New thread about cheating

[Tobe]

I can tell ya right now that there are a lot of tournament anglers that will not put up with being video taped in a team tournament!

Anglers put a great deal of time and money into finding winning patterns and will not take kindly to the idea of all of their spots and techniques are on some video tape for who knows who to watch.

Just my 02

[Guest]

THat is a great point - And I think you are right!

[Jim Conlow Sr.]

I think it is a step in the right direction
I will start talking to the others, and will keep you posyed on the results

[Andy Giannini]

Regarding the polygraph issue, the Rio Vista Bass Derby had a bit of a problem with that a few years ago.

The guy that had the big striper, failed the polygraph.

He theatened to sue everybody, wrote letters to the editor, said the false polygraph was ruining his reputation etc.

On the entry form, it stated simply that the winner must pass the polygraph to claim the prize. The boat was awarded to the runner up who passed the polygraph.

I thought it was great!

I am not talking about polygraphs being good in court or whatever, they just made collecting the prize contingent upon passing it. So if you stink at polygraph exams, don't fish the derby!

.02 A.G.

[Otay Michael]

I can tell ya right now that there are a lot of tournament anglers that will not put up with being video taped in a team tournament!

Anglers put a great deal of time and money into finding winning patterns and will not take kindly to the idea of all of their spots and techniques are on some video tape for who knows who to watch.

Just my 02

I don't know, it would not show spots too much as it aimed down at the anglers. Besides, it would be for the tourney director's eyes only.

[Gary Dobyns]

to submit to a poly test also. As I recall you refused to take one once before. The poly test has been around for as long as I have been fishing tournaments(about 25 years). It has to be there. There are more cheats on the directors and owners side than anglers in the tournaments. Rigging draws and skimming option pots. Now here is a good example of why this is something that should not be the main topic on this forum all the time. Last year this same bullshi* was on here and a fisherman walks up to a crowd at Russo's and starts in on cheating. He tells us it is so bad that the day before he went fishing and in his travels from Old River to Big Break he found 6 sunkin dog carriers full of fish. All miles apart in different areas. He found 3 the week before also. I don't know about you guys but I have NEVER found one. That's all this idiot wanted to talk about and he knows it's a problem because he read about on this site. Shi* stinks when stirred. Has someone been busted lately for cheating???? Not that I have heard about. Korny you need something to talk about???? Why don't you figure out why your Delta numbers are so low. Don't stick your head in the sand. I have a very good memory on some things that you have pulled. Also, how many of you Philadelphia lawyers are tournament anglers. I don't mean fishing once or twice a year, I mean tournament anglers. Korny, you always bring this kind of shi* up. Another black eye, just what we needed.

[Otay Michael]

Gary, that is a perfect example of why a video recorder would work it seems to me (and/or automatic poly's). It would not be needed to show the whole area fished, only the boat and a couple of feet around it. It would be to show if you pulled up and took fish out of something like that. That is what some guys in Texas were found out to be doing, and they had won a lot of money and boats over quite a time period. Don't know how they eventually got caught.

[kb]

Press Release from _______________________ (you guys fill in the blank)

PROFESSIONAL BASS FISHING HAS SUNK TO NEW LOWS

In an effort to curb cheating in the fast risiing sport of professional bass tournaments anglers will now be required to have working video cameras recording their every move during their fishing day.

Have dishonest anglers sunk so low that every weekend on your local lake someone is committing fraud with their closest friends and peers cheering them on? Do major boat, motor and tacke companies provide equipment to these criminals so they pursue America's favorite pastime?

Unidentified sources close to tournament organizers and popular webpages have told us they are now outfitting tournament boats with on-board cameras to watch every move an angler makes in his boat during the day. "These cameras and a polygraph test will be given at each of our events" said one of directors of 169% Bass. WE will review over 1600 hours of tape from our 200 boat field at this weekends tournament and before any of the money will be given out we will know for sure there is no cheating going on in 169% Bass. It should take our staff of two people roughly 3 1/2 months to view all of the tape and at $15 per hour we have held over $16,000 from the entry fee's to cover these expenses but here at 169% Bass we think it is worth it to stop the cheating in Bass Tournaments.

There have been roughly 6 confirmed cheating instances in the past 25 years of tournament angling and none of these individuals have been brought to prosecution as of this print date and many of them are still competing today.

"If a guy wins more than three tournaments on any given lake in one year he has to be cheating" said one disgruntled loser as he left the launch ramp. His name was covered on his logo shirt in an effort to avoid any future problems.

When will professional angling be stopped???? When will fishing go back to the days of Mayberry and a cane pole and a bobber? Do we really need high stakes, high powered angling on our public waters? Do our tax dollars really need to pay for these criminals to use our state and federally ran lakes?


NOW THIS IS WHAT THE PRESS RELEASE COULD LOOK LIKE AND THIS IS EXACTLY THE POINT GARY WAS MAKING. YOU GUYS CAN'T COUNT ON ONE HAND THE NUMBER OF TIMES ANYONE HAS BEEN CAUGHT AND THE NUMBER OF CHEATERS IN OUR SPORT IS VERY LOW.............LET'S NOT LOAD OUR OWN GUN AND PUT IT IN OUR MOUTHS JUST TO SEE IF WE CAN MISS OUR BRAINS!!!!!

DO YOU GUYS REALLY THINK CAMERAS WILL WORK..........GIVE ME A BREAK. 8 HOURS OF COOCH SCRATCHING HIS A$$ AND ZIGGY DOING THE YAMAHA HUG WITH HIS FLAG SHORT DOWN AROUND HIS FLAG COLORED SHOES...............I THINK NOT!!!!

IT'S DAMN NEAR MARCH, THE BASSMASTERS CLASSIC IS THIS WEEKEND, IT IS TAKING 40 POUNDS TO WIN THE DELTA, 15'S ARE BEING WEIGHED IN AT PEDRO, CLEAR LAKE IS OFF THE HOOK, FOR CHRISTS SAKE FIND SOMETHING GOOD TO TALK ABOUT!!!!!!

OH AND GARY THERE ISN'T ANY POLYGRAPH COMPANY THAT WOULD RISK THEIR HIGH PRICED MACHINES BY HOOKING THEM UP TO A TOURNAMENT ORGANIZER............

[mac (Doyle McEwen)]

Excellent Kent..However I think you may have miscalculated the viewing time required to check 1600 hours of tape..It would require roughly 67days of straight viewing, but you know they don't want to pay the overtime, so it would be limited to 8 hours a day, and that makes it come out to a little closer to 6+ months..Yep, them cameras are sure gonna make things better..Just not sure who they are going to make it better for, other than the camera salesmen and the tape producers..It is a novel idea, well ahead of its time..

mac

[kb]

No Mac I can figure out a payback...remember I said that was a staff of two over 3 1/2 months..........I am right on the money and now it will take 40% of the payback 200 boats at $200 to pay to review the tapes........60% Bass will be the most honest circuit out there though and look for your check 4 months after each event. Now how many events do they hold each year

[Otay Michael]

Why would they watch so many of your guys that get skunked, couldn't they skip those? And why watch any but the top three? Don't understand, help me out here.

And with fast forwarding of a shortened recording in the first place, you could watch 8 hours in 1/2 an hour or less!!!!

[Jim Conlow Sr.]

One of the first things we do when we stop to fish is to remove the rear light. And many anglers have single consul boats because it makes some types of casting easier.

[Guest]

Camera's and polygraphs are never going to be the final answer.

The final answer is.... Everyone fishing needs to keep their head on a swivel and their eyes open.

When San Diego had its little mishap last year, one very intelligent angler kept his eyes open and saw the cheating... then he took it a step further and got his own camera out and pretty much closed the case on his own.

Simply put - we need to police ourselves.

True Story -
When I was in college I played for the golf team. (Cal Lutheran University) and we played Occidental College with one particular player (Eric B.) that everyone in the league thought cheated. Well I was automatically paired with him and I not only played my own ball but, I followed him to every ball he hit. Made sure he played it as it lied and that he didn't cheat. Sure I made it a point to let him know I was going to do this which even deterred (sp?) him from cheating even more. Well a guy with a 70.3 average shot 81. Not sure if it was because he couldn't cheat or because I got in his noggin... but, the fact is he didn't cheat that day.

The reason I bring this story up is that we need to do the exact same thing.. If you suspect a guy of cheating.. First off, tell him/her - (Not the entire world on this site)

Now in a more general approach, if you are fishing and you suspect something "fishy" going on.. don't hesitate to call them on it right there! For example: You see someone foul hook a bed fish - ask 'em... tell them what you saw.. right there on the water --- I don't suggest fighting about it... but, talk about it. If you have a problem - get on the phone call the director right then. Sure you'll lose some valuable fishing time but, its a lot easier figuring out exactly what happened immediately rather than back on the dock hours later.

Another True Example -
A couple years ago I was fishing a tournament at Lake Cachuma and a team accused another team of fishing inside a buoy line. Well the buoy line and blown down and was all on shore. The teams argued and the director brought in the lake security to help make a decision and a decision was made that there was no buoy line. It got a little ugly and some foul words and threats were made. However, if the team that saw this other team in what they considered to be out of bounds would have just motored over and said, "hey you can't fish in there..." and they could have come to some sort of agreement or got on the phone with the director right there and got a decision before a cast in the out of bounds area was ever made. Instead they just got pissed... waited until the end of the day and tried to get the team DQ'd. I guess that is there perogative but, personally I'd rather of talked to the team right there and eliminated the possibility of a broken rule.

Ask yourself this - Do you want the rules followed or do you just want to catch cheaters?

I personally don't think there are many cheaters in the sport... I do however think there are times when rules are broken. I would much rather stop a team before they break a rule than to try and get a team DQ'd after they break a rule. Maybe its just me but, I believe that the VAST majority of guys I am fishing with and against are good guys!

[Deep Cover]

PC487 is Grand Theft, PC484 is Petty Theft......