Angler caught cheating in Upstate NY walleye tournament, stuffed fish to increase weight - newyorkupstate.com

An angler was disqualified last weekend from the Bart's Cove Duel walleye tournament in Dunkirk for allegedly stuffing his catch to tip the scales in his favor.

When tournament director Mark Mohr sliced open Lake Erie walleye caught by Peter Smith, 57, of Forestville, at the weigh-in on Saturday, he discovered they'd been stuffed to the gills with smaller fish, including a 12-inch walleye missing its tail and a whole white perch, according to Outdoor Life.

"They both had holes in their lips, and they were both stuffed inside bigger walleyes," Mohr told Outdoor Life. "The 12-inch walleye, it looked to me like they tried to stuff it and it wouldn't go down, so they cut the last three inches off. It was suspicious because the fish was still really bright, and then I picked it up and could see a hook mark in its lip."

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation police confiscated the fish and DEC's Division of Law Enforcement is actively investigating a complaint from tournament organizers.

Angler caught cheating in Upstate NY walleye tournament, stuffed fish to increase weight

DEC's Division of Law Enforcement is actively investigating a complaint from tournament organizers.via Facebook

More than 30 teams competed in the tournament. Entrants paid $500 each for a chance to win cash prizes, a fishing trip to Panama valued at $14,500, and a deer hunting trip to Kansas.

The tournament is 100% payout, and all prize-winning fish are cut open and examined to discourage exactly the kind of cheating Smith is accused of.

Last October, two anglers were caught red-handed at an Ohio walleye tournament for stuffing lead weights in their fish, leading the tournament director to shout the now immortal phrase, "We got weights in fish!"

In Facebook posts Mohr said that he's "banned for life" seven people on more than one team for cheating during the tournament, not just Smith, but he didn't elaborate. Mohr also promised to privately share the names with fellow tournament directors.

Angler caught cheating in Upstate NY walleye tournament, stuffed fish to increase weight

An angler was disqualified last weekend from the Bart's Cove Duel walleye tournament in Dunkirk for allegedly stuffing his catch, shown here, to tip the scales in his favor.via Facebook

"I appreciate everyone's patience to let me get to the bottom of this mess," Mohr wrote. "People who cheat and get caught are permanently banned from fishing this event. People who cheat have no respect for me or there fellow fisherman."

Ironically, Smith didn't need to cheat to win the tournament.

"But the thing about it is that Pete didn't have to stuff them," Mohr told Outdoor Life. "He only gained maybe 10-12 ounces, less than a pound. But he had a 22-something-pound bag, and the next closest was 19 pounds."

READ MORE

'Weights in fish!' Pro anglers narrowly avoid getting filleted for cheating in Lake Erie walleye tournament - newyorkupstate.com

Steve Featherstone covers the outdoors for The Post-Standard, syracuse.com and NYUP.com. Contact him at sfeatherstone@syracuse.com or on Twitter @featheroutdoors. You can also follow along with all of our outdoors content at newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/ or follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/upstatenyoutdoors.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

This fish is worth $300,000 - New York Post

This fish is worth $300,000 - New York Post This fish is worth $300,000 - New York Post Posted: 05 Jun 2016 12:00 AM PDT With exacting precision, the surgeon inserted the scalpel above the eyeball and cut out a snotty deposit of fatty tissue. The routine eye-lift was nearly complete when suddenly the patient awoke, suffocating, and began to flop about on the table. The audience gasped. Knowing time was of the essence, the surgeon scooped up the patient in his arms, raced across the stage, and dropped her into a tank of water. She revived. Because she was a fish. Yes, fish eye-lifts exist. As do fin jobs and tail tucks. The operating theater was a mall in Jakarta, Indonesia, where a pet expo was under way. As for the patient, she survived, her formerly droopy eyes now bright and perky. A good thing, too, as this was no ordinary goldfish but rather an Asian arowana, the world's most expensive aquarium denizen, rumored to sell for as mu
Read more

NilocG Launches New Website for the Only All-in-One Thrive Fertilization Solution for Planted Aquariums - PRNewswire

Image
NilocG Launches New Website for the Only All-in-One Thrive Fertilization Solution for Planted Aquariums - PRNewswire NilocG Launches New Website for the Only All-in-One Thrive Fertilization Solution for Planted Aquariums - PRNewswire Posted: 11 Mar 2021 02:00 AM PST ALBANY, Ore. , March 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NilocG launches a new website for planted tank enthusiasts to gather and make THRIVE, a plant fertilizer that assures planted tank aquascapes flourish while eliminating the need for multiple products more readily available online. The company also takes it a step further in the industry, making its flagship product easy to dose, super-concentrated, and an all-in-one solution based on an effective EL dosing method with all essential micro and macronutrients. Continue Reading Thrive fertilizer: North America's most trusted aquarium plant fertilizer Colin Grice , CEO, a self-described planted tank lover, re
Read more

Catching Dory: selling aquarium fish supports coastal livelihoods in Indonesia | npj Ocean Sustainability - Nature.com

Image
Abstract The global marine aquarium trade has created new local markets across the planet, including in Indonesia, now the second-largest exporting country of marine aquarium fish in the world. Participating in the global aquarium trade has been touted as a potentially sustainable addition to fisher livelihoods, but scant data exist showing the numbers of fish coming off the reef and how those fish contribute to income. To determine how participants in the trade incorporate aquarium species in their livelihoods, we examine source-level aquarium fish collecting and trading data in the Banggai Archipelago, a region in Central Sulawesi that has become a significant source for popular aquarium, also known as ornamental, fish species. Using a sustainable livelihoods lens, we examine this data to understand how participants in the aquarium trade both contribute to as well as benefit from the trade and consider how their participation relates to emerging Blue Justice principles. From one year
Read more