Cheaters!!!

[Bass Hunter12]

I went fishing the other day when I came upon a floating jug out in the middle of the lake at first I thought it was just trash someone threw out but, upon closer inspection I saw a rope tied to it. My first thought was someone was jugging for catfish. So out of curiosity I pulled up the rope. When I finally got the rope pulled up I was surprised to find a cage with bass in it. I found 3 nice size bass. this made me angry when I found this so I releasd the bass, and then I took the cage home with me. I was wondering if anyone else has seen this happen on there waters?

[abelfisher]

Was there a tournament going on that fay on the lKe?

[nwgabassmaster]

No, never had that happen.  Most times, the jugs floating around are for catfish.  

Very sad that someone would do that.  

[Bass Hunter12]

On this lake there are tounaments 4out of the 7 days of the week everyweek from March through October On Tuesday, Thursday ,Friday, Saturday

[bixbybasspro]

Dissapointing to hear...It happneds probalby more than u think :-/ :-/ :-/

[Will]

You should leave the jugs and fish alone, immediately contacting the Wildlife and Park officials to take care of business.

[Marty]

That's how the cheater was caught and who is now banned from BASS tournaments. Someone reported it, the officials tagged the fish and waited to see who weighed in the tagged ones. It wasn't as obvious as jugs, though

[Rattlinrogue]

You should have let the game and fish authorities handle them,but you did the next best thing.Those "champions "will have a big surprise waiting for them.

[KYbass1276]

I would still contact the fish and wildlife dept to tell them what happend for the simple fact that they will be aware there is something going on out there.  And for future referance I would not even have touched the thing I would have called as soon as posiable to get them out there So they could have monitered it and caught the slimebags who put it there, taking it out releasing the fish and taking it home isn't going to stop them. The only way that will happen is for them to get caught in the act. And I'm not real sure about this part but was it a fish trap or just a cage someone built to hold fish they caught both I'm sure are illegal but I talked to a game warden here where I live because I seen them with a trailer load of fish traps I didn't know what they where then I was young but after him telling me what they where he said never never get caught in possesion of a fish trap empty or with fish in it. The reaon I say this is what if you where seen by a game warden with the trap on your boat there is no way of proving that it isn't yours and that you really did release any fish in it. You never know what could happen fish trap or cage you never know who is going to pop up on you at anytime I would hate to see someone honest get nailed because they thought they where doing the right thing which you was doing the right thing but in someone else's eyes might have thought different

[Minuteman]

Jeez, that would take some kind of stupid to try and cheat like that. I read where people found cages underwater and had someone hide in the woods nearby and took pictures during the tournament to catch the cheaters. Having a big Buoy marking the spot is really dumb.

[janalon]

It's hard to believe that people would stoop so low.

[DDbasser]

Basshunter12,

Not sure what State you live in, but most states have laws against cheating in bass tournaments.

If you truly believe this to be the case(that it was a holding cage for a cheater) which sounds pretty obvious from your post. Then I would call the local DNR and alert them to the fact that this is going on.

BTW never remove anything like that, even though you were doing what you thought was right it only implicates you. Like was said above, mark it mentally and immedietly contact the authorities.

I've never understood how someone could cheat to win and be proud of it.

Scumbags like that should be hung publicly!!!!!!!!!!

[Cajun1977]

which state doesnt have a law against cheating in a tournament?    im sure every state has laws

[SneakySnook]

I've seen this happend in saltwater before but never freshwater. Guys do this in Florida in the Gulf of Mexico for grouper. Not legal at all.

[fishingrulz]

man that is stupid i would have put big rocks in it

[Guest avid]

Don't assume that this was guys cheating for a bass tournament.  People "jug fish" for catfish, carp, and I guess anything else that swims.  Alot of them are either meat fisherman, or people who want to kill as many "bad" fish as they can.

I agree that calling fish and game is probably  the best thing to do, but I have a hunch I would have done what BH12 did.

Those guys are NOT going to be happy about loosing that cage, plus they may figure  that they reported as well. Hopefully it'll teach em a lesson.

[Bass Hunter12]

It is very illegal in my state to do that in a bass tournament. I was going to just cut the rope and toss the cage over but, I didn't want to litter the lake with a metal cage. Next time I will call TWRA and, report it

[Brad_Coovert]

As tournament fishing grows along with prizes, cheating will happen more often.  I used to seldom hear about it happening, but now I hear about it several times a year.

Brad

[GobbleDog]

That doesn't sound good. It does appear to be tournament cheaters.

Personally, I wouldn't have touched the jug to begin with. And I definately wouldn't steal somebody's fish and cage.  Stealing is stealing... you can't justify it by assuming the owner was a cheater. For one thing, you might be wrong. And even if you're right, you're still taking property that doesn't belong to you.

If you're all that upset about it, report it.

[RoLo]

Personally, I wouldn't have touched the jug to begin with. And I definately wouldn't steal somebody's fish and cage.

Gobbledog is correct.

Once you remove the cage you are guilty of theft and can no longer inform the authorities.

If it were me, I would have pulled the cage, released the bass and submitted the GPS coordinates

to the DNR. There is nothing the offenders could say about the missing bass

without further implicating themselves.

Roger

[Matt Fly]

Check state laws, its not illegal to put fish in cages.   It appears fishy to be in the middle of the lake.    There are numerous live cages in Tx around peoples docks.   Most I have seen are floating Pvc cages.   They might have been fishing for crappie and caught a bunch late in the night and a large hold cage ensure they won't die and can be cleaned later.    My dad used to put large cats in these 5x5 ft holding nets and keep them in there for 2-3 weeks before cleaning, gets the fat off fish by holding for periods of time.    

The placement of the cage is suspicious, but if this was Tx, the only law broken is the theft of the cage that was stolen.

Every thing else is assumed, and no proof.

[ball_coach_1]

Hmmm...nothing worse than STUPID cheats.

A jug???  My goodness.

Agree with what a lot have already stated...next time leave it be and contact the authorities immediately, it is so much better to let those be caught by the law red-handed.

[bassmasta7]

Check state laws, its not illegal to put fish in cages. It appears fishy to be in the middle of the lake. There are numerous live cages in Tx around peoples docks. Most I have seen are floating Pvc cages. They might have been fishing for crappie and caught a bunch late in the night and a large hold cage ensure they won't die and can be cleaned later. My dad used to put large cats in these 5x5 ft holding nets and keep them in there for 2-3 weeks before cleaning, gets the fat off fish by holding for periods of time.

The placement of the cage is suspicious, but if this was Tx, the only law broken is the theft of the cage that was stolen.

Every thing else is assumed, and no proof.

Yeah, but it was bass in the cage.