lot of discussion about baiting brushpiles currently but what is cheating anymore?.....obvious things I can think of would be getting fish out of a basket you had caught previously or setting the hook into a fish's jaw that you had caught previously and tied out....cheating would be taking your boat out secretly during a tournament and trailering to a different lake/pond,catching easy to catch fish and bringing them back to weigh-in....putting lead weights in a fish or snagging a bed fish with treble hook would be cheating .....
may be a few things I haven't thought of but just about else being debated is just breaking a rule....

several years ago,I was fishing as Hydrasport tourny on Lanier..was hopping a jig down a steep bank,got a bite,set the hook and a 2lb fish came to the top and jumped...I was pulling her to the boat and about halfway back I could feel the fish on but couldn't pull her closer...got over top of her,pulled her up,netted the fish and my jig and an old rusty spoon was her mouth...spoon had line tied to it so I started pulling on the line thinking there might be rod and reel down there it was hung on something on the bottom.....

I estimated the lenght of line to be 20-30 feet...ended up breaking as much line off as i could...spoon was so rusty it and hook was about to fall apart...put fish in livewell and weighed it in...never thought anymore about other it...figured there was ne telliing how long that fish had been down there "tied off like a dog on a chain" and probably was hungry enough to eat anything that came by..

told that story on another forum several years later and couldn't believe how many people blasted me for not releasing the fish...another guy told a story of hooking a huge(7lb) fish in brushpile,having to finally break the fish a long struggle then coming back to brushpile a few minute and the fish with guy's jig in it's mouth surfaced beside the boat ,his partner netted and they eventually decided to release the fish...big debate over that and one guy actually threatened to whip another's rear if if ever weighed a fish in against him caught in similar curcumstances.....

my thought on both instances is they are both unusual but perfectly legal catches....you hooked the fish and landed it... it was just some rare and lucky circumstances that enabled you to put the fish in the boat....no different than you fighting a fish to the boat,fish,hooks comes out in mid-air but but partner is quick with net and catch fish in mid air..
what's your take on unusual catches like those above?

apples to oranges IMO. First story couldnt be more legal. Second story is cheating. I had the exact same thing happen to me in a basschamps. I fizzed the fish and she swam off. Never in my life did I think of keeping her just because she floated up due to needing to be fizzed. Had the fish on for prob 15 minutes too see sawing her. It sucked but it wasnt a catch.

What’s difference between catching a fish that’s come off in mid air with a net and catching one that surfaces…..end result is you hooked the fish and caught it…

The one that surfaces is sick/disoriented.



The spoon fish is 100% legit, you didn’t tie it up and didn’t know the fish was down there.


Now a scumbag would be a guy that finds a floating fish and then intentionally cast into its mouth and sets the hook until he “catches” it and then keeps it. 100% unethical, but could be considered legal I guess. I wouldn’t do it, nor would any of my friends.

your examples of fish caught with old broke line is legit, I think that happened on BPT while back if I remember right it was Strader and he was saying no telling how long that fish had been down there in that brush pile tied up

Common sense folks….common sense. The baiting holes thread might be the dumbest thread ever.

This site is looking more like twitter than a fishing site.

About 10 years ago in a champs on Rayburn I broke a good fish off in the pads on a black skinny dipper about 9am. Braid broke in the spool and ripped off every guide. I rerigged and continued on with the day. About 2pm we returned to that area and as we were leaving the trolling motor got in a bind in the pads. We had put our rods away and I assumed it was just pad stems, nope it was my braid from the break off. I wanted my hook back so I hand lined in the 50ft of braid. Got to the end where it was balled up and it still had the 4lber hung up in the pads in the exact spot he bit that morning. Culled a 2lber with it and never looked back

I have a hypothetical for you (we caught a fish like this but is was a slot so it didnt matter anyway), what if instead of breaking the fish off you released your spool to see if it could swim out and the fish instead surfaced because of the struggle? Still hooked, still attached to the line on your rod and reel.

First fish is legal.

Second fish is not. The reason being is you picked up another rod and started fishing. As soon as you started fishing again, at that point, you were using two lines/baits at the same time. If I remember right, the Elites had a rule change one year when I fished them that addressed this. If you broke off, you could use your rod tip to snag the broken line but you couldn't use a bait to snag it. Same principle.

IMHO it would be legal; unless there was a rule about leaving the boat to land fish.....
if you fish long enough,you gonna have some some of those once or twice in a lifetime catch experiences.....you netting or grabbing fish surfacing beside the boat or getting one untangled fromweeds,all of that is no different that fish coming off in mid air and you/your partner catching it in the net.....important thing is that you enticed that fish to bite your bait .once you hook a fish,all kind of crazy things can happen....my final argument would be that i have no problem whatsover if you have one of those once/twice in a lifetime fish landings and weigh the fish in against me...

Some of these answers are shocking and scary. One reason I have taken a step back from tournament fishing. Under no circumstance is my fish legal. I had it on for 15 minutes. I let out a ton of line to try and get it to float up and it wouldnt. I broke the fish off. It floated up few min later. That is not a legal fish period. It dont matter if I made a second cast... it doesnt matter if its not specifically in the rules. It matters that I didnt catch it. Crazy that Im against the majority on this one. Makes ya wonder what other grey areas people exploit. This to me was an absolute no brainer. Didnt even bother calling the tournament director. It was on yalls beloved 31 hole too.

No brainer its legal. Who says you are leaving the boat? People pull that trick all the time.

would you weigh a fish that jumped beside the boat,came off in mid air but you or your partner caught it with the net before it hit the water and got away?.......if so,what is the difference between that and the other catches you are against?.....

money at stake reveals character.......more money, more excuses.....everyone has a bright line I think