Bassin Baptists in Corbin Ky has been around for about 13 years or so, and in that time has applied for BASS membership twice. Both times turned down because we did not have a dead fish penalty. The reason we didn't have one was because we did not want to exclude anglers of lesser means who might fish from older boats with inadequate livewells or jon boats. I was one of those when I joined. <P>2 years ago on Dale Hollow, we had a bad kill ratio. We were fishing a night tournament where the temperature dropped to about 87 degrees and the surface temp was 95 degrees. Catching fish deep where the water is 50 some degrees and bringing them to the surface is bad enough, but tossing them in a livewell spells the end.<P>After that, we got to discussing what a solution to that problem would be. We came up with a paper tournament system. The fish are caught and measured at the boat, then released. At the weigh in, we use a chart to convert the length to pounds.<P>I know, when I first heard this, I thought, You all are nuts. However, its worked out real real well. In Tennessee and KY the game and fish commissions keep monkeying with the size limits. To us, it doesn't matter that on Dale Hollow you can only have 1 smallmouth over 21 inches. We set our own limit at 13 inches/6 fish and go from there on any lake we are at.<P>Cheating hasn't been a problem to this point. As a club tournament, there isn't that much money involved, and they are draw tournaments. I wouldn't want a team tournament with this situation. <P>What do you think of such a system at the club level? It seems to be meeting our goals of raising the percentage of fish released alive and adding to the competition on tough lakes with wild size or slot limits.<P>Skipper
