RAY SCOTT OUTDOORS, INC.
Presents
SCOTT ON LINE
By Ray Scott
Founder, Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.)

Light-Line vs. Well-Rope:

The Thrill of Victory, the
Agony of Bass Angling?

As a sports photographer for The Birmingham NEWS, Joe Songer has often captured the "thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." But, Songer has rarely felt the thrill, himself.

"My heart was up in my throat. It was a roller-coaster thrill ride," exclaimed the veteran Alabama sports photographer.

Songer, on assignment with The NEWS outdoor editor Mike Bolton, changed hats from photographer to bass fisherman during a press briefing for a new line of Sportackle™ rod and reel.

"Sportackle™" is my concept to put sport back into sportfishing with light-line fishing. What's the challenge with a 200-pound man using 20-pound test line, and hauling a two-pound bass into the boat in a matter of seconds? I ask.

To level the playing field, spool up with honest, IGFA certified 4-pound test line, and see what happens. It's a real challenge. I've seen full grown, 200-pound fishermen get sweaty palms at the thought of fishing with such light-line.

Joe Songer's an avid bass fisherman, owning a 9-pound largemouth to his credit from his Birmingham-area pond. He admits to being skeptical about fishing "spider-web size line."

But, as folks say, "when in Rome shoot Roman candles," and Songer provided the fireworks for eight outdoor scribes attending our Sportackle™ new product review.

Casting along the dam in the 55-acre lake near Pintlala, Alabama, Songer was getting the feel of the new spinning rod and reel system. The 7-foot Sportackle™ rod is amazingly lightweight, only 2.6 ounces. The open-face spinning reel, a revolutionary large spool design by U. S. Reel of St. Louis, Missouri, weighs just 8.6 ounces. The line size, 4-pound test STREN, makes this outfit comparable in some views to going bear hunting with a twig. Particularly, in a lake with a 13-pound, 15-ounce largemouth record established by four-time world champion Rick Clunn.

In retelling the encounter, Songer said, "I'd made a long cast with the 1/4-ounce Bayou Boogie and cranked about three turns when all heck happened. The bass hit, swam around a limb and started to peel line and took off for deeper water."

Trying to reach the limb, Fred (Taco) Bland, operating the boat, put the MotorGuide on high by-pass. Fishing partner Mike Bolton reeled up to clear the decks and help land the leaping lunker, if Songer could corral the fish.

"Leaping lunker" is right. "We thought the fish had sounded in the cover, but something splashed behind the boat," said Bland, who exclaimed in no uncertain terms: "That's your fish back there. Reel…reel!"

For the next four minutes, Songer's emotions were running high and low; between the thrill of victory or the agony of angling. "That was the most exciting fish I've ever tried to catch," declared Songer.

Exciting. Challenging. Fun. Sportfishing. Pick the adjective to describe Songer's light-line fishing experience.

Critics will agree to the "thrill of victory," but quickly voice their opinion of "too much stress and agony" for the bass. We didn't have a stopwatch on Songer's bassin' battle, but everyone in the boat agreed it "lasted around four minutes."

That's about 24 times longer than the 10-second interval most anglers using a flippin' stick and 20-pound test line take to well-rope a largemouth into the boat.

There's a divide between using light-tackle and the tournament trend for heavy tackle. Fishing Sportackle™ is no excuse to put aside proven techniques using tournament tackle. Use the right "tools" for the situation and conditions.

But don't buy into the logic that battling a bass on light-line vs. heavy line "puts more stress on the bass and results in the bass being killed." This is a myth. To my knowledge, the facts of the matter have yet to be decided.

To weigh-in on the question, I quizzed Phil Morlock, marketing manager for Shimano Canada, about the company's ongoing catch-and-release tournament study. Phil called in Dr. Bruce Tufts at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.

Dr. Tufts, a leading fish physiologist, has developed extensive research on catch and release fishing and the effects on various species, including largemouth and smallmouth bass and rainbow trout. Now, he's heading a two-year study on improving fish handling at competitive events, which Shimano Canada is sponsoring in partnership with the government of Canada. Queen's University is the Canadian equivalent of our Harvard. Smart people go there.

So, understand that Dr. Tufts uses some "big words," but I quote: "The magnitude of the physiological disturbance following angling will be proportionally to the amount of time that the fish spends fighting the angler. If it takes longer to bring the fish in, it will therefore take longer for the fish to recover."

That being said, Dr. Tufts explains: "Most species of fish will fully recover from angling even when they are angled to near exhaustion. As long as there are no additional stresses (i.e. long air exposure, high water temperatures, etc.)."

In Dr. Tufts' experience, "Largemouth bass are one of the most resilient species." He states, "I am confident that there would be close to 100 percent survival when largemouths recover from this type of (light-line) exhaustive angling as long as conditions were appropriate."

Over the course of the catch and release tournament studies, Dr. Tufts says, "We are finding, if livewell conditions are appropriate (good aeration, temperature), bass will be almost completely recovered from angling well before weigh-in. This is an important point because it indicates that tournaments do not represent a cumulative series of stresses for fish, as many people have suggested."

In summary, Dr. Tufts points out, "Livewell conditions will be even more critical in light-line conditions because we should want to provide the fish with the best opportunity to recover quickly. Obviously, this has a lot of important links to things that we have been doing to maximize recovery in livewells."

He forewarns, "In poorly run tournaments, livewell conditions could be a much bigger problem than in high-end events. In this case, putting completely exhausted fish into a low oxygen livewell (i.e. cooler) could be a disaster."

Back to Joe Songer's "exhausted" largemouth. After spending about four hours in the TRITON boat's aerated livewell, the bass didn't show any signs of stress or loss of life. After weigh-in, the bass was released alive.

Weightwise the largemouth hit 5-pounds, 6-ounces; almost a pound and half heavier than the 4-pound test line used to land it.

Impressive, for sure. But a disappointment for Joe Songer. Weighed on certified scales, witnessed by Mike Bolton and TRITON team pro Fred Bland, sworn to on a stack of "Fisherman's Bibles" and caught on 4-pound test class STREN® line, Songer had high hopes of setting an Alabama state line-class record.

The International Game Fishing Association's 2002 Freshwater Record Book shows the largemouth 4-pound line state record as "Vacant."

However, a search of the IGFA's Record Database reveals the weight-to-beat is 5-pounds, 12-ounces. Six ounces more than Songer's largemouth bass.

Alabama's 4-pound line class record (5-12) was established September 1, 2002 by W. Andrew Mixon from "Mixon Pond". For updates on other state's 4-pound line class records, visit the International Game Fish Association's website at: www.igfa.org. Numerous state records are still "Vacant".

Stay tuned. "The thrill of victory…the agony of angling?…Wide World of Sports and Jim McKay"…here's X-Sport thrills for bass anglers.