Pardon my ignorance here, but it seems like someone truly innocent that DID NOT break a rule would be absolutely clueless as to how they failed a polygraph test. Yet Matt seems to be able to point to the exact reason he failed. To be able to bring up the exact conversation that made him fail the test leads me to believe that he is guilty as can be. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like an innocent man would be begging for a polygraph from another technician to prove his innocence instead of having their family explain why he failed the test, then quitting in a hissy fit. Again, maybe I'm wrong. I really know nothing about Matt. He's not a person who's career I have followed closely at all.

This is the interesting part of the whole thing, did Lowen go to that spot/area because Herren told him about it.

I get that I said I don’t like the rule , because you have to be so careful of what you talk about with someone else , I guess you have to be rude .

This is what would be best.

Polygraphs are unreliable, we live in America, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. What needs to happen is the polygraphs need banned.

Obtaining information, whether it be a waypoint, hot new minner color to fling, how to navigate, is part of fishing and always has been.

Watch old FLW and BASS coverage they outright say they got information from someone. The “old generations” of “real” fisherman, getting information from friends.

Streamline and simply rules so there is absolutely no gray area, because there is a lot of gray in the information sharing/gathering space.

I listened to Herren on Mercer a while back and he proclaimed himself as good as a Denny Brauer and still had a classic win in him. Think he's getting dementia, time for the family to get involved

You guys keep comparing this rule infraction during an Elite tourney to a similar rule infraction during an Open tourney. The penalties are different in each series. The Elite has simple penalty. Disqualification. The Open events have loss of days weight, fines, AND UP TO DISQUALIFICATION. Depending on the severity of the infraction. It isn’t a discussion in the Elite series. It’s automatic DQ.

The rules are written and there for anyone to read. They are there before the tournament starts. He knew the rules. He broke them. He got DQed. He didn’t cheat (that has been made light of anyways), but he did break a rule that he knew was in effect. He suffered the consequences. End of story.

Why he’s leaving B.A.S.S. is another story. Probably related to this event I’m sure.

Again. HE broke the rules. He should have bowed out gracefully. But, he didn’t, he ran with it and fished anyways. Quitting Bass Elites doesn’t look like he’s innocent. Maybe he’s embarrassed.

We use polys throughout the season as well as the Championships. It's $375 a test. It could add up quickly if we had to test 4 places in teams w/ 8 anglers.

I remember watching a podcast with a poly guy who worked for MLF and he said they take 2-3 hours per exam.

That's my take as well. Mr. Perry and I had that conversation already, lol. A rule was broken, the listed penalty was applied. It feels harsh but this punishment has to be black & white. If you start getting into the nuances of each infraction, you'll create even more drama.

Curious, what is the penalty had he called the TD immediately and reported it?

I’d like to know if any of you advocating for abolishing no info rules were raising hades over BassChamps Lance Vick’s LAKE FORK preview? Lotta folk’s heads were exploding over that free info.

Probably would have been the correct thing to do. Report it beforehand. Maybe he would have been DQed regardless, but the right thing to do was be upfront about it before it got to this point.
Picking up his toys and leaving the sand box makes him look like a quitter.

I just think doing away with no info puts everyone on the same playing field, and you no longer have to police something that's dang near impossible to police.

It’s does the opposite- you’ll have guys that get all the info, can pay for local knowledge etc.

But you will know they are doing that, and it's legal. If you want to compete you not only are going to have to put the time in, but you are going to have to really invest in your tournaments.

It makes for an unfair advantage. It would go off the rails really fast. Haha.

The correct thing to do is have the rule in place, enforce it without favoritism or leniency. Those who want to fish will follow the rules.