Hey Jeff it is actually the opens that most concern us. Last year in May at Clear Lake we had 34 DOA's for 6% of the total catch. That is just unacceptable so BnT club officers decided it was time to take action to reduce this number. We send a contest report to DFG for every tourney we hold so they are fully aware of this. If we don't take steps to limit the DOA rate then DFG could stop issuing permits to the club. We are trying to be proactive in our approach to this instead of reacting when we get our permits pulled.

I did a bunch of research on water quality and how to maintain a healthier environment for our catch after last years open.
Oxygen is key. Warm water holds less oxygen than cool water. Drag bag livewells tend to pin the fish near the surface in the warmer most oxygen deprived water in the lake. You also can not aerate a drag bag or add fish doping products and ice to control the environment.

Clear lake in May can be a special place but those fish are already stressed by the spawn. The keys always has poorer water quality just because of the way it's laid out. Add to that the rising lake temps then pulling the fish from deeper/cooler water and placing them in an un-aerated livewell or a follow me bag on the surface and it is a recipe for disaster.

Myself, Paul and the rest of the BNT staff put a lot of thought into this and we also realize that most long time BnT members do a fairly good job taking care of their catch but to remain fair to everybody the current rule for 2008 is what we came up with.

Is it perfect for everybody? No. Is it better for the well being of the fish? Yes.

Unfortunately for the fisherman but fortunately for the fish I believe this rule will stand for all future BnT tourneys including and especially the opens.

As far as weight capacity goes I believe that all the kickboat manufacturers sandbag this big time, probably for liability reasons. Your Outcast boat should be able to handle an out of water livewell without too much trouble at all. Personally I think pulling around a drag bag is like dragging an anchor all over the place. It deters from the performance of the boat. I have also found that on very windy days the added weight is actually a bonus. It acts as a ballast to keep you from blowing around too much and definitely helps when rowing in the wind.

MT