Alright guys, I want to clear a few things up for everyone about this situation. I apologize that i have not been on here to clear this up, but as some of you know I guide ducks this time of year and wasn't aware of this conversation until a few days ago. The team won 1st place in AOY, one of the team members was polygraphed after the tournament and did not pass. I gave the other team member a chance to take a polygraph(suppose to be at his own expense), and he did not pass either. At that point, they were DQ'd, and are not allowed to fish this tournament anymore in the future. The failed polygraph doesn't prove they wer cheating, but a failed polygraph is grounds for disqualification. This tournament has been ran by my family for years, and this is my first year to be head director, as far as any aquisations in prior years, I was not aware, and was not going to persue any of them. I did have a complaint about them two weeks prior to the tournament, but it was in relation to fishing too close to another boat. I was not there to see it, so I gave them a warning, knowing they would be polygraphed in the near future. That is the only complaint I received from anyone about them the entire year. If there were issues brought to my attention at an earlier date, I would have been happy to give a surprise polygraph earlier in the year.

Livewells are checked before every tournament before leaving the marina. If anyone fished this year and their livewells weren't checked, I don't know how that could be. Anyone that fishes the tournament could attest that I check every single livewell before calling flight numbers. Furthermore, not having fish in your livewell prior to the tournament doesn't automatically prove you are not cheating.

The group that fishes these tournaments are good hinest guys fishing for bragging rights, and were in no way involved with the guys that were disqualified. Polygraphs will be given at my will in future years, and I hope that we can have a great turnout.

If there are any other questions or issues anyone has please feel free to call me at 214-455-0940. Other than that, this issue is settled, they failed the polygraph and were disqualified.

Thanks for clearing things up! Looking forward to the next one.

I feel the need to chime in here and you guys can think whatever you want about what I have to say..

I have fished with Derek Grier for the past 3 years and he is a real stand up guy, a heck of a fisherman and a good friend of mine. We actually fished these Wednesday night tournaments together the two years prior to this one and did well together. We have never broken a single rule, big or small, in any tournament we have fished, wether it be on Fork or Joe Pool. I spoke with him earlier this year about splitting up because I wanted to run my own boat. I felt bad about bailing on him like this but he was understanding and said that he would find a new partner.

I was not fishing these tournaments years ago when his new partner Jason was suspected of cheating in these events so I have nothing to say about that issue. I know for a fact that Derek would never allow that kind of thing to happen in his boat and I feel that there would be no need for him to because they can flat out fish. The dude takes finesse fishing to a whole new level and that's what it takes to catch those perfect 13 7/8" keepers out there at Pool.

Another thing I would like to point out is that Derek helped Mr. Joe Gouty put this new tournament format and set of rules together when Joe took over at the beginning of this year. Derek agreed that a polygraph test should be given at the end of the year for AOY and for the Championship. Why would anyone in their right mind purposely cheat knowing that they would be polygraphed at the end of the season???

I'm not sure what happened for these two guys to fail their polygraph tests but I just can't stand to get on here and see you guys bad mouth them. They have been told by Brett, the tournament director, that they will not be allowed to fish the Wednesday night tournaments in the future. What's done is done and it's all over.


Thanks,
Dustin Hobbs

Brett is a super nice guy and does an excellent job of running these tournaments! Like he stated, every single team has their livewells checked before boat numbers are called out. If you didn't fish these tournaments this year, you should really consider it because they are a lot of fun. See you guys next year!

Wow! Thanks Brett for the update. Always enjoyed fishing these tournaments even prior to this past year. See everyone next spring when I can actually catch bass.

Just as in every situation there is 2 sides to every story and here is mine, for what it's worth..
First off Brett I think you did a fine job as tournament director out there this year, I know that you did what you had to do as those were the rules set in place at the beginning of the season.
There is not a person that enjoys fishing the wednesday night tournament on pool more than me, I show up early most of the time to hang out and talk with guy's and have a good time. It's my break and i look forward to it every single week.
Before Brett took over this season Mr. Gouty and myself came up with the new format of the tournament, The 4 fish stringer- so that solo's could fish, the championship, the angler of the year point system. and of course the polygraph for the AOY and championship winner. With the new format the idea was to keep attendance up so that everyone had something fun to do on wednesday's and it wasn't a 3 or 4 boat field during the heat of the summer..
I have fished this tournament for the last 5 years with many different partners and consider most of the guys that I fish against friends. There has never been any incidents questioning anything that I have ever done on this lake in any way.
I am very competetive and of course I want to win, but as Dustin said I would never do anything to break any rule big or small. And would never allow any rule of any kind to be broken in my boat.
When i went in after the championship to take the poly I was about as nervous as anyone can get, I have an anxiety disorder that i dont treat simply for the fact that i don't like the way this type of medicine makes me feel. I'm not sure if that played a role in the outcome or not but the guy said I failed it.. It is in fact the first time I've had to take one And as most of you know my partner did not pass either. We don't know why because we have never done anything wrong in any of the tournaments. Let Me be clear, we have never done anything wrong or even broken a rule at any of the tournaments.
I did speak with one of the well respected tournament director of a much larger trail and I asked his opinion on all of this. He told me that A lot of people have trouble passing poly's even for a one day event let alone taking one for an entire 6 month season. He said that would be like taking a poly for 30 or so tournaments all at once, your mind can race around during the test and that can cause you to fail a question. I'm no polygraph expert by any means but this could be why it turned out like it did.
Some of you have questioned Jason's past and I didn't even know him then, but will tell all of you that he has never done anything questionable while in my presence or in my boat.
I don't come out there for the money, any one who is close to me knows I would give them the shirt off my back if they needed it. I come out there because it's what I love to do. I could make a lot more money staying at work on wednesday as opposed to fishing.
I understand some of you are frustrated and throwing rocks because you automatically assume we were cheating. We never cheated any of you guy's in any way.
I hate the way this turned out but what's done is done.

Thank you for the Kind words Dustin

Dustin,
I can appreciate you chiming in to defend your friend's honor, and knowledge of fishing and experience in catching 13 7/8" fish. I really can. Joe Pool is loaded with them. Most of the regulars that fish this thing are very knowlegeable as well and on ANY given day can flat out bring in some solid numbers and weight. We all know most Wednesday nights are a [censored] shoot in bringing in a bag that can compete with these top 5 or 6 teams. But, its fun and exciting when you do. However, when you hear that a couple of guys (from the same team) that pretty much dominated most of the year with their larger dinks than everyone else's dinks, FAILS a polygraph, then CONCERNS AND TRUST are lost. The angry mobs come out and voices and frustration are bound to be heard. And rightfully so.

My .02
Will buy you nothing.

^

I fished seven to ten of these tournaments for the first time this year and had a great time. I placed below Derek and Jason multiple times but never had any reason to suspect they were cheating in any way. I don't know either of them outside of saying hi a few times at weigh in and have no reason to defend them but no one has presented any actual explanation of how they were supposedly cheating. The circumstances in the situation naturally raise suspicion but I personally think they are awesome fisherman and kicked butt out there within the rules. I think Brett is a stand up guy and feel like he did everything he said he would do to uphold the integrity of the tournament. That being said he had no choice but to dq them over the failed polygraph.

I am no polygraph expert but have often heard that they are not always accurate. It is my understanding that there are restrictions on there use in court proceedings based on this level of innaccuracy.

I own a nursing home. Nursing homes in General get accused of a lot of stuff we don't do. I have cameras all throughout my facility to ensure quality control and for self defense. Camera footage is always accurate and always welcome in the courtroom.

After reading through this thread it hit me that the perfect solution to this whole problem would be to require a go pro or similar camera to be running in all boats at all times. I think this concept would finally alleviate all false accusations and actual cheating in big and small tourneys. The td at his discretion could request to see the footage of each fish catch prior to issuing checks. There would have to be some controls in place like time/date stamp maybe even a team number given out just before the tournament to be worn on your back while fishing. It may expose some techniques/spots but better than being labeled as cheating when you didn't.

I think this idea is overall a win/win for all involved. As for me I plan to get one before next year just in case I happen to get into the same disaster that Derek, Jason, Brett, and the rest of the Wed. Night crew are in.
Philip Prince

I feel like i should tell my story for you guys. I have been fishing since I was a young boy. However I really started fishing heavily when I was in 7th grade when I met my best friend we fished joe pool everyday out there. Starting fishing from the bank then got a two man boat still fishing everyday from the bank unless one of our parents would take us to the lake with the boat. I then got a boat when I turned 16 and still fished everyday at joe pool. When u put that much time on one body of water you can learn a lake very good. That's exactly what I did I learned the lake i learned how to catch them where the fish would be how to follow those fish as the year progressed. I then started fishing the tournaments out there never thinking that I would be as good bc I'm still just a young kid. But I started winning them and doing really good out there on the water. I sold my boat bc of a blown power head and couldn't get out as much as I used to but I still kept at it fishing from the bank. I'm sure a lot of guys who fish the lake have seen me fishing off the boat ramp at oasis most of my life. A lot of them would even take me out and teach me stuff and show me this and that about the lake. I was called a cheater the first year I fished these tournaments and I was only 16 years old and I had grown men calling me a cheater. What do you think that would do to a kid? (I failed a poly in no way does that mean that I cheated, there r many reason y I could have failed answering the question to quickly, even answering to cocky, or maybe it was bc I lost focus during the test bc I was paying attention to the guy giving it to me bc he was on his cell phone the whole time he was giving me the test. All these things can make your poly graph results look bad.)those same guys would still spread the same rumors for remaining years to come. I have never cheated before during a tournament I have never altered a fish for this tournament or any tournament. So just to clear things up for everyone out at the joe pool tournaments. I'm trying to work on getting another poly administered bc i feel that I was to focused on what he was doing on his cell phone then I was on the test. I have put my time in on joe pool I know the lake I know how to fish the lake to catch those perfect keepers. I don't need to cheat bc I can catch them without cheating and altering the fish in anyway. Since I'm not allowed to fish these tournaments anymore I will take anyone up on a offer to go out to this lake and I will put you on the fish and spots that u can win these tournaments pretty much it would be a free guide trip to hopefully prove that I don't need to cheat during these or any tournaments.

Thanks
Jason

Im not saying Polygraphs are true or false but I can say this. I won the Joe Pool BIG Bass Bonanza the last 2 years in a row at the age of 17 and 18. That was a lot of money for a Kid and I can tell you I was excited, nervous, scared and happy all rolled into one. Those polygraphs scared the living [censored] out of me and I came out proud! If guys are fishing competitively in much larger circuits than Joe Pool working man's, and can't pass a polygraph because medically not capable or they are easily distracted by cell phones....then they probably should just stick to FUN fishing instead of competition. Most likely they won't be able to WIN A BIG TOURNAMENT and pass the poly and are just wasting their money. I truly hope that this all gets resolved and we can go back to enjoying the Wed. Night workin mans. I apologize if I harmed anyone as I am just stating facts. See y'all next year.

Thanks. Tyler woods

Glad you guys are defending yourselfs makes me want to believe that yall are honest and didnt cheat. Was there a certain question yall both missed to be DQed or do you even know? I know yall both know the lake well, can follow the fish well, and catch the fish from that lake well, and hate to see yall get DQed because yall are great stixs out there and thats why everyone likes to fish out there because there are alot of good stixs there and it would be a shamed if the question was like not wearing the kill switch or something like that. So did the guy or girl tell ya what question you missed?

Jason,
I dont know you or Derek and im not calling you a cheater without hard evidwnce. But from what im hearing is that you both have reasons for failing polygraphs that includes Nervous or panic disorders to easily being distracted by conversations around you to who knows what else. I have a suggestion that might benefit you both.

I know the kid that won the Joe Pool Big Bass Bonaza 2 yrs in a row at the ages of 17 and 18. He is by far a lot lesser experienced tournament guy then you two. I was there for the weigh ins and can tell you he had every emotion a person could have. With that said, He PASSED his test.

I suggest that you reach out to him, give him a few bucks and get guidance on taking and passing Polygraphs. He is in college and could.use the tutoring money. Or you two might not want to waste your money on tournament fishing especially Big Ones.

W0w !!! Best advise yet.

All I know is this.......We have had known cheaters pass polygraphs in our area. It stands to reason that we could have innocent guys fail. I have passed every fishing polygraph I have ever taken. That being said, I failed a polygraph to get a fire job years ago, and 100% told the truth. That's when I realized why they are not used in court.