Felixone Posted June 17, 2015 Posted June 17, 2015 I would have to agree with some of the sentiment here that this is completely blown out of proportion. Why you would ever involve law enforcement in a club dispute is beyond me. As far as I am concerned competing in a club tournament is not much different than hosting a poker game at your house. Sure the club has rules, but that is the business of the club. Law enforcement has much more important things to do than slap a cheating angler on the wrist, and in my opinion is a misuse of public services. This should be handled internally to that club, the guy should be kicked from the club, and not allowed to compete in further tournaments. End of story. Of course I don't belong to clubs, I don't fish competitively, and have no desire to ever do so. Based on what I have read here and on other sites it seems club tournaments are nothing more than a breeding ground for negative feelings amongst members. It just sounds like more hassle than it is worth. Quote
EmersonFish Posted June 18, 2015 Posted June 18, 2015 No, not the guy's attorney. Just an old fisherman who doesn't waste much time fretting over things beyond my control, and to put it bluntly, quite insignificant in the overall scheme of things. When I was a commercial lobsterman, I detested and still do detest those who violate the law by taking short lobsters and egg bearing lobsters. Having said that, I never got as worked up over those who did take those lobsters as it appears some have over cheating to win a tournament in which they did not participate. This is a bass fishing forum. Everything we talk about is insignificant in the grand scheme of things. And this idea that it's an internal club matter? I'd be fine with that if the law would turn a blind eye to the most natural consequence of such actions; but would it remain a club matter if I broke the cheater's jaw? Nope. That's assault. Cheating in order to win money is theft, or attempted theft if you're caught before you claims prize, or theft by deception, or whatever the charge is in that jurisdiction. Being in a club doesn't make it the Wild West. Quote
Super User gardnerjigman Posted June 18, 2015 Super User Posted June 18, 2015 Again, totally agree with you. I agree it's small time and yada yada yada, but you guys that are saying it's no big deal and such are living in a gray world... It's either cheating or not fellas... Be it cheating to win $100 or $100,000 makes zero difference to me. Easy to call it insignificant when it doesn't affect you. 2 Quote
jtharris3 Posted June 18, 2015 Posted June 18, 2015 How pathetic does someone have to be to resort to cheating at a tournament. Quote
Trek Posted June 19, 2015 Posted June 19, 2015 Hey cheat on your wife and let me know what she thinks about it. Weather it be a large pot tournament of a small club tournament. This guy took the time to screw his friends out of there time and money. We should make sure these guys don't come back. It's not like he is BS ing you where he fished. He took the time to steel from you. There is no place in bass fishing for this guy. 3 Quote
Super User Lund Explorer Posted June 19, 2015 Super User Posted June 19, 2015 No, not the guy's attorney. Just an old fisherman who doesn't waste much time fretting over things beyond my control, and to put it bluntly, quite insignificant in the overall scheme of things. When I was a commercial lobsterman, I detested and still do detest those who violate the law by taking short lobsters and egg bearing lobsters. Having said that, I never got as worked up over those who did take those lobsters as it appears some have over cheating to win a tournament in which they did not participate. Tom, I have to say that the problem of outright cheating in tournaments isn't nearly as widespread as it may appear, but I do know that tournament anglers take the subject quite seriously. There are also different levels of cheating. There are those who try to bend the rules. They bring in a fish that bumps just a little short, come in a few minutes late, or maybe push a no-wake speed limit. These infractions are usually taken care of in-house with preset penalties. Then there are the guys who flat out break the rules, such as this guy did. I've never seen law enforcement involved, but then in all of the tournaments I've fished in, there was only one where such an event took place, and the tournament director actually caught three individuals that day. One was caught with a fish basket, and the other two were caught using live bait. All three were told not to show up at the weigh-in, their names where given out to all of the attendees, and a letter was sent out to all of the area's other clubs detailing the infractions. This type of public shaming was the big penalty, as almost every other club or TD would make sure that the cheaters couldn't move their act to another group. By the way, my partner and I won that day and we were even checked by the TD. We were fishing one small sunken island within sight of the launch all day and the TD's wife mentioned to him that we hadn't moved for a very long time. Of course when the TD saw that we were parked on a large group of beds, he understood why. Had we lost that tournament and found out later that a cheater had stolen it away from us, yeah, I would've been peeved. It really wasn't about the money for us, it was the recognition. We were fishing someone else's home water, and on that day we came out on top. Our goal was to proof that we could beat the hometown boys in their own backyard. We wanted to return the next year, and hear the groans that they just might be fishing for second place. Tournament fishing is one of the few amateur sports that doesn't have a built in handicap system like golfing or bowling has. Nobody can sandbag for an advantage, and no individual or team gets to start the day with a fish or two in the livewell at blast off. I saw too many times in those other sports where the golfer with a maxed handicap shot a course record net score, or the bowler who threw a 900+ series when his handicap was added in. It always amazed me at how many people just accepted these things, and I got to the point where I refused to compete in either of those sports. But fishing started everyone out even keel. Maybe that is the reason why cheating is looked down on so much. Quote
Super User scaleface Posted June 19, 2015 Super User Posted June 19, 2015 I knew a buddy team that I always suspected of cheating . I knew them personally and thats the type of people they were. They won several tournaments the only year they fished and they were rookie bass fishermen . Another tournament angler I was close too thought the same thing. They quit tournament fishing after that year . Quote
Super User Fishing Rhino Posted June 19, 2015 Super User Posted June 19, 2015 Again, totally agree with you. I agree it's small time and yada yada yada, but you guys that are saying it's no big deal and such are living in a gray world... It's either cheating or not fellas... Be it cheating to win $100 or $100,000 makes zero difference to me. Easy to call it insignificant when it doesn't affect you. Where or when did I say it was okay for the guy to cheat. And you are correct. Steal a nickel or a million dollars and you are still a thief. There is nothing "gray" about that. This is a bass fishing forum. Everything we talk about is insignificant in the grand scheme of things. And this idea that it's an internal club matter? I'd be fine with that if the law would turn a blind eye to the most natural consequence of such actions; but would it remain a club matter if I broke the cheater's jaw? Nope. That's assault. Cheating in order to win money is theft, or attempted theft if you're caught before you claims prize, or theft by deception, or whatever the charge is in that jurisdiction. Being in a club doesn't make it the Wild West. True that everything we talk about is insignificant in the grand scheme of things. But I don't see the same "passion" in those discussions. Quote
BassResource.com Administrator Glenn Posted June 19, 2015 BassResource.com Administrator Posted June 19, 2015 Ease up kids..... Quote
Super User gardnerjigman Posted June 19, 2015 Super User Posted June 19, 2015 Where or when did I say it was okay for the guy to cheat. And you are correct. Steal a nickel or a million dollars and you are still a thief. There is nothing "gray" about that. I never said you said it was okay to cheat. I said that you are saying its no big deal (derived from the your use of insignificant and the "its a club tournament for crying out loud") The point I'm trying to make is rules are rules no matter the scenario. It's either always right, or always wrong. I don't care if it's in little Timmy's American Legion fishing derby or the freaking bassmaster classic. The event, no matter how small or "insignificant" it may be to you, doesn't determine that fact of right or wrong. 3 Quote
BassResource.com Administrator Glenn Posted June 19, 2015 BassResource.com Administrator Posted June 19, 2015 You're point's been made....by you and several others. Unless anyone has something significantly new to add to this thread, let's move on.... Quote
Super User Montanaro Posted June 20, 2015 Super User Posted June 20, 2015 I woulda left a nice littlw note for him... A terd in his basket? Quote
Catch 22 Posted June 20, 2015 Posted June 20, 2015 I used to fish t`s and enjoyed it. Lots of people outside the world of t`s would more often than not, mention the cheating that goes on. I really got tired of that stuff. The cheating has an impact even outside the fishing world. If someone is going to "one up " his friends, then where is the limit. C22 Quote
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