Major League Fishing last year began penalizing anglers who allowed fish to hit the carpet of their boats after landing them. Now, the fish won't be allowed to touch any part of an angler's body except for his hands or forearms.
According to a release issued today, the new rule is aimed at eliminating the cradling of fish. The first of two new series of MLF shows will be filmed next week at an undisclosed location.
“We made a conscious decision early on that we would focus on two distinct goals," said MLF commissioner Don Rucks. "First, we want to be as careful as possible in the way our anglers handle fish, because we believe this is the right thing to do. To put it in simple terms, we want to take care of the fish as much as possible. Second, since Major League Fishing features the best anglers in the world, we have no problem asking that they abide by rules that are much tougher than rules enforced at traditional bass tournaments.”
The full rule regarding fish handling now reads as follows:
While landing fish, the fish cannot touch the carpet at any time during the process. If the fish comes unhooked from the bait and falls to the carpet it will be assessed as a violation. Excepted from this rule will be laying the fish on the carpet to remove a deep-set hook, “only after it has been properly landed without it touching the carpet”. Additionally, the angler is not allowed to cradle fish or allow fish that he is landing to touch his body. An angler cannot allow a fish to touch any part of his body other than his hands or forearms. From a rules standpoint, the body is to be treated the same as the carpet.
“All of the MLF anglers understand that the rules are going to be tougher, and there’s no doubt that this will take some getting used to," said Gary Klein, an MLF angler. "But we adapted before, and we’ll do it again. We all understand that when it comes to MLF, we're going to be held to a higher standard."
For additional information, click here.
