Another Walleye Tournament Allegation

[Rosebud]

I was president of a country bow hunter club. We put on tournaments in the summer. We had the same group of four guys always in the top four or five, with one usually winning. Didn't take long to figure out what they were doing and break up their little group. They protested long and loud to no avail. Once they were put into other groups their scores dropped. What a amazing discovery.

 

[2buffalo]

MLB bass tournament with official in each boat weighing each fish as its boated is best way for integrity. The tournament is live and leader board is updated instantly. Plus fish are released. I watch it and like how its managed. No muss, no fuss, no concern for hidden problems.

They got one of those guys cheating too. He turned his back to the official while taking the hook out. It was foul hooked. Gave him and some other guys a lie detector and he didn't pass.

Shuffield disqualified from Bass Pro Tour Stage Five - Major League Fishing

After a comprehensive investigation into alleged rule violations at Bass Pro Tour Stage Five on Cayuga Lake, Major League Fishing has disqualified Arkansas pro Spencer Shuffield for intentionally removing a hook in a bass that was caught while sight-fishing before his MLF official could verify...

majorleaguefishing.com

 

[zpoehler]

They thought by putting dead fish in the walleyes stomachs they wouldn't get caught..looked like they cut one of their "weights" in half too. I hope they are pumished to the full extent of the law.

 

[Nicoli7153]

Big sponsorships buying them boats and equipment is big big bucks! Gotta keep winning to keep those sponsors happy

 

[BillLarson]

And they knew the fish would be cut open, I'm scratching my head thinking "what idiots ", they deserved to get caught

They only started cutting fish open...... many fish contests have been won over the years by folks bending the rules....

 

[crashlanding]

Until this thread started, I didn't even know what "foul hooked" meant, I'm still learning

 

[Old Rooster]

Big sponsorships buying them boats and equipment is big big bucks! Gotta keep winning to keep those sponsors happy

Never crossed my mind but it makes sense.I can see the pressure exerted on fishermen.
There was a fisherman that was in the top 20 that decided to not fish the next tournament as he always did poorly at that Texas Lake.
His main sponsor sued him.Don't remember what the final outcome was but they own you heart and soul.Those boats,electronics and every accessory and every thing you could imagine cost a fortune and being on top is big money to sponsors.That had to be in the early 80's.
Good call Nicoli7153

 

[CMP70306]

I take part in some offshore fishing tournaments and they gut the fish right there on the dock then send it over to get cleaned up packaged and donated to local food banks. Over the years fish have been DQ'd for all sorts of things inside of them from weights, bait, water and other fish.

The one story is that years ago a boat brought in a blue marlin that took first place, when they cut it open they found another large fish stuffed inside of it that added 70+ pounds to the weight. However the competitors were not DQ'd, why you ask? Because the fish in the blue marlin would have been the first place white Marlin and nobody is dumb enough to use a $500,000 fish to add weight to a $200,000 fish.

 

[comfisherman]

I gotta ask, what's the draw to watching televised sport fishing?

Keep in mind I'm not much of a sport fishing guy, so don't fully understand how there is big $$$$ in it.

(Edit to say I could probably watch marlin be caught, but walleye and bass are a quandary. )

 

[CMP70306]

I gotta ask, what's the draw to watching televised sport fishing?

Keep in mind I'm not much of a sport fishing guy, so don't fully understand how there is big $$$$ in it.

(Edit to say I could probably watch marlin be caught, but walleye and bass are a quandary. )

I personally don't know, in an average tournament over three fishing days we spend 24 hours driving to and from the fishing grounds, 22.5 hours driving around the fishing grounds and maybe 2 to 5 of those 22.5 hours actually fighting fish. Or in my case spinning the boat in circles because I'm the guy driving.

Of those 2 to 5 hours 90%+ is spent looking at water, you occasionally get a cool hook up then maybe some jumping at the boat. After that you might see the fish come up a couple times before going back down. They you get either the release or the gaff shot as it is brought to the boat and that's about it.

So 46.5 hours of fishing gets condensed into roughly 5 to 10 minutes of video footage.