I've often wondered if this happened, glad to see them get caught.
2 anglers accused of cheating in fishing tournament
Two Marshall County men are facing charges for allegedly cheating in a fishing tournament.
Tournament officials said they are outraged someone would rig the outcome of a competition, and they hope the arrests send a message to others.
Robert Gillaspie and Gary Lee Minor Jr. turned in a crop of fish to win the Tuesday and Thursday night Owls Fishing Tournament, but officials say they later learned the fish had been previously caught.
The revelation landed both Gillaspie and Minor in jail, where they were charged by Alabama Fish and Game officers with tampering with a sporting event.
The pair were booked into the Marshall County Jail Thursday, and then released on $5,000 bond.
The event is held at a boat dock in Guntersville. Tournament officials said a tip led to a surveillance operation, which caught the two men catching fish prior to the tournament and placing them in a holding tank.
The men later went back during the tournament and placed the fish in their live well and submitted them at weight-in. The men won a couple hundred dollars as a result of their supposed win.
Tournament officials said the pair have been barred from any future tournament and hope it sends a message.
Read More Here and video: http://www.waff.com/story/25495611/2...ing-tournament
Last edited by Slab; 05-14-2014 at 07:16 AM.
Aquatic Species Removal Engineer.
May God be with you. Keep CALM and STAY ANCHORED with your faith.
jaxsprat LIKED above post
I've often wondered if this happened, glad to see them get caught.
Happens all the time in smaller events. Sooner or later they get caught. Heard its really bad right now down in AL & LA. Never understood it, but when it comes to making money some will do anything.
Here in Indiana you will loose your fishing license for life if convicted plus the felony. But most just get a slap on the hand with a fine. But you can bet they are done with tourneys everywhere.
About the only thing left for them is cheating on their golf score. Word travels very quickly in the fishing industry.
Morons
There were also two other men on KY lake last month.
Last edited by brushnjigs; 05-13-2014 at 06:28 PM.
It happens a bunch...they better be glad they were not in Texas.
2000 ProCraft 210 SuperPro DC w/Merc 250 ProXB
Hi-Tek rod holders
How can people be so stupid with all the spotters, cell phone cameras and hidden cameras in use now. They deserve to be banned. Now I wonder if some of the TV pro's have "Hidden honey traps or caged areas" they go to and get fish out of them, or their divers get fish out of them, and hook them on their line so the host can real it in. Just wondering.
Aquatic Species Removal Engineer.
May God be with you. Keep CALM and STAY ANCHORED with your faith.
I witnessed a well known crappie guru film a show on Weiss Lake about 7 years ago. He reached into his livewell, pulled out a nice fish, hooked up and tossed it up along a dock. They must've thrown that fish back into the water half a dozen times before they unhooked it and put it back into the livewell and moved on to the next spot. This was the only instance I've ever seen, but I doubt it's that uncommon. As for the cheaters, if you leave them enough line, they usually always hang themselves with it.
IMHO ...
There's a bit of difference in "creative editing" for a TV show vs "cheating" to win money in a tournament.
There always has been "cheating" in tournaments, when money is on the line ... and there likely always will be. Even with all the "media" devices & security measures, and even polygraph tests in some cases ... people are continuously being caught doing the wrong thing.
As to the "TV anglers/pros" using pre-caught fish to fill in their TV show action ... I witnessed that very thing some 40 yrs ago, at the Lake Marion/Moultrie canal in South Carolina. It did little to alter my opinion of the "pro" involved, because I never was a big "fanboy" of his ... or any other TV personality. Those programs were then, and still are now, simply "entertainment" devised to sell a product ... ie: Infomercials. I just take/view them in that context.
... cp
wannabe fisherman, shipahoy41 LIKED above post