Posted By: Bruce Allen
Lake Fork Anglers: Handling Cheaters? - 06/25/22 02:05 PM
A PAPER TOURNAMENT? WELL, I WILL WIN EVERYONE!
By Bruce Allen
As stated by an unknown angler of why he wouldn't want to be in our "paper" club.
In the Lake Fork Anglers, we have been doing paper tournaments for 9 ½ years. And yes, there have been rumors of anglers cheating from time to time. Each incidence has been investigated and for the most part found to be untrue. One incident had to do with the boater not knowing how to properly measure a bass. (Mouth closed and hitting the bumper, tail pinched and swept to get the longest length. Flipping a fish is allowed.) Another had to do with using a measuring ruler not specified in our rules.
But, because we require both anglers in the boat to view the fish on the stick and agree on the length, we feel that we have more than covered the basis to make sure we have a fair measuring of each fish caught.
This year starting with the First Annual Bob Robert’s Memorial Shootout we are doing a boat check of all of the boaters who are fishing in the special 5th Thursday team tournament. Boaters will present their Check it Stik at 5 AM on Thursday June 30th at the SRA Park on SH 154 in Yantis. They will be quizzed on how they measure a bass and then if needed be shown the proper way to do it. All of this while their co-anglers look on to make sure they also know how to properly measure a bass. Boaters who are not fishing this event will be asked to come to a weigh-in when they do fish and to bring in their Check it Stik for review and review of the proper measuring procedure.
With the explanation in our rules and the demonstration of how we want it done we feel that anyone who thinks they can cheat in our tournaments is going to get a rude awakening.
And while I am speaking of our rules, I’d like to remind our co-anglers of the three- week rule. So, this week you fish with Felix. And he puts you on fish. Next week you are fishing with Sammy, and he has nothing. As his co-anglers you cannot take him to any of Felix’s spots even if it is a spot you have fished by yourself in the past. And that goes for your next two boaters for a total of three weeks.
The boaters have spent time finding these places to catch fish and even though they took you there in the tournament it is their spot, not yours to share.
By Bruce Allen
As stated by an unknown angler of why he wouldn't want to be in our "paper" club.
In the Lake Fork Anglers, we have been doing paper tournaments for 9 ½ years. And yes, there have been rumors of anglers cheating from time to time. Each incidence has been investigated and for the most part found to be untrue. One incident had to do with the boater not knowing how to properly measure a bass. (Mouth closed and hitting the bumper, tail pinched and swept to get the longest length. Flipping a fish is allowed.) Another had to do with using a measuring ruler not specified in our rules.
But, because we require both anglers in the boat to view the fish on the stick and agree on the length, we feel that we have more than covered the basis to make sure we have a fair measuring of each fish caught.
This year starting with the First Annual Bob Robert’s Memorial Shootout we are doing a boat check of all of the boaters who are fishing in the special 5th Thursday team tournament. Boaters will present their Check it Stik at 5 AM on Thursday June 30th at the SRA Park on SH 154 in Yantis. They will be quizzed on how they measure a bass and then if needed be shown the proper way to do it. All of this while their co-anglers look on to make sure they also know how to properly measure a bass. Boaters who are not fishing this event will be asked to come to a weigh-in when they do fish and to bring in their Check it Stik for review and review of the proper measuring procedure.
With the explanation in our rules and the demonstration of how we want it done we feel that anyone who thinks they can cheat in our tournaments is going to get a rude awakening.
And while I am speaking of our rules, I’d like to remind our co-anglers of the three- week rule. So, this week you fish with Felix. And he puts you on fish. Next week you are fishing with Sammy, and he has nothing. As his co-anglers you cannot take him to any of Felix’s spots even if it is a spot you have fished by yourself in the past. And that goes for your next two boaters for a total of three weeks.
The boaters have spent time finding these places to catch fish and even though they took you there in the tournament it is their spot, not yours to share.