It's my understanding during a VCA tournament, weigh-ins do NOT start til after the tournament ends. If this is a fact I think it is discriminatory towards individuals with smaller boats, who have limited space or just enough space to fish comfortably without a monster livewell in the middle of the boat. Myself as well as others want the big cats returned to the water to grow and in good health but will avoid such tournaments with a weigh-in time that late only. Personally, I won't even check a fish in unless I believe it's a contender and checked in immediatly so it can be returned unharmed. My hat is off to Warren, John, and the rest of those individuals running the SHOWDOWNS for the simple fact that I'm sure they took this into consideration and will limit myself to that tournament.

I agree, I have a smaller boat also and dont have enough room to have a monster livewell to keep the big fish in. All the other tourneys do just fine using stringers,and having early weigh-ins. So if the VCA wants the turnout the Showdown gets,they need to look at the rules and regulations a little closer and make some changes. NOt everyone can afford a big 19 footer with a huge livewell in the center!!!

JUst my opinion !!

If you don't want to fish don't fish simple as that.The VCA has been around way longer than the Showdown and they do all they can to protect trophy cats.I personally don't like stringers.What do you do with the fish after you catch it and want to go weigh it in?Do you throw over in the boat with no water or do you just drag it along side of the boat.I am not knocking the Showdown because I fish as many cat tournaments as I can and I enjoy fishing them.I use a livewell system and have never lost a fish.I have kept fish for over 10 hours before.Just my opinion.

The livewell in my boat is big enough to handle a good sized cat and the areas I fish I can pretty much be at the usual launches in 20 minutes or less, however, the thought of the possibility of catching a contender cat say at 6pm and keeping it alive plus the fact of the stress level it would go thru for say another 6 hrs in a livewell. No one is going to tell me that doesen't cause some harm to the fish. I'm not telling anyone not to fish a VCA tournament but I do believe this is a factor to be considered.

Like I said I have kept large cats for over 10 hours before and when we went to weigh them in they were so green and strong you could hardly handle them.I am no fisheries biologist but I do know one and I will get his opinion on which is the better way to keep fish in general.I think the Showdowns should be aerated livewells only.Just my 2 cents.Use whatever works for you and go catch a HAWG.

Catfish are tough,we use to keep the in cabbage sacks laid over in the water and then turned them loose hours later good to go!

We appreciate all your comments and your points are well taken, both pro and con. Not all tournaments or groups do things the same way and I think thats good....it gives some variety and exposure to different methods, ideas, and procedures. No one group is 100% correct just like no one group is doing everything 100% wrong. I personally like seeing all the fish large and small. I hate coming in and finding out that a 40 or 50 lb fish was weighed, but it was weighed 3-4 hours ago and only a few people even got to see it....but that's just my opinion. On behalf of the VCA, we appreciate and thank all those that participated and hope everyone had a good time (dispite what the weatherman was saying!) We'd also like to thank the following area businesses that supported the tournament: Weston's Grocery, BobCats, Buggs Island Bait and Tackle, and Allen's Marine.
I'll have photos and results posted in the next couple of days on www.virginiacatfish.com.
Phillip Walker
VCA Kerr-Buggs Island Catfish Open Tournament Director.

I have looked at the website and seen the design of the 150qt cooler for the livewell.. Is this the average container that people use? Are there any other options to a fish holding livewell??

The cooler livewell is probably the most portable and simple to make. You can purchase one of those 150 qt. igloo coolers from Wal-Mart for about $55-60. Add to that a pump and some hose and fittings and you've got all you need. Others have adapted large troughs or bought commercial livewells. Some use alum. boxes and some use plastic truck tool boxes. I actually made mine out of plywood and fiberglassed it myself. I have a 19ft x 8' Polar so I built a larger one.. mine is 6' long, 18" wide, and about 14 inches deep....it takes about 40 gal or more to fill...but I can keep two large cats and bait in it with no problems. One thing about coming out to these tournaments is that you can see the various types of livewells folks use....and you'll be hard pressed to find two that are just alike. Hope this is helpful.

I hear all the time that cats are tough and you can keep them out of the water for hours and then release them unharmed....well, this might be true for smaller size cats but bigger ones are very fragile. A big cat can die in a second if proper care is not taken to keep them alive. Just because a fish swims off does not mean that it is unharmed. I wish all fish that were released lived...but studies have shown that this is not true. Factors such as lactic acidosis, how long the fish was fought, how long the fish was out of the water, water temperature, and many more can dictate the % of fish that will die during or after release. The simple fact is that the bigger the fish, the more oxygen it needs to survive. Summer months can be the most stressful for fish when they have higher metabolisms and thus they need more oxygen to survive. The reverse is true in the cold winter months. I always use the analogy of a 100 lb man vs a 300 lb man in a long distance race. In most instances the 300 lb man would need a longer time to recooperate from the race.

as far as the VCA goes....I use to be a member and a past president. I don't fish it any more but I am still very close friends with some of its members. One reason the VCA has never had open weigh ins is b/c everyone that is envolved in it fishes the tournaments. It would be very unfair to tell someone that they could only fish for a few hours b/c they had to get back to the ramp to weigh fish for people. Since the weighmaster is not paid anything it is an almost impossible job to find someone to do this. The goal of the VCA has never been to have 100 boat tournaments. It is a close knit group of catfishermen who meet on a monthly basis to fish all of the waters of the state of Virginia.

I think it is unfair to compare one organization to another and say that they must do this or that they must do that. All organizations are not perfect and each has its pluses and minuses. What's good for one person is not always good for another. I just want to say hats off to both organizations for promoting the great sport of catch and release fishing.

I strung a 50lb.fish last summer for a good portion of the night(didn't have the camera with me).The big girl was frisky all night long,actually pulling the corner of my boat down,on a regular basis.The fish was still in the mood,that morning as I posed with her,to try and whoop my big azz.If you string it right,check 'em frequently,leave 'em in the water,and release them at the first opportunity,the "300# man"will prolly hurt you if ya don't watch out!They are tough fish.......Dang thing 'bout tailwalked gettin' outta there!Just take care of 'em,and turn 'em back......never had one that I wanted to live,not make a wake leaving.
Anybody that cpr's big cats is alright in my book.....but let's not say that there is only one way to do this noble deed.MY .02

What race are you talking about Chris?

Hugh vs. Big Cat?

I think all of us that CPR are on the same page, but it is a fact that the true HAWGZ are much more fragile than the dinks. Just look what happened to the State Record after a brief fight--total exhaustion, and every effort was made to save that fish.

I try to run the "5 minute drill" when I catch any fish worth photographing, and am usually successful.

A couple important points to remember are to always burp the fish if it has a bloated belly (mostly fish that come from 40+ feet deep), and to weigh the fish INSIDE of a landing net, NOT hanging by its jaw. I have a net where the handle snaps out to allow this. Buggs Island Bait & Tackle and Bobcat's both sell them. These fish basically live in a neutral buoyancy environment, so when you hang one by its jaw its internal organs can become displaced which further stresses an already stressed fish.

As far as stringers are concerned, I know they can be used successfully if you are careful and know what you are doing (i.e. make sure the stringer is at least 8-10 feet long, no greater diameter than 1/4 inch, and not through the gills). I have kept five 25+ lb. fish alive for over 12 hours before on Santee, but at the end of the day, the bottom line is that fish held in aerated livewells have a much better chance of survival overall if they must be held. The Gold Standard, obviously, is to lip the hook out at the boat and never bring it in, but we all know that's just not realistic.

Sometimes you just have to do the best you can with the situation you are given, and even that may not be enough. The important thing is to at least try to preserve the monsters for future generations, or better yet, yourself another day.

I guess my previous post was not clearer...I'm not saying that one method of keeping a fish alive is better than another.(I prefer an airated livewell b/c I don't like putting holes in a fish but others prefer different methods). I was just trying to say that even though a fish swims off like a locomotive and seems healthy does not mean that it is unharmed. Studies have shown that a fish can swim off very healthy looking but wind up dead hours, or even days later from aftereffects of being caught. Now, I'm not saying that we shouldn't fish for them, but that bigger catfish are more fragile than we give them credit for. I saw a study one time on stripers that said that 20% of all stripers that are released eventually die. I understand that catfish are not stripers but this is just an example of a type of fish that seems healthy and unharmed when released.

Virginia/N.C anglers seem to be the best in the nation when it comes to protecting our catfishery. Thank god we don't live down at Santee Cooper. Locals down there tell me that the reason that they don't release fish is b/c they say that a released fish will emit sounds to other fish that tell them not to bite. I guess when I catch big fish after big fish in a particular hole it is because the fish I catch lost their tongues