What happens to all the bass fish caught during competitive bass fishing tournaments?
I’ve watched several bass tournament shows and those guys catch a LOT of fish for competition. What happens to the fish afterwards? It’s not like I see a lot of fish specials in restaurants and supermarkets after the event.


Can’t speak for all tournaments, but back home, (Louisiana) we had a fish fry, Cajun style.
Generally the fish are caught and kept in a live bait well, they are then measured and weighed(depending on the tournament) then returned alive to the water.
catch and release
They are required to be released alive after weigh-in under B.A.S.S. rules. If any fish are brought to weigh-in are dead or die before they are released the angler is penalized. The penalty varies, but involves reducing the total weight of the catch.
All tournaments even small local ones will release the fish alive back into the water. Most are ran back down to the lake immediately after they are weighed, others have a chute that the fish are placed on and they are released.The big tournaments such as BASS and FLW have live release boats that essentially are a big water tank on a boat. After weigh in the fish are placed into the tank. When the tank gets to a certain amouont of fish the boat will travel around the lake releasing the fish in different areas. All to support the conservation of the fishes health and to promote available fishing in the future.
lol, they release them back where they were, the fishermen need to mark the location of each fish so they can release back to their natural habitat.
They are released off the dock at the place where they are weighed…in any given body of water (Lake,river,resevoir) fish have the ability to return to the place where they were caught from-even it it was several miles away…you dont see any specials in supermarkets or restaurants because those places are supplied through people/companies with commercial fishing licences(mostly in nets)…selling fish caught via sport angling (that includes tournaments) is illegal in most jurisdictions.
Catch and release
Tournaments I fish in, throw half back, throw the rest into a pan of hot grease.
they carefully return them into the water where they where caught.
Check this article, look for Research Project A Big Part of BPS Open:
http://www.fishonlineca.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=167&Itemid=59
they release them back in the water they caught them in
I fish alot of BASS and FLW tournaments every year. Fish care is our main priority. We don’t want the fish getting injured any more than they have to. They are kept in airated live wells through the day and then released back into the lake after they are weighed in and are only out of the water for seconds at a time. Very few fish die and we are penalized by a lowered overall weight for each fish that dies, which insures that we make every possible effort to keep them alive and well.