Reeling in the cheats

[kickingfrog]

In light of the resent salmon fraud I thought this article from today's Globe and Mail might be interest to some on this board.

 

Link:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/

 

 

Cut and paste:

Reeling in the cheats

Gravel-stuffed bass. Frozen fish posed as fresh. Some fishermen do anything to win. But officials know how to net their prize. Hayley Mick reports

HAYLEY MICK

 

From Friday's Globe and Mail

 

June 27, 2008 at 8:52 AM EDT

 

As a veteran detective with the Winnipeg police polygraph unit, Lorne Huff measured the racing hearts of robbers, rapists and murderers.

 

In his retirement, the polygrapher-for-hire is nabbing liars and cheats of a different ilk - with questions like:

 

"Did you catch the fish you brought in today?"

 

"Did you use live bait?"

 

 

Enlarge Image

This is the state of the modern fishing derby, in which some anglers are so inclined to poke a little lead in their bass that organizers are hiring professionals such as Mr. Huff - a regular at two annual Ontario bass tournaments - to hook the fish fraudsters.

 

The problem reared its head this week at the Salmon Masters Derby on Lake Ontario, when news broke that an angler allegedly stuffed a one-pound (450-gram) steel weight into his chinook, entered it to win $500 for biggest catch of the day and landed a criminal charge of fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail.

 

But derby organizers across Canada have their own fishy stories.

 

Bass stuffed with gravel. Hidden underwater pens of walleye that are netted and handed in on derby day.

 

Salmon imported from other lakes, where fish are bigger.

 

"I've personally disqualified fish that were previously frozen," says Fred Geberdt, co-director of the Owen Sound Salmon Spectacular, a 10-day annual event on Georgian Bay in Ontario.

 

But as the prize caches get larger - some derbies dish out up to $500,000 in prizes including boats, trailers, trucks and $30,000 cheques - officials are becoming increasingly sophisticated at netting the cheats.

 

Some techniques belong in a CSI episode: species-specific calculations, polygraph tests and biologists on call to analyze gills and tissue - and decipher frozen from fresh, trout from chinook. Catch a cheater, officials say, and they'll ring the police.

 

"This is not the fun weekend up at the cottage," says Walter Oster, chairman of the Great Ontario Salmon Derby, a 50-day event with more than $450,000 in prizes.

 

Mr. Oster has sliced open salmon stuffed with rocks, ice and steel. One summer, he forced a Montreal woman to take a polygraph after other competitors swore she'd had children who hadn't paid an entry fee in her boat (which is against the rules) and reeled in a fish worth $30,000 in prizes. She flunked.

 

But the biggest swindle attempt came a few years back, when a Toronto man tried to enter a salmon he'd stuffed with seven pounds (three kilograms) of lead pipe and rock. The man was slapped with two counts of "cheating at play" and two counts of attempted fraud over $5,000.

 

To someone whose idea of fishing is casting off a dock, a criminal charge for fish tampering may sound extreme. But not to serious sports fishermen.

 

"They deserve all they get," says Harry Joncas, a retired charter operator from Hamilton who has fished for more than 25 years. "It's no different than embezzling money from a bank."

 

To be good, anglers say, their sport requires as much dedication as golf or hockey. Some practise every day, starting in spring and ending in the fall. Competitions can eat up weeks when you include travel time, a "prefish" to scope out the lake, and the derby itself.

 

On top of that, thousands of dollars are invested in gas, hotels, fishing licences and entry fees. Canadian anglers, including sports fishermen, spent more than $1.6-billion on food, lodging, transportation and supplies in 2005, according to Statistics Canada's most recent data.

 

When you take all that expense into account, plus the potential prizes, cheating at a derby is a serious offence, says Detective Constable Mark McNeil of the Niagara Regional Police Service's fraud unit. "It does play out like any other fraud."

 

An avid fisherman who has won a few tournaments himself, Det. Constable McNeil happened to be working when Salmon Masters Derby organizers called to report the lead-stuffed salmon.

 

Tournament organizers were shocked, Det. Const. McNeil said, since the man is well known in the competitive fishing circuit. Norval Boufford, who was charged with fraud under $5,000, runs a fishing tour company on Lake Erie, and has won previous competitions. In an interview, Mr. Boufford said he weighted his fish as a joke to impress his wife.

 

The incident had anglers buzzing online. Some were angry. "No class," one wrote. Others sympathized because, whether he's convicted or not, Mr. Boufford's reputation has suffered.

 

In a world as small as competitive fishing, damage to one's reputation can be worse than a day in court.

 

"Never mind the money - just the embarrassment alone!" says Frank McClymont, a competitive fisherman and co-director of the Kenora Bass International tournament in northern Ontario. "You could just not go to the coffee shop any more. You wouldn't be seen on the water."

 

So, with so much on the line, why do some people cheat?

 

"They want to see their names in lights," Mr. Oster says. "They want to win a boat and trailer."

 

Others say competitive fishing is like any other sport. In rare cases, even the best of them (Barry Bonds, anyone?) bend the rules.

 

When they do, people such as Mr. Huff and his polygraph machine will be ready.

 

"It's a lot of fun," the 70-year-old says of his summer gig, including major bass tournaments in Fort Frances, Ont., and Kenora, where he has a cottage. He's had no major busts since he started in 1992.

 

"Most of them are professionals," he says of the anglers he grills. "They'll tell you anything you want to know."

[Clampet]

Yeah, I know someone from my hometown that entered (and won) the same Perch 3 years in a row. He was suspected of cheating by the third time. (Gee that perch looks wrinkled!)

[Greencoachdog]

Nobody likes a cheater eh?

[Rich]

What needs to be looked into sometimes as well is the contest itself.

 

I'm not pointing any fingers as it may be coincidence - but I found it odd that ALL of the firemen's kids (run by the volunteer firefighters) at the Port Dover perch derby for a couple years won a daily "random draw" prize.

 

Could it have been coincidence? Absolutely. I was just a little suspicious. I think some investigation should go into these things as well.

[BabyHerc]

Yet another reason I dislike the ego-glorification of fishing that is bass tournaments.

 

Chris

[Terry]

I don't think it has anything to do with ego-glorification...it's fraud...plain and simple...it has nothing to do with fishing or fishing tourneys

other then that's what they have decided to steal from

[Reel Nauti Pirate]

I was an entrant in a tournament in Northern Michigan where the winning 5 fish were found to have been pumped full of clear silicone.

[MuddyWater]

my personal favorite was fishing in a wally tourny and just before the weigh in this boat with these people that im not gona mention went over to an area that would probably never hold wally's and manage to get like 5 big ones in minutes..... BIRD CAGES THEY PUT BIRD CAGES IN THE WATER AND JACK THEM FULL OF BIG FISH BEFORE THE TOURNY!!!! tournys have to much cheatin goin on.

[MoriaRiverMan]

Hmmmmmm

I could use a free new boat........

 

Shall the best cheater win

[Chris]

BabyHerc

Yet another reason I dislike the ego-glorification of fishing that is bass tournaments.

 

Maybe you should re-read the last line of the article

 

He's had no major busts since he started in 1992. "Most of them are professionals," he says of the anglers he grills. "They'll tell you anything you want to know."

 

[nofish4me]

I figure there's always been two types of people, cheaters and losers. LOL.