in our waters. Minimize the time the fish are held in a bag. You have spent all day taking good care of the fish, don't blow it now.
Factoid
In 1947, PERMANENT REGULATION #18 stated: In any fishing or hunting contest, no person shall:(1) offer or give any prize which has a cash value of more than twenty five dollars ($25)
(2) offer or give in any one contest, prizes which have a total cash value of more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250)
(3) charge any fee of any kind for entrance to any such contest.
The cash value was upped to $400 in July of 1977.WAC 232-12-168
Agency filings affecting this section
Fishing contests.(1) Contest defined: By definition, a fishing contest exists when 6 or more licensed persons fish competitively and determine winners, regardless of prize value.
(2) Application:(a) Fishing contest permit applications should be submitted to the department by July 1 of each year for contests that are to take place the following calendar year. After July 1, applications must be submitted not less than 30 days prior to the date for which the contest is proposed.
(b) Applications must include the permit fee required by RCW 77.65.480. The fee will be returned if the permit is denied. No more than seven permits will be issued to any one permittee during a calendar year. The fee is $24 per permit.
(c) For purposes of application for a fishing contest permit, "permittee" means a "person" as defined in RCW 77.08.010. All applications from a permittee must be in a single name.
(3) Approval:
(a) Fishing contests which adversely affect fish or wildlife resources or other recreational opportunity may be denied.
(b) Contests will not be allowed on sea-run cutthroat trout, wild steelhead, Dolly Varden or bull trout.
(c) During fishing contests, where anglers target tiger muskies, no retention of caught fish is allowed. Tiger muskies may be caught, measured for length, photographed and all fish must be immediately released alive.
(4) Prize value: Total prize value per contest will not exceed $5,000 when trout, steelhead, char, whitefish, grayling, tiger muskie, or kokanee are included as target species; provided that contests wherein other species not listed above are targeted, or where bass or walleye are the targeted species and at least 90 percent of bass or walleye are released alive and in good condition after the contest, may qualify for no limitation on amount of prize.
(5) Legal requirements, all contests:
(a) Fishing contest permits must be in the possession of the contest sponsor or official at the contest site.
(b) Contests are restricted to the species and waters approved on the permit. Only those species listed as a target of the contest may be retained by contest participants during bass or walleye contests where all contestants fish at the same time and place.
(c) Sponsors must report contest information requested by the department within 30 days after the contest has ended. Subsequent contest permits will not be issued for one year after the date of the contest for which the report was not returned if this requirement is not fulfilled.
(d) Contest participants may not restrict public access at boat launches.
(e) Contests for bass and walleye where participants expect to fish at the same time from boats on lakes or reservoirs will not last longer than four consecutive days and have the following limits per water:
| ACRES | CONTESTS PER DAY | BOATS PER CONTEST DAY | |
| Less than 300 | 1 | 15 | |
| 301 - 3,000 | 1 | 35 | |
| 3,001 - 6,000 | 2 | 75 | |
| 6,001 - 10,000 | 2 | 120 | |
| More than 10,000 | 3 | 250 |
*No more than four weekend days per month nor more than two weekends per month may be scheduled on any water when contestants fish at the same time, and are allowed to fish from boats.
(f) It is unlawful for the fishing contest permittee or any of the contest participants to fail to comply with the conditions of the fishing contest permit, or of general fishing rules not specifically exempted by this permit. Failure of the permittee or any of the contestants to comply with all provisions of the contest permit or of other fishing regulations during a contest may lead to revocation of the permit and result in denial of fishing contest permits to the permittee and related organizations or individuals sponsoring contests for two years.
(6) Special regulations, bass and walleye contests:
(a) In any contest targeting either bass or walleye, all live bass or walleye must be released alive into the water from which they were caught after being weighed and/or measured. At the end of each day's competition, if the mortality of target fish caught that day exceeds 10%, the contest will be suspended. Suspended contests may be continued (within assigned permit dates) only if the cause of the high mortality can be positively identified, and the cause of the mortality (high waves, equipment deficiency, etc.) ceases or is corrected by contest officials.
(b) During bass and walleye contests only, participants may continue to fish while holding up to five fish in possession, as long as one fish is released immediately upon catching a fish which would make the angler in excess of five fish if kept. The fish released may come either from the one just caught, or from the live well, but at no time may the angler have more than five fish in the live well.
(c) During bass contests, contestants may not use live bait.
(d) During bass and walleye contests participants may retain up to five bass and walleye of any size to be weighed in. A tournament angler may not be in possession of more than five bass or walleye from the water being fished, except as authorized under (6)(e) below.
(e) The contest director or director designee may exceed possession limits for bass or walleye for the purpose of transporting fish from a weigh-in site to an open-water area. During transportation, the transport boat must not leave the water the fish were caught from and a copy of the contest permit must be on board during actual fish transport.
(f) Boat identification: All boats used for fishing in bass and walleye contests must be clearly identified according to criteria established by the department.
(7) Aquatic invasive species decontamination. Prior to launching into any Washington state body of water:
(a) All contest participants are required to sign an aquatic invasive species decontamination statement that their boats and/or boat trailers have or have not been in physical contact with any waters outside of Washington state for thirty days immediately preceding the contest and, if the boat and/or trailer has been in contact with such waters, the participant must complete an aquatic invasive species decontamination report indicating that the following actions have been taken:
(i) A physical inspection has been made of the hull, motor, trailer, live well and bilge by the contest director or designee, according to criteria established by the department; and
(ii) Any aquatic invasive species, if found, have been disposed of in a garbage container; and
(iii) The hull, motor, trailer, live well, and bilge have been decontaminated according to criteria established by the department.
(b) The aquatic invasive species decontamination statement and decontamination report shall be submitted to the department as part of the fishing contest report.
