Fishing scandal

[Walnut Beast]

I'm sure several have heard about this. Them boys are lucky that crowd didn't tear them apart 

https://www.tmz.com/2022/10/04/fishing-champs-cheating-scandal-prosecuted-felony-theft-stuffed-walleye-weights/

[firefighter ontheside]

Yes.  What a stupid thing to do.  Not only are they probably going to lose fishing privileges for a long time if not forever.  They are going to be prosecuted criminally and probably in civil court as well.  Sponsors will not be happy.  People that got second place in previous tournaments where they "won" will not be happy.

[bigblockyeti]

That's near my old fishing grounds, or probably the same depending on where exactly they were.  Lead weights and fish fillets, that's pretty stupid, I always heard you were supposed to stuff them with minnows.

[SawyerTed]

That's nothing but greed, arrogance and stupidity.  They are lucky not to have been hurt by the other anglers there.  

They absolutely need to be prosecuted.  My understanding is they have been suspected of cheating for some time.  That's why the other anglers officially challenged the weight this time. 

There's no telling what portion of their $300,000 plus was won by cheating.  To me it is equivalent to embezzling $300,000.

Can you imagine explaining your cheating to your parents, wife, children and friends, if you have any left who will talk to you?  

[YellowHammer]

One tournament I fished in required a lie detector test for the winners.  

I cheap metal detector would have caught this.  Maybe even live release tournaments should scan the fish as they are weighed.  

[WV Sawmiller]

Robert,

  As I read one of these yahoos had previously failed a lie detector test at another tournament and had been banned or on probation but apparently this one did not restrict them.

   I remember reading about a tournament one time where one contested noticed a tail of a 6-7 oz bream or shad in his fish and pulled it out to look at it then lost the event by 2-3 oz.

   I'm betting they have a lot of money they have to repay, are banned from tournaments for life. If I were the judge I'd pull their fishing license privilege in the state for life too but that is just me. They have done a lot of damage to the sport IMHO and should be punished accordingly.

[beenthere]

Add a rule to the contest that the winning fish will be dissected before being awarded the winner. 

Seems NASCAR race cars that win are checked very closely for meeting all the race car rules. 

[bigblockyeti]

Maybe it was gene doping or a Walleye that identifies as a Catfish?

[Jeff]

They were doing that at live release bass tournaments here a lot of years ago. I figured tournaments had eliminated that cheat years ago.

[JJ]

The Sebago Ice Derby (now discontinued) had big money prizes including new PU Trucks and boat packages, the winners had to pass a lie detector test about the fish.

Back in early 90's, I was in a local ice derby in Bangor ME on Pushaw, and biggest pickerel would get 50% of the $ from tickets sold.   The biggest fish at weigh in was 2" shorter but almost a pound heavier.   Judge started poking around the belly and fish coughed up a 3" long lead tire balancing weight.. :  The fisherman grabbed his fish and booked it out of there before the stunned expressions left our faces.

      JJ

[Ricker]

Back in the late 80's I knew a guy that was a diehard fisherman and he also had a man made trout pond behind the house.  Anyway, one spring I had heard he "won" a bunch of money and gear at a couple ice fishing derbies the previous winter, nothing within 50-75 miles of where we lived. I asked him about when I run into him. He was pretty proud of himself, I wasn't impressed, but said he wasn't going to do it again cause people might get suspicious. I told him that wasn't cool, pretty much was stealing.  Added him to the list of people not to be trusted around town.

[barbender]

I read an Outdoor Life article wear the writer suggested that the tournament scene is pretty rife with cheating in the first place, just that these two dummies were pretty sloppy. All I know was I was cracking up at the look on their faces when they started carving those sinkers out in front of everyone. 

 I have a bit of disdain for the "pro fishing guides" and tournament fisherman in my area. They act like they own the lakes. The local sporting goods stores have meet and greets with the guides like they are some kind of rock stars. Gag. So really I couldn't care less about these guys ripping off a bunch of overblown peacocks. I wish they'd all get off the lake🤷‍♂️ The real treasure is in the memes though, the one that shows the one cheaters face when getting caught and says, "that face you make when you realize you just went back to paying full retail for tackle" 😂😂

[Southside]

I think it's funny that everyone gets up in arms about a couple of lunk heads cheating a few grand in a fishing tournament, then go on to root for their favorite college or pro team that is valued in the billions, thinking those outcomes aren't fixed. Oh, OK, everyone plays honest when you add more zeros to the left of the decimal point. 

[rusticretreater]

Twice the weight of a normal catch. The amount of lead shown was stupid heavy and would be obvious to anyone who handled the fish.

I was taken aback at how the situation was handled and the physical danger the men were exposed to.  They may have been cheaters, but any physical violence would certainly lead to lawsuits, shutdowns of tournaments, etc.  Its a shame tarring and feathering is illegal(or similar practices), but that's the way it is.

Its pretty simple. Check all fish before they are weighed and cheaters are disqualified and escorted out right away.  They didn't even have a station for gutting of the fish.

[YellowHammer]

I used to fish bass club tournaments, I was always generally on fish and people would call me upon to fish with them as a "guest", and we would usually land in the money.  However, as cheating became more and more prevalent in the local bass tournaments, I got tired of the whole deal, and quit tournaments altogether.  

I've seen a wide range of it, and still see it when I go fishing, and I'm seeing more of it in the higher and higher money tournaments, the ones just under pro level.  

For example, I was fishing a few years ago and saw a game warden reaching into the water time after time, so I went to talk to him and he said he was checking for "staked" fish, ones where people would tie them up to submerged stumps and stuff, before the tournament, and then during the tournament toss their lure in there, hang it up, act like they had hooked a fish that had tangled them up, each down in the water to untangle it, and come up with the staked fish.  The game warden had found many such fish, and was pretty nonchalant about it.  Yeah, there's a tournament, yeah, there's going to be staked fish.

Just this year (and last as well) I saw scout boats out during tournaments fishing and as soon as they caught a fish, they would stop fishing, would get on their phone, make a few phone calls, and leave, and then 5 minutes later a vinyl wrapped tournament boat would roar in, fish that spot and only that spot and then leave.  I have seen that enough of it to be sick of it and the next time I will film it.

I personally have never seen weights in fish, that's pretty primitive and easy to spot and I am surprised people still do that.  

I can also say, that as far as I know, the big pro tournaments don't have cheats, they have different referees in the boats and observers that change out every day, and it is filmed.  Also, purposely killing fish to inspect them, at least in bass tournaments is not an option, they already have such an impact that would be unacceptable.  On lake Guntersville, the most tournament fished lake in the country, there is always a tournament going on, every day, and on some days, multiples.  Most landing ramps and pavilions even have fish slides built so that weighed fish can be slid down the wetted pipes directly back into the lake.  So fish survivability is paramount, simply due to public optics. 

Local and club tournaments are BIG money, and every tackle shop on the water hosts them around here, as it's easy money.  They get paid an entrance fee, the winners get a percentage, and the shop owner keeps the rest.  It's to their benefit to have a tournament every day.  Plus they sell tackle, coffee, and fuel.  Easy money.  So it's real tempting for the people fishing them, sometimes every day of the week, to try to up their percentage by cheating.  

I personally don't like the tournament scene anymore, but certainly respect the pros who don't cheat.  They are incredible fisherman.


  

[firefighter ontheside]

I don't like the idea of any tournament that doesn't require live release of the fish at the end.  It can't be good for a fishery to promote a hundred boats coming out to catch as many and as big as they can just to kill the fish.  Of course the fish will be cleaned and hopefully eaten, but day after day that is gonna destroy a fishery.

[SawyerTed]

I'm afraid Southside is more correct in his assessment than I want to admit.  

When money is in the line (pun intended) people get stupid.  

I quit fishing tournaments after the first two or three I tried.  It was too much work!

[SawyerTed]

The alleged cheaters have been charged with 3 felonies and 1 misdemeanor. 

[barbender]

Good enough for them, it fits for the amount of money and prizes they were trying to get away with.

[Southside]

Imagine the look on their faces when they get tossed into a cell with a guy who has "MS13 Death Dealer" carved into his forehead.

:D

[SawyerTed]

Their boat had been seized as well...

[barbender]

That's the rub...while I think they deserve punishment, I don't think it rises to the level of explaining "what are you in for?" to the aforementioned MS-13 guy😂

But with the pile of felonies they're facing, that could be a reality😬

[SawyerTed]

A thief is a thief whether it's a drug cartel gang member who steals $29,000 or a walleye fisherman who steals $29,000.

[YellowHammer]

The jaded old man cynic in me says if they don't confess they will get off or will plead down to the misdemeanor.  They were already accused perviously on another tournament and charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.

There are no witnesses seeing them stuff the fish.  They haven't admitted to anything.  It's circumstantial.  I would think a good lawyer would go a long way on this case.  

In this day and age of rampant criminality, I bet they get off with a fine and a slap on the wrist.  

I hope not, but I bet they they will. 

[SawyerTed]

Probably so Robert.  Their new names are mud regardless.

[JJ]

if the boat was won in a previous tournament (mentioned in video), then I hope it stays confiscated or goes back to the tournament sponsors.

      JJ

[Walnut Beast]

I don't think those guys are going to be hanging out at any bars where there is a fishing crowd 😂

[Jeff]

They can change their pronoun and enter the ladies division.

[YellowHammer]

I hope maybe it sets an example for other tournaments to be more vigilant.  Crooks will always be crooks, but good, well run tournaments should be able to weed them out.  I blame the tournament director as much as anybody, although he discovered the weights, it should never have gotten to that point.  

I read a book by Ray Scott many years ago, founder of BASS (I highly recommend it) and the modern bass tournaments as we know it.  Did you know he was an insurance salesman? The biggest obstacle he had to overcome in order to get quality bass fisherman to participate in big money "derbies" was the complete elimination and perception of cheating.

The first tournaments read like a who's who of professional fishermen everybody knows, such as Bill Dance, Roland Martin, Jimmy Houston, Tom Mann, Johnny Morris (Bass Pro Shops founder) and Forrest Wood (Ranger Boats) just to name a few.  All were great fisherman, and they would not participate unless a format was developed where cheating was impossible.  So Ray went to not allowing buddies to fish together, drawing different partners every day from a hat.  The lie detector test was instituted.  There were observer boats who wrote articles, etc.  They we also invitation only so suspected cheaters were not allowed to even enter.  

Anyway, my point is that cheating in tournaments is nothing new.  People have been stuffing lead weights and other fish from the very first tournaments.  Others snag fish, put them in pens, leave fish on stringers, or stake them out.  Now digital media lends itself to cheating, and recently a pro fisherman was banned for requesting information on a lake on Facebook after the shut off deadline was passed.  Some cheating examples are huge scandals, of the $100,000 Mike Hart fame, but many are not.  In his case, he attached lead weights to small treble hooks which would catch in the fishes throat and never make it to their stomach, so it the fish were cut open, no weights would be detected.    

A good tournament should be run to prevent this or it will continue to not only blacken the eye of tournament fisherman, but the institution of tournament themselves.  Since I have seen and heard my share of it, I can only hope it makes other tournaments more vigilant.

By the way, does anybody know how Junior Samples, of Hee Haw fame, got his start?  One of the biggest bass fishing lies of all time.  It made him famous.    

[Southside]

Could probably eliminate the cheating component by having the likes of Vicki Stark competing in those tournaments.  Might not be much fishing that happens either, but the cheating would stop.   :D

[SawyerTed]

Or Katherine Salome....

Might lead to other forms of cheating.  :D