HOT SPRINGS - The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Black Bass Program recently completed a live-release trailer that can be used by local bass tournament directors to recycle their catch. The trailer’s primary purpose is to help recover and re-distribute tournament caught bass to different locations around the lake after a weigh-in. 

Over the last several years, AGFC fisheries biologists have noticed that certain boat access sites have become very popular weigh-in sites for bass tournaments, which has resulted in large numbers of adult bass getting stocked frequently at one particular site on a lake. Bass movement studies have shown that tournament-caught bass are typically not in a big hurry to move away from their release point after a tournament and may take a few months for the majority of them to move several kilometers away from their release site. This behavior could cause potential problems if forage and habitat is limited in the release area forcing the bass to move long distances after a tournament and for disease issues such as largemouth bass virus. 

The use of the new live-release trailer by concerned anglers and tournament directors will be instrumental in bass conservation efforts and will help reduce the stock-piling effect of bass at popular access areas on our lakes. The trailer was designed specifically for that purpose and is equipped with dual axles and a two-compartment fish-hauling tank. The trailer is also equipped with oxygen and all of the equipment needed to fill and aerate the tanks. The tanks are approximately 200 gallons each and can handle approximately one pound of fish per gallon of water. This means that it can hold a maximum of 200 pounds of fish per tank or a total of 400 pounds.

According to Kevin Hopkins, AGFC assistant black bass biologist, one of the goals in the Black Bass Program is to continue looking for additional opportunities to construct more live-release trailers. "We plan to make them available to tournament anglers at several more locations across the state.  We are really excited about this new bass conservation tool and we hope the anglers will take advantage of the opportunity to participate in this unique and very beneficial program,” Hopkins said.