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Augusta County Bass Jon'sNews Letter
TO: AcBass-Jon’s Members
FM: Doug Fitzgerald
Subj.: News-Letter Edition-09
Welcome to AcBass-Jon’s January newsletter. The 2009 Season is to start for AcBass-Jon’s on March 07. , Remember to send me your thoughts or propose changes to By-Laws, schedules or if you want to throw your name into the hat for a Club Position. Also remember at the end of the meeting we hold our annual Swap meet, so if you have things you wish to sell, trade or just give away bring them over.
This time of year is a good time to breakdown all your reels and rods for maintenance. Grease and lube all your reels, check your all rod eyes for cracks or flaws and replace as necessary. Break out the tackle boxes and do a spring cleaning remove anything you don’t use and or stow for another day and make room for all the goodies you will buy at Bass-A-Rama 16,17,18,– Jan 09 or at Green Top Store Sale. Don’t forget the boat, change the oil and grease the lower unit, tune the engine. Get batteries out ensure they are full of water and acid. Check your trailer, ensure your trailer bunks are in good shape, look at your tires and if you already don’t have them recommend installing Bearing Buddies or at least grease your bearings. Check all the wiring and lights for proper operation. Next make sure you get a 2009 Fishing License and Boat Permits. If all goes well you should have a trouble free tournament year. Now let us not forget Bass can be caught throughout the year. This is a good time to try out your cold weather tactics, trying out your new Xmas toys and keep your skills honed. This is also a good time to read some past articles one by Bass Master Good Luck to everyone in the upcoming season. I hope I get to fish with everyone in the club this year.
Next AcBass-Jon’s has sent an e-mail requesting who will be returning for the 2009 Season; still have a lot of members who haven’t responded. I’ll need this as quickly as possible in order to prepare for our 2009 membership drive. That being said get the word out to your friends or associates that may want to join a club this year. We will lose some members, due to transfers, or no longer wishes to fish with the club, so if you know someone with a boat or not and they want to fish with us, give them our number and e-mail address and we’ll see about getting them in. Okay we also have our business cards if you want some just ask me at the tourneys for some. We continue to grow, gain new visitors every day and word gets around about the site and the club, be proud of things we have accomplished in a short period of time. . if you want a hat I can order them. We’ll get numbers at the annual meeting for new hat order in 2009. So if you desire a hat please shoot me an e-mail with the number of hats you need. Remember the first hat of the season only costs the member $8; any additional hats will be at $10 per hat. For all our new members welcome. As a side note for those club members who fish other open tourneys please send me the results so we can post them on the Latest Buzz section. Remember any club member or visitor can submit bullets and or notes for the Latest Buzz. Also looking for more articles to publish on the site, so if you have a favorite lure, method or advice you would like to talk about send me the article and I’ll put it up on the Bass Fishing Articles page. So please get the information to Tourney Director as soon as you know you are going to fish the tourney. Please continue to submit your inputs to me for Web Site pages, again special thanks for all members and visitors who provided inputs to our articles, Latest Buzz and all the other pages on the site. Please keep the inputs coming, this is the main reason local anglers come to our site to see what’s happening on the local fishing scene. Send inputs to (acbassjons@yahoo.com). As always remember our main goal in this club is to pass on information and have fun. “Share the Knowledge”. Another issue is getting the message out if your fishing and would like a partner to go fishing, please put out a Back Seat Alert to fellow club members, this gives an opportunity for Non-Boater members to fish other than just tourneys.
Keeping Tournament Fish Alive.....
Caring for Your Catch Fish Care Guidelines for Tournament Anglers
Keeping fish healthy in the livewell is important for tournament anglers and those not practicing catch and release. Several things can be done to help your fish remain healthy. Tournament organization has some hints they recommend to their anglers. They will work for everyone.
Operation Bass is extremely vigilant when it comes to protecting the very resource that our business is built upon, namely bass. All of our tournaments are, of course, catch-and-release. As a company, Operation Bass maintains a 98 percent live-release rate.
There are two sides of the coin when it comes to keeping fish healthy in a tournament. All of the procedures centering around the weigh-in are important. However, the bass spend a much greater amount of time in the Livewells of anglers than they do during a weigh-in. So, we're providing this comprehensive list of steps you can take to keep your catch alive and healthy.
I. Fill your livewell early in the day. Fill your livewell at your first stop. It will be cooler and better aerated than later on. Use water from open lake areas with good water quality.
II. Turn on the recirculating aerator immediately. Set your aerator switch to manual (continuous operation). Run the aerator all day. If your pump only runs on a timer, run it as frequently as possible.
III. Land fish quickly and handle them as little as possible. Grasp fish by the lower jaw and hold them vertically. Bend the jaw as little as possible. Wet your hands before touching fish. Support large fish with a wet hand under the belly. Use soft, knotless nylon or rubber landing nets. Don't allow fish to touch boat carpet When deep hooks cannot be removed, cut line five or six inches above the hook Don't keep fish out of water longer than you can hold your breath.
Use ice to cool water and slow your fish’s' metabolisms One eight pound block of ice (one gallon plastic jug) cools water in a 30-gallon live well about 10 degrees for three hours. Block ice melts more slowly.
Add one-third cup of non-iodized salt per five gallons. It helps maintain electrolyte balance and reduces the effects of stress. Use 'Live N Well' or 'Catch & Release' products to maintain metabolism.
Drain half of the livewell water every three hours and refill with fresh water to remove waste byproducts like carbon dioxide and ammonia.
IV. Care for fish while in Livewells. Fish in forward livewells are more likely to be injured from bouncing while traveling in rough water. Monitor livewell temperatures. When water temperatures are below 75 degrees, pump fresh water as often as your system will allow. When water temperatures are above 75 degrees, recirculate live well water rather than pumping in hot lake water.
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