Fishermen caught cheating at Ohio tournament sentenced to 10 days

[Glenn]

I know of several locals that consistently place at the top of club, regional, and open tournaments.  Makes you wonder.

[12poundbass]

Fishing tournaments are a form of gambling, and gambling is a form of addiction. When it comes to addiction, all bets are off! 
 

It’s very unfortunate, but it’s reality. These two have cheated their way outv of hundreds of thousands of dollars (unproven of course). 
Their lives are ruined. All because of greed and arrogance. 
 

Karma is a *****! 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

You got to hand it to modern day elite (same type of money these two crooks swindled folks and sponsors out of) Bass tourney circuits.   

It's not easy to cheat in a major Bass tourney anymore I'd imagine with lie detectors, monitors, many times camera crews.....just way more eyes and scrutiny it seems on Bass fishing tourneys.   I read in the early days of Bass folks were caught stuffing weights though.  

 

I'm not a tourney guy and this is just based on TV observations. 

[bish0p]

The cheaters better check their tow vehicle every time they hook up the trailer.

[Woody B]

I suspect this stuff happens way more than people think.   It would be hard to pull off at a major tournament, but I suspect the local and club tournaments are rife with cheating.   

[choppertime]

1 of the true meanings of lead poisoning!!! Maybe the police were present to keep them from getting a massive ASS beating,which they deserve!!!!

[T-Billy]

11 hours ago, Glenn said:

I know of several locals that consistently place at the top of club, regional, and open tournaments.  Makes you wonder.

Maybe they're just good?

[gim]

10 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

Maybe they're just good?

I would say that’s much more likely than them being cheaters.

 

As usual, there’s a few rotten apples mixed in that makes the entire demographic look bad. I know a fair amount of walleye tournament anglers, including my own parents. They are not cheaters. They follow the rules and so do their competitors. Although, their format is catch, measure, and release which I prefer over bringing a bunch or dead fish to a weigh in.(@T-Billy maybe this would be your kind of tourney with all those floaters you find out there LOL).

 

To sit there an say that the majority of anglers doing well on a consistent basis are cheating is flat out wrong.

[MN Fisher]

38 minutes ago, gimruis said:

To sit there an say that the majority of anglers doing well on a consistent basis are cheating is flat out wrong.

It's like any other competition - a few bad apples give the whole group a bad rep.

[Deleted account]

Amateurs!

-Tungsten powder

-Partially digested stomach contents

-Large syringe 

 

 

[scaleface]

It would be wise for Tournament officials at all levels invest in an inexpensive Garrett Pin Pointer metal detector and randomly check fish

[TOXIC]

I thought this might be enough of a deal to push for length vs weight as a way for scoring but then I remembered there have been instances of kayak cheaters in that format as well.  I also don’t think length is a fair measure since I’ve seen a lot of long skinny fish and short heavy fish.  I just think length is more arbitrary.

[Deleted account]

36 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

I also don’t think length is a fair measure since I’ve seen a lot of long skinny fish and short heavy fish.  I just think length is more arbitrary.

 

Not really, as long as it's clearly spelled out, the desired trait that counts towards winning can be anything they want it to be, weight is just the most common, and the one we're used to. I thought keep alive, length, slot was very silly when FLW came to the salt,  but the checks cashed just as good as with the kill and weigh tournaments we were more accustomed to.

[TOXIC]

19 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

 

Not really, as long as it's clearly spelled out, the desired trait that counts towards winning can be anything they want it to be, weight is just the most common, and the one we're used to. I thought keep alive, length, slot was very silly when FLW came to the salt,  but the checks cashed just as good as with the kill and weigh tournaments we were more accustomed to.

I guess you’re right, you could use anything as a benchmark to differentiate between fish, width of tail, size of dorsal, etc.,? but the only other way to identify a “trophy” fish I’ve seen is with musky and that is also length.  The most universal, even in salt, is weight.  I have a hard time getting past that. ?

[gim]

Plenty of tournament formats use length now. Most walleye tournaments do it, with an immediate release. Kayak bass tournaments do it. @Bluebasser86 has chronicled his tournaments extensively here. Muskie tournaments have always used it. Weighing these dead fish is an outdated format. It’s not like people specifically target heavier fish in a weight format. It’s the same rules for everyone participating.

[T-Billy]

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

@T-Billy maybe this would be your kind of tourney with all those floaters you find out there LOL

How did I know this was coming? ?

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

I would say that’s much more likely than them being cheaters

Same here. There's some seriously good sticks out there who have the talent, but aren't inclined to chase the national circuit for various reasons.

[basscrusher]

Most red drum tournaments are by length...that allows you to measure over slot fish then release.  There are a few exceptions you see on tv sometimes,  the ones that copy the bass weigh in format.  Those are in the minority. 

Also, worth mentioning this same thing happened (weights in fish) a few years ago on a pretty serious bass circuit,  I think in Texas.   Well documented many places,  including here, I think.  So no, this isn't just a walleye thing.  Just one more reason I stopped tournament fishing.

[SWVABass]

As the old saying goes…. Money is the root of all evil. I wonder if tourney fishing would have the draw if it were free and the only thing you got was a cheap pot metal trophy?

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Imho, major Bass fishing circuits like the MLF and BASS will never have a format besides weight.   It's like if MLB decided to change how they measure homeruns or something.

 

When you don't account for girth in Bass fishing, you are truly only getting half the story and size of the fish.  

 

 

[gim]

26 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Imho, major Bass fishing circuits like the MLF and BASS will never have a format besides weight.   It's like if MLB decided to change how they measure homeruns or something.

I don’t disagree. However, there is a significant difference in your statement here because one of them still does a live weigh in and another does an immediate release. BASS wanted to have an event at Mille Lacs in September just like MLF did, but the Minnesota DNR rejected it because of their format.

[12poundbass]

This story has exploded! TMZ, NY Times, Fox News, just to name a few have picked the story up. 
 

I wonder if they have full time jobs, and if they’ll keep them?

[Revival]

Allegedly the same guys have been caught cheating before and one of them also failed a lie detector test.  Any truth to that?

[AlabamaSpothunter]

1 hour ago, 12poundbass said:

This story has exploded! TMZ, NY Times, Fox News, just to name a few have picked the story up. 
 

I wonder if they have full time jobs, and if they’ll keep them?

Lol, I knew the story went viral when it was being posted on my gun forums....dudes are finished and rightfully so.   I just hope they have to pay some type of restitution to the victims, of which there are many.

[SWVABass]

I would also think that this could probably be used for the state to take away fishing access for these two. Pretty sure that stuffing fish with lead makes it unable to eat and could be considered wanton waste (spelling).

[NYWayfarer]

8 hours ago, Deleted account said:

Amateurs!

-Tungsten powder

-Partially digested stomach contents

-Large syringe 

 

 

Newspaper article I read on the subject said cheaters use ice. Melts and leaves no trace.

 

I watched the vids and I do believe if this happened in other states like NY, NJ and some areas down south those guys would not have made it to the parking lot…