CHEATING!

[EP]

This post may cause a little drama but I am going to post it anyway. The last three tournaments that I have fished! I have heard rumors of things taking place that would be considered cheating! Just Rumors. Snagging shad with a spoon then leaving it down there til you get bit, is just one example.

In the last year I have heard of to many examples of fisherman actually being caught cheating.

I don't mind losing money in a tournament, but I hate the fact that I may be throwing my money away to a cheater.

Am I just a sore loser or is this stuff really taking place?

After 15 years of fishing teams, I am seriously considering not fishing them anymore!

[Terry Smith]

It's to bad that A few people can realy bring down the sport. Cheating does happen in probably every big tournament. Be it running A 5 MPH zone fishing to close or keeping A snagged fish. Hell two guys in A tournament I fished last year on the Delta took A 5 pound fish from 2 guys in an Aluminum boat thinking that they wouldn't be able to catch them and another team saw what happened and had the guys turned in to the tournament Director and they got DQed. Don't let the FEW that cheat get you down. 99% of us are honest and are out to have A GREAT TIME!!!!


Terry

[brambo0311]

I would never do that in a tournement, but on lake havasu. I have ripped a trebble through a bait ball. You just free spool it after you hook one and let fall. The stripers inhale it. So I know that works. I wouldnt do that in a tournament though.

[brambo0311]

One other thing, I found a stringer on folsom a few years back. I was fun fishing with my daughters and they had a bunch of bluegill they were harassing in the live well. I let the bass on the stringer go and replaced them with blue gill. I thought it was funny, probably should have found out who was running the tournament and had those fish marked or something. I think cheating will bite them in the a## eventually though.

[NaCl]

The draw format virtually eliminates the cheating that might occur with pre-determined partners who are willing to break the rules.

.....NaCl

[David Rogers]

I like the fact a draw tournament eliminates cheating, I just fished Clear Lake this week end, I caught a 10 lb bass Sat eve at 6:00 PM went to a local restaurant and was still floating on air and yes bragging a bit, talk to a guy who worked there that is now 17 years old and he said when he was 12 he caught a 12 lb bass off his dock, I said wow that awesome!!! and then he said a tourney guy saw him and bought it from him for $45.00, my jaw dropped this kid did not have the slightest care about the fact it was cheating even after the fact and of course the tourney guy did not either. I took a guy fishing with me once that I met at Calaro res and than saw him again at Coyote bait and tackle, we got to talking and decided to hook up and go fishing at Clear Lake, while we were fishing we spoke to a guy fishing a tourney, he had only a few small fish and was frustrated, the guy I took with me caught a 3.5 lb fish right in front of him and insisted on giving it to the tourney guy, I told him you are nuts, I am a Christian and a tourney fisherman and I would never do that, after I dropped him off I never gave that guy a call again. Do people cheat?, yes they do but like some people have posted only a small percent, hopefully you are not fishing that small percent tourney

It won't stop me from fishing my one or two a year!!!

[MIKE TREMONT]

Some people are going to cheat or bend the rules no matter how cut and dry the rules are, it's some humans nature.

What can we do.

Don't listen to rumors, if your not sure they are counter productive and will hurt your fishing.

If there is a strong possibility someone is stealing in a tournament, the TD needs real evidence. Good luck with that, unless you have some real good surveillance equipment.

I believe they will get caught, one way or another.

[brambo0311]

That kind of brings up a point. I fish allot and have people in tournaments roll up on me and ask what they are hitting and what depth ECT.... So do you help them out, or tell them to pound sand. I only fish club tournaments so I dont know what the FLW and stuff say's. I always help them out, but I dont want to help anyone cheat if thats against the rules.

[brambo0311]

Do you think that cheater is sitting in his living room looking at that top stick trophy thinking about what a stud he is. Or do you think its burning a hole in his heart knowing he is a piece of sh#t. I hope it burns forever.

[Bill K]

I would not let it stop you from fishing tournaments, of your choice, but I would suggest you ask the T/O of the events you are in if they have had any cheating, etc. Then gauge your actions from that. It does occur and most are caught and proper action taken on them. But only the T/O and officials can give you the straight information, that is why I say talk to them and your events. Bill K

[MIKE TREMONT]

brambo0311 Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 3:40 pm Post subject: Re: CHEATING!

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Do you think that cheater is sitting in his living room looking at that top stick trophy thinking about what a stud he is. Or do you think its burning a hole in his heart knowing he is a piece of sh#t. I hope it burns forever.

Guess that depends. Some people can justify anything. Some may realize that they made a mistake, but would never admit it. They may never do it again, but it would take a real big man to come foward.
That poses a question, if one did see the wrong in his ways and did come fourth, what would most of us do, forgive and let them continue, or hang high?

[Brian]

It's to bad that A few people can realy bring down the sport. Cheating does happen in probably every big tournament. Be it running A 5 MPH zone fishing to close or keeping A snagged fish. Hell two guys in A tournament I fished last year on the Delta took A 5 pound fish from 2 guys in an Aluminum boat thinking that they wouldn't be able to catch them and another team saw what happened and had the guys turned in to the tournament Director and they got DQed. Don't let the FEW that cheat get you down. 99% of us are honest and are out to have A GREAT TIME!!!!


Terry

I remember that tourney very well. Was the last one I ever fished in that circut but that is another story. That was a very funny but sad thing that happend. Almost unbelievable unless you were there to see it happen. Those guys in that little aluminum boat caught that fish, the touney guys go over and say damn I've never seen a fish that big before can I hold it? They let them hold it and they take off with the fish. Unbelievable.


P.S. terry that was two or three years ago, not last year.

[basstrophy]

There is an easy fix, just make a polygraph test mandatory on all team tournaments. This will keep honest people honest and cheaters out. When big money is at stake you will have dishonest things happen, no doubt.


<*(((((><

[basshol]

quit your crying if u would have caught one more 8 pounder we would have walked away with it not taken third. four 8 pounders are better than 3

[EP]

Basshol, who are you? I know the teams that finished in front of me are on the level and both class acts. I am in no way acusing them of anything, they fished great! But there was a team that finished somewhere behind us that I was talking about.
And I had that last 8lber on twice and did'nt get it in the boat!

Basstrophy I actually watched a team in a double weigh-in at night, put there fish from the first weigh in back into there live well! I told the tournament director right away! That team took a polygragh test the next morning and passed!

[Mike]

I used to think it wasnt a big problem too. I thought maybe 1 out of 100 teams were cheating, but with some resent developments, I would say it is a bigger problem than I thought. I know of a couple teams on the Delta alone that have beed caught in the last year. They are no longer fishing, but nothing else happened to them. I know of a small group of guys that are watching a few suspect teams WITH a video camera, so the next time, we can press charges! It really sucks to come in 2nd or 3rd and know that the guys that beat you cheated!!

[Brian]

quit your crying if u would have caught one more 8 pounder we would have walked away with it not taken third. four 8 pounders are better than 3

What tourney are you talking about????????

[g-man]

Cheaters suck, they are scum! How proud does a cheater feel with his trophy/ winning? It seems to me that it would not be something to be too proud of. Losers!!!!! Earn your way through life, don't cheat your way through it!!! I'd love to catch someone doing it!

[Jeff Garmeson]

I'm with you on this one G-man... What personal satisfaction could you possibly have from winning if you cheated??? These types are soley in it for the money, not the love of the sport like the majority of us here...

[kytransplant]

I met a couple of guys that have a house out on an island in the delta. They proceeded to tell me that they caught an 8lber one day and gave it to a couple of tourney guys. They had no idea how much money was on the line and really didn't know what a bad idea it was until I told them. The tourney guys that took it are worthless, a terrible thing to do.

Also, back in Kentucky a couple guys were caught pulling bass out of a cage in the water during a tourney and prosecuted, not sure of what happened, it was quite a few years ago.

Just curious, if the cash prize is large enough, wouldn't it be considered a felony if caught? If not, it should be.....

[BassTramp]

Pro-Ams, BFL, Draw Tournaments, FLW Stearn, Western National Guard, these are formats that make it harder to cheat. I believe those of us that have been fishing Teams and all of the above formats have developed a mutual respect for each other. I do however caution pointing fingers at others who quite frankly are the cream that has risen to the top and whom win more then most.

I for one want to win so bad that I would never risk taking my “dog dayâ€

[Greg_Cornish]

I heard a rumor that Junior Samples from HeeHaw filled a LM with nuts and bolts and weighed it in at 22 lbs.

[g-man]

I heard a rumor that Junior Samples from HeeHaw filled a LM with nuts and bolts and weighed it in at 22 lbs.

Never go by rumors, always get facts! Nothing worse then calling someone a cheater with out knowing the truth! You can ruin a guys rep listening to rumors.

[Jim Conlow Sr.]

Be careful what you admit. I think Bluegills are considered game fish and as such are illegal to use as bait. I may be wrong but I think that is the law.

[Mike]

[quote="Jim Conlow Sr."]I may be wrong but I think that is the law.[/quote]



You are as usaul

[mac (Doyle McEwen)]

From what I have heard and read here on the forum, bluegill are legal bait on the Delta, as long as they are caught on the Delta..

mac

[bassaddicted]

I have to tell you there is nothing worse than driving home and wondering if you just lost the tourney to a cheater. Its not like you don't have enough to think about on the way home. Like " WHAT COULD I HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY". Use live bait And people who cheat don't have a heart so it won't ever affect them, they will just keep doing it. I say if you're caught you are DQ'd to fish any circuit EVER again, at least not in Ca. Maybe get a website listing those who do get caught. Then before entering a tourney you can look to see if those FOOLS are on it. If a life DQ is too much for the activists Just my cents

[Jim Conlow Sr.]

I have just read the bait regulations on page 11 of the state fish and Game regulations

It seems pretty clear that they name all of the natural bait that is legal in Calif.

I would sincerely appreciate if you can tell me where to find that it is legal to use Bluegills for bait.

One clue is that the fish and game categorizes them as sunfish.

I am not trying to be sarcastic or argumentive. I would just really like to know which opinion is backed up by the regulations

[CV]

True story.

I was fishing a tournament in Alabama in 2003. It was in Bass Federation Nationals.

The tournament was as tough as it gets. The bite sucked as hard as I've ever seen.
Guys were weighing in fish that were barely legal and some weighing as little as 10 oz. One fish weighed was less than 9oz.. It's difficult for legal 12" sized bass to weigh that little unless the fishery sucks that hard OR the fish were under the legal length and not measured properly and I can attest to the later being the case in a lot of the fish hitting the scales.
I watched a bunch of under sized fish go through the scales each day as the officials weren't doing their jobs because if they did some guys would have nothing to weigh in.

This tournament was the "coulda woulda" tournament of my life. I was plagued with missed fish the first two days, that cost me a trip to the Bassmasters. Amazingly though I was in contention for the Ranger Cup Owners award of a new 519 Ranger for the highest placing Ranger Cup certified Angler for the Western region, I was only a few ounces from winning that boat going into the last day.

My day wasn't so bad, I caught a few fish that would help me but I needed one more in my limit to push me forward just enough to win that boat. I was on a blade pattern the entire event and I hooked this fat fish and landed him. The fish was as fat as they can get for it's length. I put him on the scale and it was a full lb! (yeah, I actually got excited about that small fish, it was that tough).
I put it on a measuring board and this is where it all boiled down to me playing the game straight or not. The fishes tail was just short of being a legal length. I couldn't get it to cross no matter what I did, seriously just a couple millimeters short.
It was a sad moment because I had a feeling that if I took the chance and kept this fish it would easily pass by the officials checking there lengths as it looked like a stud for it's length.
I sat there a couple minutes thinking about what to do. The observer I had said "Go For It", my brain said "Go For It", but my damn gut said "Let it Go!". I let it go..

What did I get? I weigh in a small bag like everyone else and miss the Ranger by 4oz.. a handicapped guy wins the boat and my conscious is clear in the end, something far more valuable to me than money.

I'm a believer of Karma. Later that year I won the WON Western Bass Classic at a lake I never fished before and I think
good things happen to good people.

The ones that cheat to win will never know what it's like to actually win something. Could you imagine how lame these people are that can stand there in front of a crowd and say how they "won" the tournament when they actually cheated to do it, they are the bottom of the barrel.

Life is about choices and taking chances but cheating to achieve something will always cost you more than you"win".

[BassTramp]

CV,

Great Story!! I believe that is what charter is!! Victory after such honesty must have been fanatic!!

Thanks You

[Lugnut]

Not to open anything up. But has anybody heard rumors about a few Delta rats (big name folks but not going to mention them, not fair to them as they are just rumors) fishing out of barrels? I heard some tournament organization even flew a couple of different non-boaters back to the area just to find out if they were realy fishing the same barrels. Like I said I have just heard some rumors and wondered if anybody else has heard them as well? Please try and keep names out of replies. Or better yet PM me and that way we don't start anything.

[DeltaDan]

Not I .....


But if you think about it -- It would be pointless to fish out of Barrels on the Delta. The tide has a 4' -6' swing in either direction on a tide table.


The bass can freely swim in out ot that "barrel"


~~ Now if the bottom of the "said Barrel" where the Monstor Bass was baited in a Marie Callender's Honey/Chicken Pot Pie ..... I would STRONGLY object !! (even though it is legal bait according to the DFG Regs as "procesed" bait.



.......... Forget I said anything.









Good Fishing to you Bro ~!!
Dan

[Mike]

[quote="Lugnut"]Not to open anything up. But has anybody heard rumors about a few Delta rats [i][b](big name folks but not going to mention them, not fair to them as they are just rumors)[/b][/i] fishing out of barrels? I heard some tournament organization even flew a couple of different non-boaters back to the area just to find out if they were realy fishing the same barrels. Like I said I have just heard some rumors and wondered if anybody else has heard them as well? Please try and keep names out of replies. Or better yet PM me and that way we don't start anything.[/quote]



Yes.