Anyone on here calling for justice ever cull a dead or nearly dead fish? How about lie to your wife about where you have been? How about stretch the truth publically to make yourself look good(old school snap chat)? To be clear I called for appropriate punishment, choices have consequences, and hopefully a lesson learned. These are kids who learned this behavior probably from an adult, not an excuse but they are kids who chose to do wrong! I chose to do wrong as a kid many times and probably most on here are in the same boat. Good grief, a few pharisees and sadducees at work here..."Let he who is without sin first cast a stone at her"...only one perfect person ever...

100% onboard with this.

I really hope they didn't get some simple $50 illegal fish kidnapping fine.....

I love this world we live in. We now have to be worried about the mental well-being of the thieves that are trying to steal from us.

I also made a number of bad choices and mistakes as a kid. I paid the piper for some and a few times didn't. I didn't steal anything from a store, but when I was 12 or 13, for some reason me and one of my best friends snuck out at night and collected car tire valve caps. We had a 5-gallon bucket full of them in the fort behind my friend's house when his parents found them. They made us go around putting caps back on tires for a few weeks. To be honest, every day, we just dumped the caps somewhere. Was that stealing? Absolutely. We were punk kids and both got our azzes chewed pretty good over it and probably got the belt as well.

Are these boys the devil? Absolutely not. They made a mistake and there should be consequences, but they should also be given the chance to redeem themselves.

I imagine there are a lot of folks on this thread and all over social media throwing stones from glass houses.

As someone who has had teenage children that tested their limits with the law/justice system. I can say their minds are not right and well formed at that age, so them understanding the impact of their decisions very limited.

That statement pretty much reflects your entire career here on the TFF, though you are not nearly the character you were under your old Alton K account. These are two young men who have been doing wrong a while - not 40-year-old career criminals.

I can’t imagine having to go home and tell my parents that I got caught cheating.

The first question would be, how were you cheating and what were you cheating at?

I was cheating to try to steal money from other people.


That last sentence is what is at the heart of this entire issue. That is why I don’t want to hear these were just kids doing dumb kid things or their mind isn’t formed totally yet. Cheating/stealing/thievery should never be acceptable or tolerated or glossed over

Let's put it to a vote. Do we leave this thread open, or is it time to lock it? When we have a clear winner, we will take action

lock or don't lock single choice

lock (39%, 43 Votes)

don't lock (61%, 66 Votes)

Total Votes: 109 Voting on this poll ends: 0 seconds ago

The old Alton K had to be moderated quite a bit. I think I remember you even had to make a few extra rules because of me and a few others. The new Alton K / Rescue Fire tried to think it through a little more before hitting the “post reply” button.

Agree 100%.... I am not taking up for them but they made a mistake.... Punish them but don't let this ruin their lives. I have never stole anything but as a kid I did some stuff. Its different now because we have computer cowboys and social media. I actually feel sorry for them. But don't misunderstand my statement. They were wrong for what they did. Punish them and let them face the consequences but don't ruin their lives....

What exactly was the payout for this tournament? Do these kids come from money? If they do, maybe it wasn't about the money but instead a social status. This is the problem with the whole social media platform and wanting to always impress. Time and time again kids and adults do absolutely STUPID things to try and impress who might be watching.

Yes end of the day they are stealing money from others and yes it is should of been prosecuted but they weren't and won't be. Absolutely it will not be tolerated and shouldn't be. But it might be unfair to say their sole intent was to steal money because fishing aint cheap as it sits and if it was strictly about money, there are 1000's of different other ways to steal money without bringing an already expensive sport into it.

bingo , if he was posting "2 in the box already" this is the answer. Validation as a winning angler , it's sad.

As to long term punishment , I am not gonna opine, kids out there get away with a lot worse seemingly unscathed these days kinda numb to it.

Wait! I’ve reread this a few times. Are you calling me a criminal?

I voted to lock. Someone made a good point about the mental health of young people. Kids can have a hard time seeing into the future and recognizing that life's storms eventually blow over. They deserve a misdemeanor not to spiral into a dark place they may not recover from.