poaching and the striper cup
 

Rumor has it one of the big guns was busted last night for poaching?

oops!

scuppers ?

rut rooooo

Ouch
 

:call: ...:cputin: ....:liquify: ....

:lasso: ......:hang:......... :faga: ........:behead: .............:whackin:

:mad: :mad: Really nice. Poaching, cheating, whatever - the guy is now a fraud in my book. I don't care how big the fish he caught were.

There should be a legal way to ban guys like that from even touching a rod & reel again.

I hate poachers!!

Anyone know if he will be dq'd from the tournament?

Its in the works...looks inevitable....buh bye :wiggle:

the 50's he caught are still quite an accomplishment..
however....
i agree. the guy is a fraud. he was trying to line his pockets with a few more bucks. im a commercial fisherman and this guys actions make me sick. he gives all honest, hardworking, lawabiding commercial fisherman a bad name.
they should have confiscated his boat/gear/truck.
poaching lobsters will get you a much heaftier fine/punishment, why is bass any less???
he should be banned for life from the OTW tournament.
he should have his commercial licence revoked immediately.
:liquify: :liquify: :liquify:

Keel haul him and hang him from the mizzen topgallant mast.

Let me get this straight.

A very large corporate sponsored competition with big prizes and little oversight...

SOMEONE IS CAUGHT CHEATING

And people are suprised?

-spence

The problem is he is not the only one doing this jumpstart thing before the comm season starts, plenty of them do it :( . He got caught. And good for the EPO's for doing their job, why just a citation though? :huh: can't they confiscate his equipment? I hope they caught more of them.

I hope this thread doesn't go the wrong way and start bashing some guy because of a rumor on another website.

Tell me how his cheating in any way increased his chances of winning a major prize. Unless you consider a trophy as a major prize.

There are no cash prizes, and the grand prizes are going to be awarded by a luck-of-the-draw raffle at the closing beer fest.

yep, I agree

Can't they atleast revoke his Comm bass license?

• Monthly Winners (5) -Heaviest Striper Each Month
Will be eligible to win the Grand Prize 4 x 4

-spence

No surprise - that's part of the problem with this tourney to begin with. I'm sure there is other cheating going on.

so are you speculating that he may have higraded or something with those 50's since he seems to have been caught poaching the night before comm season?
it's up the OTW to determine that kind of thing I would imagine.

but you are correct, winning as many of the monthly's as you can will increase your chances at the 4x4

The contest should disqualify dishonest people IMO but like I said, it's up the OTW I'd imagine.

Everything is now suspect.

Who knows...but (assuming it's true) if someone isn't on the level anything is open to question :hs:

-spence

His name is Major Mud now:eyes:

Unfortunately, for many people the recognition is more important than cash or prizes. Ego is a powerful motivator. It'd be nice if it were not that way, but it is what it is.

Like I've written before, tournaments bring out the worst in people. I've seen people do things that I would not have believed if I had not been there - for no money. I believe it's naive to think that a poacher would not have cheated in the competition by culling, fishing outside the 3 mi limit, etc.

Major Jack A$$ is more like it! Nice that a scumbag has been outed!:kewl:

See ya, I have no respect for cheaters. Without a doubt he should be DQ

No real suprise this has happened if it is in fact truth - which will come out in due course.

OTW should look into this and when the details are in, do the right thing. So far I think they have been doing the right thing when concerns are brought to them, the rules for example.

Curious to see how this plays out...

Should take his license for a few years, at the least, to teach him and anyone else a lesson. A citation, give me a break. I'm sure this is the first time he ever did it.:bl: There called rules for a reason. Not fair to the majority who follow them. I know plenty do it and will continue too until the know there is a penalty. And still some will continue. You got to keep the honest people honest. As far as the OTW thing if they allow this guy to continue in their tournament and he is guilty of this charge than they are wrong in my book. I am sure they will do the right thing to his standings in the tourney.:behead: P.

Ya what Paul said ........................geeszzzz

ps. and I still like #^&#^&#^&#^& Hathaway....more to that story but thats for another day :shocked:
VB

I must admit
 

I really have caught numerous Striped Bass in the 30 to 50 lb range since entering the contest but have been too humble and shy to admit so or enter them :laughs:


Major #^&#^&#^&#^&

Just curious, what does a citation mean in this situation? Will he have to appear in court? Just pay a fine? Loose his license? How much bite does the law have for this kind of stuff?

Wow – is anyone really surprised at this? Many discussions were held about this tourney before it started – and to OTWs credit they revised it to help alleviate a potential and somewhat perceived large “dead fish tournament”.

Now seeing how popular it has become I have to say I’m disappointed in our recreational striped bass fishing community as a whole. Even my own club agreed to enter the tourney and some of our members are participating. When I read the leader board I hurt inside as I tally up the pounds of quality bass killed – for the mere sake of a pin in some cases.

In my opinion a pin-hooker shouldn’t be participating in this tourney – and it would also be naive to think that a majority of the bass entered into this event are not also going to market. I have nothing against commercial sale, as long as it’s done legally, but we all know that strange things are done for a buck…

I am encouraged however by some of the younger guys I’ve been able to influence, they’ve taken some real nice fish that were eligible for this tourney, and released them alive. And they feel good about it. Congrats to them. I’m proud of you.

Keep the “catch and release” concept alive, especially for the cows.

“Limit your kill, don’t kill your limit”

DZ

This is the scenario that Mr. Sandman brought up the other day in another post. Catch your two fish allowed under state law an continue fishing and culling using the legal commercial license to smoke us all. I think that no fish should be allowed to be weighed in for the OTW tourney while the commercial season is open.

DZ I agree wholeheartedly with this statement.

Yup!

That would work for a Mass-only tournament. But the OTW stretches from Maine to New Jersey. Would it be fair to close it for them?

I know this is a pipe dream, but what Mass really ought to consider is a commercial slot limit, like NY's. I think the NY commercial slot is 26" to 34", or maybe 36".

And maybe allocate tags among the existing license holders and limit new licensees. You get allocated tags based on what you reported on your annual catch report, and have to tag every fish when it's landed. DMF comes aboard, no tags, that automatically becomes a rec fish and if there are more than 2 per man, you're screwed. Use up your tags, you're done for the season. That's how NY operates. If people overstate their catches to get more tags, then the tax folks can compare what they reported on their catch reports against what was reported on their state tax return. And it will stop guys from low balling their catches.

This guy should do the right thing and ASK to be removed from the Tournament for the good of all participants, including himself.

Sometimes ya just gotta admit ya made a mistake and take your lumps like a man.

I told you something like this would happen.

DZ, you want to feel sick, watch them unload 30 big fish, day after day boat after boat.

You will find most comm guys bend the rules...many of the comm guys cull out the smaller fish for the jumbos now. (dead or alive) the guys that fish with scup **all** fish with undersize fish. How do I know this? When the officer approaches the fleet, they all dump and run wide open in all directions. He nabs one guy for a few 9" scup. I have seen this myself more then once. Why dump and run if you are not breaking the law. Some catch 30 fish, sell them, then go back out and get more and sell them under a lic that is idle for a percentage, few guys get caught and the fine is not significant . Then you have the black market (which does not exists in the eyes of the state), the by catch dumping of dead fish and the fishing in the eez that also does not go on.) There are a million ways to work around these rules. They should JUST TAKE THE PRICE OFF THE FISHES HEAD and all will be well.

Most Comm fishermen don't think the rules apply to them and they think they are better fishermen then everyone else and because "we can't" catch 30 fish in a day we are jealous and want to ban them from doing it. This is a childish perspective. They should not be allowed to enter a rec contest.

**IF** this really happened to this guy I want to know what actually was done to him. Did they impound his boat? they should have. Did they remove his comm lic forever, they should have. Did they fine him, they should have. OTW must take some firm action IF this actually happend and perhaps ban him from further entry forever or the contest is doomed. You must hold in high regard the ethics and sportsmanship qualities or foregetaboutit, this is a test for the contest IMO.

All that said, I am confident OTW will do the right thing, they have some good people over there that know what they are doing and know what they want this contest to become.

I am not so sure the state will do the right thing however.

You tell me, how can you award "angler of the year" and probably some other awards to a convicted poacher ?

I think based on the response in this thread alone, if this proves to be true, OTW better ban him or they won't have a contest anymore...
I, for one, would never participate again and probably cancel my subscription if they let this slide. But I am sure they will do the right thing.

Speaking of poaching, there are several private vessels in my homeport of Green Harbor (Marshfield, MA) who for the past few weeks have been targeting and keeping large striped bass caught in the EEZ Zone (Stellwagen Bank) and bragging about it. Enforcement of fishery regulations appears to be non-existent.

i understand your frustrations...but please don't paint everyone with the same broad brush.