Battle of the Bays Prizes...

[Saba Slayer]

There are 3 divisions in the Battle of the Bays tournament for next Saturday.

The CPR Bass division is won by submitting photos of the 3 longest Bass on your hawg trough measuring board. These photos must be submitted before 1pm to be eligible. You can use the iAngler app or a digital camera. If you have a smart phone I urge you to use it for your submissions as the digital camera method will slow the judging down at the end of the day. Please bring a USB cord to download your camera photos or remove your SD card...please only submit your three best fish on the digital camera. On the iAngler app you can submit as many photos as you like and the app will automatically give me your top three fish at the end of the event. You can also check the leader board at any time and see where you are in the standings.
1st place will get a $500 gift card from Dana Landing
2nd Place will get a $250 gift card from Baja Fish Gear
3rd Place will get a $125 gift card from Turners
4th place will get a gift card from Promar/AHI
The Biggest Bass will get a Bucket full of selected Hookup Baits.
The Biggest Spotty (or Calico if no legal Spotty is caught) will get 2 One Cool Tuna CNC Irons.

The Biggest Fish Side Pot will win 80% of the cash collected the morning of the event. It is $20 cash to join the Big Fish Side Pot and you will pay as you check-in. At Mission Bay there was a $330 payout along with the Savage Gear card to the biggest Halibut.
There is a $100 Savage Gear gift card for the heaviest Halibut caught. If no Halibut is caught the $100 card will go to the heaviest fish caught.

The Rockfish division will be won by the heaviest bag of 3 Rockfish. As with the Biggest Fish Side Pot you must be in line at the weigh-in before 1pm to have eligible fish to submit.
The heaviest bag of 3 Rockfish will win a Penn 2 speed Fathom reel.
The heaviest Rockfish caught on an AHI Squirt rig or an Assault or Live Deception jig will win a $100 selection of AHI jigs. You must photograph the Rockfish with the jig or Squirt in it's mouth as proof of catch....the fish will be weighed at the weigh-in to decide the winner.

PLEASE use a decending device to release small rockfish. The DFW rules do not allow the waste of fish so PLEASE do not discard your small fish...either keep them or try to release/decend them. PLEASE contact me if you need some additional info on rockfish release.

ROCKFISH BAROTRAUMA INFO:

CCA CAL strongly urges the use of a release device for rockfish if you would like to participate in the Rock Cod division of the Battle of the Bays Tournament.

For more information on Rockfish barotrauma please go to this NOAA web page…
http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa....kfish_down.pdf

WHY ARE ROCKFISH PRONE TO
PRESSURE-RELATED INJURIES?
Every rockfish has a gas-filled organ called a swim bladder that allows the fish to gently control its buoyancy. By deflating its bladder, a fish can descend more easily. By inflating it, its ascent is assisted. When a fish is caught and reeled in, this mechanism for moving vertically in the water column is thrown out of whack.
Depending on the depth at which the fish was caught, a fish’s air bladder may swell so much its stomach is forced out its mouth. The eyes may bulge and other organs can be injured as well. Fish suffering from pressure-related injuries are said to be experiencing barotrauma (pressure shock). Without intervention, a fish with barotrauma may die from the progression of its wounds or succumb to temperature shock or predators.
“Floaters” – overly inflated fish that cannot re-descend on their own – are especially easy targets for sea gulls and sea lions.

TOP FIVE REASONS TO
SEND’EM DOWN:
Why should you care about helping a released fish return to depth?
1. Floating fish are a waste of the resource.
2. Some populations of prohibited species, such as canary and yelloweye rockfish, may take decades to rebuild.
3. High-grading is illegal and selects for smaller fish in the gene pool.
4. Venting fish may cause more harm than good.
5. Re-descending fish can increase their chances of
survival.
Catch-and-release practices work best when you can help with fish survival. Helping fish get back down is good for the resource and the sport.

VENTING:
A sharp needle or steel cannula is used to puncture a fish’s inflated swim bladder.
The California Department of Fish and Game does not currently encourage venting as it can cause serious injury to fish and angler. You may accidentally puncture the wrong organ and/or introduce infection. Even when done properly, venting damages a fish’s swim bladder.

According to published results of a Sea Grant study led by researchers at Cal State Long Beach:
The degree of barotraumas in a fish is not a reliable predictor of it’s survival. The most significant predictor of post-release survivorship is the time a fish spends at the surface.
In experiments with several species of common Southern California rockfish, 83 percent of fish caught at depths between 217 feet and 350 feet, survived when returned to depth within 2 minutes. The odds of a fish dying following recompression nearly doubled with every ten minute increase in time at the surface. Tagging and recapture studies showed some released fish were still alive 1.5 years later.