That is impossible to determine. I will say that any fish not weighed-in obviously was not kept in the name of the tournament but rather because the regulations set by DNR allowed anglers to do as such. Therefore, DNR needs to manage based on the season length, creel, & size limits. I do not believe it is of the DNR's concern/business to what motivates people to fish, rather than to deal with the levels of harvest based on levels of those that choose to participate in recreational fishing. If DNR is wanting to reduce participation through eliminating motivating factors in anglers wanting to take trips, the charterboat industry should be very concerned. It would certainly set a bad precedent.
MSSA made it easy to determine whether a fish should be kept in the name of the tournament this year. They issued text message updates to the leaders of the tournament, were very good about online updates on their site, popular forums and facebook. They also would respond via vhf to any any inquiries to what it would take to place in the tournament. Besides traditionally it takes at least 34lbs or so to get into the top ten or even win a divisional prize.
Last edited by B-Faithful; 05-03-2011 at 10:58 AM.
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