The maritime law of salvage has its origins in Roman law, which dictated that one who preserved or improved upon the misplaced property of another was owed compensation, even if the service was not requested. Let’s get out the ole inter-webs seiner and get to work…
Viral 'Moment of the Week: The Lake Erie Walleye Tournament Cheating Scandal (as covered by the NY-Times) - “Tourney Director Jason Fischer became suspicious when the five fish he estimated to be about four pounds each — or 20 pounds total — weighed in at nearly 34 pounds. He inspected one of the walleye and felt a hard object in its stomach that seemed unnatural. “It’s not like they’re eating rocks,” he said. He grabbed a knife and sliced open the fish as a crowd looked on. The next few moments rocked the competitive fishing world…as lead sinkers hit the ground.”
The details that jumped out to us…
The angler team had won 6 of the last 10 major tournaments in the regional circuit, pulling in tens of thousands in cash and at least one boat as a prize.
The cheaters had “passed” 7 polygraphs/VSAs (voice stress analysis) tests administered over the last 2 seasons. Several of these tests were the result of “protest votes” from their peers, the others were random or rules-based.
The method by which these anglers cheated was incredibly brazen, idiotic and it seriously speaks to a sense of desperation. I’ve heard of cheaters packing fish heavily with ice (which melts to leave no trace after weigh-in), catching fish from hidden pens, and even building custom boat compartments to keep ‘pre-caught’ fish alive. I honestly wonder if this was one of the first times they cheated, if only to ‘keep up appearances’ of their success?
The tournament directors did everything ‘by the book’, and with a lot of class, to respect both the wishes of the other anglers and try to give their (former friends) the benefit of the doubt…Amazingly, despite the raucous crowd and colorful language, the cheaters were somehow unharmed in the aftermath, with law enforcement swiftly stepping in to calm the scene.
In the world of competitive fishing, the Walleye circuit is one of the sleepier niches, not usually covered by the likes of the NYPost, ESPN, and CNN. It’s certainly less popularized and made-for-TV than the Bass Pro Tour, and quite a bit less vitriol and ‘fuck you money’-infused than Saltwater Big-Game. I’m generalizing, but its filled with a lot of soft-spoken Midwestern guys (and a few gals) that do it for the camaraderie, the beers and cheers at the weigh-in, and the love of the game. Sure it is competitive, but for >90% of the participants, its not about the money at all. After-all, most of these folks are doing ‘just fine’, pulling up to the ramp towing a $50k boat behind a $75k truck. In most cases, the $500 check for a top 20 finish is an afterthought. I don’t think I’m that far off-base (having a bit of club tourney experience myself) when I say for 99.9% of freshwater tournament anglers, there is absolutely no long-term financial incentive.
So what drives bad apples to cheat? In my mind, it’s largely EGO. Looking back on some of the most recent cheating scandals in angling history, it always seems to come down to someone chasing (or hoping to maintain) an inflated image. Just 3 years ago, the former Big-Bass legend Mike Long saw his facade crumble after a former tournament partner and close friend provided irrefutable evidence of him snagging record-class bass off nests with weighted treble hooks, sneaking previously-caught fish into tournaments and lying about locations and times of his prior certified record catches. Long’s stolen winnings largely paled in comparison to the clout he received at the time, his brand seeing an explosion of media engagement, rod endorsements, and invitations to headline major trade-shows and seminars. By all accounts, Mike Long was a fantastic angler, only to be driven morally bankrupt by the delusions of his own grandeur.
Saltwater angling isn’t devoid of cheating either, the 2012 Ladies Kingfish tournament out of Kennedy County TX seeing seven female anglers indicted for weighing-in ‘pre-caught’ Speckled Trout. In 2019, one of Europe’s largest surf-casting tournaments saw the winner disqualified for submitting fish that were caught after official angling hours were closed. Close to home as well, the Martha’s Vineyard Annual Striped Bass & Bluefish Tournament has seen countless cheating scandals over the years, most famously covered in the “The Big One” authored by David Kinney. One infamous derby ‘winner’ was kicked out of the tournament when the weigh-master cut open his 55.5-pound striped bass catch — required when any fish takes the lead — and found additional weight in the form of frozen bait in its gullet. The man later blamed his sheer stupidity on a drug habit.
As much as it pains me to say, in a competitive pursuit built on the bedrock of the ‘long-armed grip and grin’, as long as there are fish and people pursuing them, there will be those driven to dishonesty to secure bragging rights. This may range from the casual utilization of a wide-angle lens (we’ve all been there) or recycling of old catches as new (truly the worst), to those who take it to brazen new depths (like our pals from Ohio). Unfortunately it’s just human nature. And so, while some will be quick to cry that it’s the fault of SoCiAl MeDiA and its ‘narcissistic generation’, I think there’s a silver lining here…because the only reason you’re reading (and likely upset about) this is because of the connectivity of social media.
I would be willing to bet that there was a heckuva lot more cheating in fishing tournaments before the internet, when ‘localized stupidity’ wasn’t punishable by a GLOBAL community. Anyone that has cheated or is thinking about cheating in a fishing tournament is probably having a healthy re-evaluation at the moment. Look no further than the concurrent scandal ensuing in professional chess at the moment (WSJ), where the dorks at Chess.com were able to statistically prove that dozens of grandmasters have been cheating on their website using player strength profiles and AI-engine comparison analysis. Technology is a dual-edged sword after-all.
In sum, as Uncle Ben in Spiderman famously stated, “with great power, comes great responsibility…” When a person’s online and IRL identity can be decimated by millions of re-posts in multiple countries, that $10,000 trophy belt doesn’t look so shiny when the consequence is your family’s name getting crystalized in our digital memory for the wrong reasons. At the end of the day, make sure you are fishing for the right ones…
Palette Cleanser Video of the Week: Deep Dropping in Aussie Waters (on Camera)
Fishing Reports: OnTheWater / Fisherman Mag / SaltyCape / Redtop
Local Knowledge: OK, rant over…let’s get back to the fun stuff, like Fall Bluefin patterns and weather-wishing for the long weekend. This time of year is without a doubt one of the most frustrating but rewarding stretches and it reminds me of the old George Costanza quote: “I gotta focus. I’m shifting into soup mode”.
The weather windows in October get tighter, the sea-state gets soupier, and the fishing (usually) makes up for the time and safety constraints. This past weekend was a prime example, a 7-hour window Saturday the lone opportunity for those making the run off the backside before the swell kicked up. Excellent reports of topwater action from earlier in the week had expectations at a high level, which ultimately led to some early frustration after finding multiple schools of BFT ravaging butterfish only to get blanked on a dozen ‘grade-A’ casts into feeds. Following shearwaters to the NE, we bounced from feed to feed with no joy on stick-baits or swimmers…ultimately retracing our steps into shallower waters where there was a more consistent biomass of life. Whether it was luck or veteran’s intuition, while my buddies Jack, ‘Silky’ and I stubbornly blind-casted Mantis’ and Sirens into productive water, a sneaky stern jig deployment from my father ultimately punched our ticket to a 70” rec sleigh ride. While anecdotal, the day’s events underline how necessary it is to take off the blinders this time of year when the fish aren’t responsive to your offerings. Expectations are simply that, expectations, and every day should be viewed as a (nearly) clean slate.
Satellite Tag Update: Northeast Striped Bass Tracking 2022 (FishingWire) —> Some incredible data visualization here…some of which will come as no surprise, and then some I’m sure will boggle minds. For one, the South to Northeast migration is pretty much spot-on, but the depths to which this data suggests Striper swim into/over is pretty wild. I’ve heard of NE Canyons boats catching/seeing Stripers out in the Eyeball and Marlin grounds, but maybe its not the exception to the rule…?
Is Following a Charter Captain Around on the Water Cheating? (SaltWaterSports) —> YES, please see the rant above about fishing for the right reasons…
Bucktails In Boulder Fields for Big Striped Bass (OnTheWater) - “Rocky shorelines and boulder fields are full of snags—snags that are often home to hungry striped bass. As opportunistic predators, stripers use the cover of big rocks and associated current breaks to ambush any prey that gets trapped among the hard structure. Small scup, black sea bass, sea robins, crabs, lobsters, and baitfish like peanut bunker or silversides are known to dwell in these environments, all of which can be imitated with the right size and color bucktail jig.”
Record Books: 77lb Albacore (SaltWater) & 393lb Swordfish Break Maryland Records (SaltWater)
Thanks for reading The Weekly Salvage, until next week!
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