With over $400,000 paid out in Scholarships...yea it's a GREAT idea

I captained a bunch so ill comment, I captained my last time last year due to the cluster that this deal is and the lack of consideration for captains, the info rule is poorly conceived and poorly written. 14 days is probably too long to hide, the term "received" casts too big a net, the omission of "entered tourney waters from during off limits period" is a problem. For example, kids out eating with parents and runs into old man who lives down the street, he asks hows fishing going and kid says we are having regionals next week atLewisville, old man who hasn't been on lake in 10 years says fish those tires boys, they always on them tires! Now the kid didn't solicit, the old man hasn't been on tourney waters in 10 years, it would pass mustard with every trail in Texas but the kid is basically now ineligible through no fault of his own...... He has now been DQd.... if there was a poly failure he will need to explain that to every td for every tourney he enters going forward so they can decide if they want to allow him entry.

Bass Champs is 5 days and uses the entered tourny waters clause, TTT is also, Bass Opens are 3 days and word it "intentionally recieve". Not my circus not my monkey, just my 2 cents and that wont buy much.

I also have concerns about administrating a poly to a minor but that's another topic.

I have never of the kids getting a polygraph. To my knowledge they only polygraph the captain. I have been polygraphed twice and my kids have never had to take one.

Mark, can you please bring back that dreadful song?

I also don't like the "no information" rule the way it's worded, but I have some experience that might interest some folks. Several years ago we fished one of our tournaments on Squaw Creek. My son and I were practicing within the "no information" period. After we pulled the boat out of the lake and were getting it ready to go home, a guy pulled up next to us and said, "Hey, son, go back and look at the deck of my boat." My son did, and he saw the floor covered with black/blue PowerBait worms. The guy said, "That's what you need to throw out here."

I immediately knew we had just broken the "no information" rule, so I contacted the TD and explained to him what happened. He told me that we could not tell anyone what we had heard and that we were not allowed to have that bait in our boat on tournament day. It stunk because my son (and just about everyone else who fishes Squaw) already knew that bait works well out there, but I think it was a fair way to deal with it.

My point is that, in my experience, the THSBA wants to be as fair as possible with people. They aren't looking for ways to DQ people. In fact, I spoke to someone who was close to Matt when the Lewisville situation was going on, and he told me that Matt felt horrible about it and really wanted to not DQ the boys. He simply had no choice.

Agree on the point made regarding "Cheating vs breaking a rule"... cheating is stuffing the belly with weights, clipping the tail, etc... but having 6 fish in the live well at end of the day, or forgetting to put your life vest on before you start up the big motor is just plain not paying attention and being dumb (rule infraction); cheating = DQ; where as a rules infraction, especially an obvious one is a weight penalty and move on...

That�s been my point all along. That, and having your �fate� determined by the very ones you are competing against. Seems as though it would be easier to cruise around in a boat taking pictures until you eliminate the competition. Lol. Vs, just fishing and beating them fair and square.

what mess?
Rules were violated, dq's were applied, teams in question owned up and admitted mistakes. Doesn't seem like a mess and the teams in question have earned a measure of respect for owning their mistakes. I'm betting they pay more attention in the future.
The first year my two monkeys qualified for regionals, there was a team that dq'd themselves. Somehow, they ended up with 6 fish in the box at the end of the day. The dq cost them their shot at State that year but earned them serious respect from other anglers and captain's.
Mistakes happen. It's how you deal with them that really lets people know who you are and what your made of.


My son was fishing this Reginal that year when those boys disqualified themselves at the weigh in by having 6 fish in the box. We still talk about the respect we have for those kids- and their captain. They could have said nothing and gone to State Championship


All you guys bitching about THSBA should get off your keyboards and your [censored] and go help "teach" some of the kids Instead of constantly dogging everyone that is involved in it.

To the two boys that were in involved in these two incidents, sounds like y'all have taken the right approach and have told your side of the story and aren't hiding from anyone.
Please don't let some of the negative comments you see on this or any other forum bother you...y'all keep at it and most people are good guys on here (you can read the other comments to figure out who the problem children are)

Look these are the rules that are put out there by THSBA.
And the rules that everyone has to fish by.
No one wants to get DQ.
But if you do not play by the rules then why have them?
I have read what Ben had to say about the rules that where broken.
And they could have talked to the Tournament Director before the tournament started.
And worked something out to get the captains boat off the water.
And if you would not have fished the tires then you would not have used the info.
That would have sucked because you might have planned to go there.

This long thread about was is or isnt fair.
Is what is wrong with America today.
We all have to play but the rules we have.
And when we don't and get caught.
Well then you pay the price.

And a shout out to Ben for stepping up and taking responsibility.

Dell

Most lessons that stick are learned the hard way. Some rules concern cheating, others concern safety. I would believe that safety would rank very high at a high school tournament. The young fellows involved have experienced the "hard way" method and will take something away from this. I am 62 and still can screw up. I fished a local Thursday tournament last week and when I got to my area I realized I had not attached my kill switch to my vest. I hooked it up and drove back and told the tournament director (it is a polygraph tourney). My son is my partner and witnessed how I dealt with it. The director gave me a restart. He could have DQ'ed us but it was his option; either way was ok with me. I was able to show my son that either outcome was acceptable and the best way to deal with what I did was directly address it. Rule infractions can happen in an instant.

I think a lot of people are overlooking a couple of things about the explanation of his violation of the "no info rule". It wasn't just that he overheard something. He clearly states that he engaged in the discussion and kept the conversation going. That's the first problem. If he had heard something, especially something he already knew......it's very easy to say "hey...can't have this discussion I have a tournament coming up".....tournament anglers do it all the time. The much bigger problem is that he states that at the pre tournament meeting they mentioned the "no information rule" and he immediately thought about that and in his own explanation says that he knew that he couldn't fish those tires because that rule had been violated......and then went and fished the tires. Accidentally doing something that ends up being wrong and intentionally and knowingly doing something that you knew was wrong are two different things.

Not saying he is a bad guy at all and this was a tough lesson to learn. If he had gone to the TD at the meeting and had a conversation about this because he knew that there was an issue with him fishing the tires because of the discussion that he actively engaged in.....he could have cleared it up right then and might have even been able to legally fish the tires.

No info rules are good rules and they are not near as hard to follow as some people on here are making them out to be. I have tournament fished for 18 years and hang around with people that fish all of the time and have never once felt like I had broken the no info rule.

On the other team that was DQ'd......biggest problem there is that they created the opportunity to have additional time on the water practicing by breaking a rule. Most likely their team Captain could not go out with them for some reason so they went without the Captain.....that was a rule violation and most likely they knew it was and did it anyhow. How many other teams could have also violated this same rule to get additional practice time.

Yes.....both of these are fairly minor infractions. Tournament bass fishing has rules that must be followed to keep the playing field as even as possible for all anglers competing for lots of money on a field where there are no referees. The rules exist for a reason and must be followed.....there is no room to bend those rules or pick which ones you follow to the letter. Hard lesson for both teams and I sincerely hope that no one looks down on them for their mistakes. I think it's pretty easy to see that both teams understand and that truly neither team set out to try to "cheat" their way to a win. Good luck to both of ya'll and put this behind you.

Rules are rules and everyone who fishes enough tournaments will eventually make mistakes sooner or later. Most are purely unintentional (like this situation). My problem with this whole issue the fact that the photo wasnt given to the TD prior to the event and even worse, the team wasn't notified in advance by the TD they had already made a rules infraction. They obviously broke a rule but to spring it on them after the fact the way they did is pretty chicken s!@$ in my opinion. Had they known, they would have likely not even fished but instead they had a good finish and spent their time and effort trying to compete only to have it stripped away due to someone simply looking for a reason to try and get someone DQ'd. As far as the TD and the High School series, I have never in my life seen the amount of restrictions and rules emphasized as I have personally experienced being a boat captain myself for these kids. There is a balance between keeping and abiding by a good set of rules for any event of this size and nature but those rules are there to protect the ones who don't intentionally abuse the system and not as an excuse to teach young anglers a lesson. Everyone makes mistakes like these kids made but there is a point where the TD should have asked the photo taker "why did you not give us this photo prior to the event?" The other question I personally have for the high school series is where does all the money go? These kids are competing against hundreds of other teams essentially for bragging rights. No other series with as strict of rules policy out there, taking in the kind of cash they do for each event, pays out in hand outs. No matter how you slice it, the placing teams are receiving items that are given as a donated item provided by an event sponsor. Its a door prize. Getting a free rod and reel and a plaque doesnt cost the event holder anywhere close to what is being brought in (if anything at all) nor does a scholarship. If you're gonna act like a bunch of money is on the line with your rules (like most major events do), give them some incentive more than something that didnt cost you anything like a free rod. Otherwise, if all thats at stake in these events is one school simply having bragging rights over the others, let the entry fee reflect what you're paying out to these kids which is essentially nothing. Thats my two cents and anyway you try and justify it, it's wrong to collect money and not pay it out,,, especially when its kids.

Finally, To whomever took this photo : spend more time working to figure out how to catch them instead worrying about everyone else and you'll win more tournaments. As far as Im concerned, the only person with egg on their face in this situation is you sir. It shows how you spent your practice time.

I commend both guys for coming on here and telling their side of it. To me there is a huge difference in someone doing something stupid during the heat of the battle. And someone cheating on purpose.

Live and learn and get better. That's all you can do.

Thanks for being men and stepping up to what you guys did. Good luck the rest of yall's seasons.

You assume that you know a lot.
Have you called and asked how the money is spent? Are you POSITIVE that everything is a "gimme"? Weigh-in trailers, release tanks, etc all cost money. I can promise the money isn't being spent on the huge salaries the board is receiving......
Is $60 entry fee really too much when the possible return is anywhere from 1k -20k in scholarship money? Tell you what, go fish the FLW HS program - the entry is free and they give away 3 places at every tourney, a plaque and a package of swimbaits is the prize for 2nd, been there done that.
Are you positive that the photo in question was held until Saturday as a diabolical scheme thought up by the evil villains that have no fishing skills??
You say that that they have egg on their face, my feeling is that I've seen violations and called the captains out while on the water, I've also filed a protest before (not this one) when I saw someone doing something that could have ended tragically for everyone involved. If we do not police ourselves, then who is to blame when an accident happens and a life is lost? Perhaps if someone had protested or said something to the offending party at an earlier date, it could have been prevented.,, nah, don't want to be a "snitch" - much better to turn your head when you see wrong doing than to actively take a stand.
I follow the rules, my boys follow the rules - shouldn't everyone else follow the same rules? If not, what am I teaching these young men...��.

Where are these tires that some speak of?