Then he proceded to tell me how the walleye fishing on Bull Shoals has been ruined by the pros coming in last year and this year and KILLING over 1000 walleyes at each tournament. This guy was convinced that the PWT kept every walleye and donated them to some charity in Mountain Home. I told him that I was sure the live fish were released but he was very convinced they were not.
He was sure that every walleye caught dies unless released immediately. I explained the extreme efforts the pros go to to keep the fish alive and how todays boats are equipped to handle fish. When I mentioned fizzing the fish so they could swim upright he was interested in how that was done. I told him how to do it and he wrote it down and drew a diagram.
By the end of the conversation he was in a much better mood but what bothers me is that if he had this impression of what happens at walleye tournaments how many other people have the same feelings?
We all need to promote the possitive immage of tournament fishing. It only takes a few hard core loud mouths to kill a good sport.
