Help me understand.

[lowe175]

Well it must be easy because some.of the bass pro's have done it as well. I don't fish tournaments but have missed what I had on the clicker many times. Now days I try to stop few short of a limit. Don't ask me how I know this.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

[SKs Crappie Catching Adventures]

8 feesh now 9 feesh.... wow seems they would enforce using a tagging system.... why wouldn't they? Well when i get ready to bash some heads in these bigger tourneys I know I won't have that problem.... if I can fish by myself and weigh and tag each fish I classify a weigh-in fish what's the problem with a team doin it....

[ET Fish]

Read their Post on American Crappie Trail’s Facebook page. May have not been a miscount afterall......

[Crappiebeagle]

After reading the statement the team that got dee qued posted, reinforces my belief that Sumthin Ain't Right

[waterdog101]

This could happen to anyone once, but I’d bet it won’t happen to the same guy twice.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Lonnie84]

Below is a copy of the letter that was posted on the ACT facebook page by the contestants!

American Crappie Trail

March 19 at 9:25pm

From the team of Randy Pope and Steve Deitz
We would like to emphatically state that we respect and love the sport of fishing, as well as, those competing in the sport. We are very saddened by what took place at the tournament weigh in at Neely-Henry Lake. We also feel it necessary to express how shocked and confused we are.
We are confident that we did not exceed the seven fish limit. We had a spotter in our boat who watched our fish being counted by us and two ACT officials counting on two different occasions prior to the live weigh-in. With seven confirmed fish, adrenaline pumping, overwhelmed with the possibility of winning, we knew our seven fish limit was well above the 10.47 pounds needed to win. It did not dawn on us to count them out again as we were weighing in.
As to how there were additional fish in our live-well, remains a mystery. Clearly, it would be ridiculous for us to do anything to jeopardize our clear opportunity to win since we knew we were in the lead with a limit. At this point, we are deeply concerned, knowing that our boat was left unattended during the almost two hour waiting period prior to the official live weigh in. We realize now that there was a window of opportunity for something nefarious.
In response to the posted remarks about what is being perceived as a cull tagged fish in the live well, during the live weight in, it was actually a floating air bubbler hose that had been tied off. ACT officials reviewed the video footage and confirmed it as such. To address any accusations about being nudged by Randy in a suspicious manner, the only nudge given was the one for me to move the dripping fish being held over his head while showing it to the audience.
We can say with all sincerity, we have been completely honest, transparent and of the highest principle because of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have even requested that any area surveillance cameras be reviewed.
How could two experienced tournament fishermen, a spotter who counted at the ramp and remained with us until the end, and two ACT officials miscount seven fish? We seriously doubt that five people would have all counted incorrectly! Did someone place these additional fish in our unattended live well while waiting for the weigh in?
We strongly encourage a new rule of at least one team member remaining inside the boat during the weigh in process. If you are the contender in a tournament, never leave your boat unattended while waiting your turn to weigh in!
We would like to thank all the team members and officials of ACT for their efforts, positive attitudes and being such a class ACT!
Congratulations to Ron Lundy and Joey Hilton on their win, they are two great guys and we are happy for them.

[KnightShadow10]

I have done it..It can happen...Any person entering a national contest knows the rules.. They have too much invested to get caught...Especially when you have a stringer weight like these guys had .. My vote says it was an honest mistake...

[BAMA S]

Wow the plot deepens.

[SKs Crappie Catching Adventures]

After reading the statement the team that got dee qued posted, reinforces my belief that Sumthin Ain't Right

Yeap, to hear they left their boat over an hour gives time for anything to happen.... my feesh would have been with me the entire time or at least in site....terrible to hear they could have been screwed out of winning....

[wicklundrh]

The letter had to happen. The reasons are numbered but here are some of the main ones:
Cheating- What one person see's as a miscount others will still see it as cheating. Tournament rules are pretty clear on this subject. Caught cheating in events usually means bigtime bans from not just this tournament trail but ALL tournament trails!!!!
Sponsorship- You own a company and your name is on the side of said persons boat. Regardless of what happened, the vote of popular opinion far outweights what might have actually happened. Sponsors are simply going to want to distance themselves from the situation.

Issuing a statement can do a couple of things both positively and negatively. On the positive side, it gets your message out. Your point of view. Your side of the story. Unfortunately, the negative side quickly takes over.
They state: "We are confident that we did not exceed the seven fish limit"
And then: "We had a spotter in our boat who watched our fish being counted by us and two ACT officials counting on two different occasions prior to the live weigh-in"

They then state that a period of time goes by (where boat is left unatended) which is made to lead someone to believe that "possibly" someone or something (a bird maybe) put extra fish in the livewell.
Here is the statement: "We realize now that there was a window of opportunity for something nefarious."
UNFOTUNATELY, this next statement is the EXACT problem here: "It did not dawn on us to count them out again as we were weighing in"

So, the answer to the problem (Too many fish) is really quiet simple. You counted the fish, a spotter counted the fish, and two ACT officials counted the fish. The reason for this was to ENSURE you had the legal number of fish allowed in your livewell. This was well PRIOR to weight in. Time passed and then you get the opportunity to transfer your fish from the livewell to your bag for weight in. This was your LAST opportuntiy to count 1,2,3,4,5,6,7. You said it in your statement: "It did not dawn on us to count them out again as we were weighing in".

Regardless if someone walked up to your boat and threw a couple of fish in the livewell during the time you were away from your boat, it was YOUR responsibility to ensure you had the proper number of fish in your bag before going to the scale. Had you counted when bagging, you would have noticed 9 fish. You could have immediately flagged the (3) different people that PREVIOUSLY verified your box. Unfortunately, because you failed to count going in to the bag, I do not feel sorry for you!!!

I'm not saying they cheated, I'm not saying that someone didn't put fish in their boat while they were gone, I'm not saying that rules might not need to be changed in order to keep a watchful eye. What I am saying is what they said themselves: "It did not dawn on us to count them out again as we were weighing in"