Bass Tournament Fisherman Caught Cheating

[Governator]

I found this pretty interesting:

 

Wily criminal minds never sleep. Luckily for the forces of good and justice, neither do the dedicated men and women of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.

 

Robby Rose, 45, a competitive fisherman from Garland, was playing (fishing?) in a bass tournament in Rockwall County last October. Apparently the big ones weren't biting, so he decided to give Mother Nature a little help.

 

According to the TPWD, he stuffed a one-pound lead weight in the belly of one of the teeny, tiny fish he managed to catch.

 

The agency says:

 

Halfway through the competition, Rose turned in a fish. While Rose went to the polygraph area, weigh-in officials noticed that the bass had settled near the bottom of the tank it had been placed in. After examining the fish and finding a lump in its belly, they located Rose and told him they intended to cut it open.

The problem for Rose, besides being exposed as someone who would cheat in a bass tournament, was that the grand prize for winning was a $55,000 boat. That meant he could be charged with attempting theft of between $20,000 and $100,000, a state jail felony.

 

"We took this case very seriously," said Rockwall County Criminal District Attorney Kenda Culpepper. "As far as we were concerned, the case was about a $55,000 bass boat, not a ten-pound fish."

 

Rose pleaded guilty yesterday to the charge, and received five years probation and 15 days in jail. Even worse -- he has to give up his fishing license while on probation.

 

"Cheating is cheating," said lead prosecutor Alex Imgrund, "and neither the fishing community, nor this office, will tolerate it."

 

The fishing community -- a shining beacon of justice. Think of that the next time you try to game the Bud Light Trail Boss Big Bass Tournament on Lake Ray Hubbard.

 

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2010/04/bass_lead_weight_belly.php

[TC1OZ]

Ouch! Why would he think he could get away with that....

 

I mean sure if its a little local tourney and the top prize is a couple hundred bucks.... Maybe Gomer might not catch on....

 

But for a $55,000 bass boat... I think they are going to check the fish over once or twice....

[FISHINGNUT]

DUMB How would he think he could get away with a 1lb wieght in its gut

[DRIFTER_016]

DUMB How would he think he could get away with a 1lb wieght in its gut

 

 

Simple, he lives in an old trailer down by the rendering plant and is the offspring of kin marrying!!!

[walleyejigger]

good for him, CHEATER

 

"while rose went to the polygraph area"

 

does that mean what i think it means? u gotta take a lie detector test after bringing in ur fish LOL,

[Guest gbfisher]

There's more cheaters than you know. They just stop once they get sponsored is all.

[Rizzo]

polygraph area is actually for the fish..."Were you born a bass? Are you attracted to other bass?" ..please answer truthfully

[bare foot wader]

interesting story....never heard of that with bass tourneys but I know back in the day it used to be fairly common with musky, when everyone was chasing the world record

[bucktail]

Nice!!!

 

Wasntr there a guy that did that in the Salmon Hunt a few years ago?

I wonder how many times it really happens??

[sirfish]

Hard to believe that in this day and age that people are still pulling this crap.

Didn't one of our own try to pull that not too long ago...now if only I could remember his name...hmmm

[OhioFisherman]

They had a couple of guys here in Ohio get caught, they had hidden bass in a mesh fish basket, another competitor snagged the basket or saw it, found the fish and clipped the fins, and notified the tournament director. Dudes turned in the fish at the weigh in and were busted. They are blacked balled here from competition.

 

Why play the game if you can`t play fair?

[bigbuck]

CHEATERS NEVER PROSPER!!!

[capt bruce]

Heard many storys in the old days of salmon hunt that guys would stuff a 30 pound chinny with another two or three pounds of ice , when fish was thawed and examinded

nothing in the stomac .. dont have any proof and ice weighs alot less than lead but a big chinny has a big belly.but as been said CHEATERS NEVER PROSPER .

[BFSC Kevin]

I guess running each fish submitted through a metal detector or x-ray wouldn't be a very economical option?

Edited April 15, 2010 by kevin

[smally21]

there is a lesson to be learned here. stuff an equal amount of flotation to weight in your bass.

[charlesn]

I guess running each fish submitted through a metal detector or x-ray wouldn't be a very economical option?

 

Kevin, that is actually a valid option and one that is accounted for at the biggest event in southern Ontario, the Bass Pro Simcoe Open. There is a wand (similar to the airport scanners I guess) that would be used as needed. Catching a new Ontario record smallmouth would be worth approximately $110,000 or so to the catcher of that fish. The wand would certainly be used in that case.

 

The sad thing about this is that Robby Rose has won a bunch of money fishing in various circuits in Texas. This act of his puts a negative light on the tens maybe hundreds of thousands he has stolen from fellow competitors. I don't know how you could live with yourself. Money does strange things to people. I remember the one guy in Ohio that got caught was fishing for like a $300 prize and basically sold his reputation out for that amount of chump change, but it wasn't about the money - it was about the bragging rights I guess... Pathetic.

 

Glad to see he was caught, but I wish the sentence would've been even harsher to send a message or better yet, offer complete amnesty to every tournament angler ever cheated by the guy. You get one sweetly placed kick or punch for each event you got ripped off in. That would be a prety good deterrent I think...