THE STRIPER CUP LEADER BOARD

[nightprowler]

I was in #^&#^&#^&#^&'s a couple of weeks ago talking with steve and matt, the 35 and 46 that were caught before the team was formed were shore caught fish. matt was registered in the individual category as he has a 40 pin. after several regulars weighed fish in as individuals they decided they should form a team. it just happend that it was near the start of the comm season.
#^&#^&#^&#^&s is my local tackle shop and they have served me well since my grandfather taught me to fish. my very first rod was bought from steve and the majority of my gear since has come from him also.
i was simply surprised when i checked the leader board and saw that they had leap frogged teams that had been there from the begginning. maybe the fishing on the vineyard has been that good?
i know i have been taking some nice fish recently, so after a slow start on the vineyard it has finally heated up from shore...and apparently from the boat as well. i have heard of several other fish in the high 40's low 50's caught by folks who aren't comm or in the cup.
tight lines!!!

[Mike P]

NIB, how many big fish can a good comm get, realistically? I've seen guys come in this year with over 800 lbs. That's close to a 30# average on a 30 fish day.

Guys don't mind getting outfished on a level playing field. I certainly don't. If you beat me under the same rules, hey, I'll be the first to shake your hand. This isn't a comm/rec thing. This is the only tournament I know of that allows commercially caught fish to be entered. I don't have anything against commercial fishermen, just fish the OTW on your off days. If Lev went out there on a Monday and bagged that 57, hey, great job, kiddo. If Lev caught that fish on a Sunday and had two 40s in the boat, he had the advantage of keeping a fish that a rec couldn't. Still a great catch, but the deck was stacked in his favor.

Here is the other problem I have. Stevie Morris is fielding a team, OK, fine. I know Stevie is a straight shooter. It's not a problem with Stevie per se. It's a problem with what lawyers call, "the appearence of impropriety" #^&#^&#^&#^&'s is also an official weigh station--that's the reason the slips are getting in the same day they're caught. Now, if I catch a 35 lb fish on a Monday, and I take it to M&Ds to weigh, after I fill out the slip, Mike is going to send it in. If I catch a 43 lb on, say, Thursday, and weigh it in at Canal B&T, Bruce Miller is also going to send that slip in. When OTW gets it, they'll see I weighed in two fish in a week and the 43 won't count. Now, instead of being Stevie Morris, I'm Joe Sleazebag and I own a B&T. I'm a official OTW weigh station and I decide to field a team. What's to stop me from holding slips from my team for the week, and only sending in the largest fish for each member?

In the wrong hands, having your team captain as your personal weighmaster can be a problem.

Again, this is in no way a suggestion that these guys are doing that.

[In The Surf]

Originally Posted by Mike P

Here is the other problem I have. Stevie Morris is fielding a team, OK, fine. I know Stevie is a straight shooter. It's not a problem with Stevie per se. It's a problem with what lawyers call, "the appearence of impropriety" #^&#^&#^&#^&'s is also an official weigh station--that's the reason the slips are getting in the same day they're caught. Now, if I catch a 35 lb fish on a Monday, and I take it to M&Ds to weigh, after I fill out the slip, Mike is going to send it in. If I catch a 43 lb on, say, Thursday, and weigh it in at Canal B&T, Bruce Miller is also going to send that slip in. When OTW gets it, they'll see I weighed in two fish in a week and the 43 won't count. Now, instead of being Stevie Morris, I'm Joe Sleazebag and I own a B&T. I'm a official OTW weigh station and I decide to field a team. What's to stop me from holding slips from my team for the week, and only sending in the largest fish for each member?

In the wrong hands, having your team captain as your personal weighmaster can be a problem.

Again, this is in no way a suggestion that these guys are doing that.

This is not an accusation and I am in no way implying this happens but just an observation and something I've been wondering about as an area to address and prevent other possible ways of cheating.
We know slips can get there same day and even if not faxed once the slip is filled out there is a prepaid envelope for it to be mailed in. Easy enough for it to go out in the mail to get to OTW with in lets say 3-5 days. So how is it the month ends, you have a monthly leader for largest fish , it is now 10 or more days into the next month and now there is a new monthly leader for largest fish from the previous month. Who is to say you can't back date a slip on a fish caught a week or more into the next month to claim the monthly prize. just something else to think about.

[NIB]

Originally Posted by Mike P

NIB, Now, instead of being Stevie Morris, I'm Joe Sleazebag and I own a B&T. I'm a official OTW weigh station and I decide to field a team. What's to stop me from holding slips from my team for the week, and only sending in the largest fish for each member?

In the wrong hands, having your team captain as your personal weighmaster can be a problem.

Again, this is in no way a suggestion that these guys are doing that.

Is this illegal??
The rule simply states that fish for the week have to be entered by Sunday.The tackle shop guy is a busy man he has more important things to do then run to the P.O. every time a angler brings a fish in.That is why u see time lapses in the report section the dates are on the slips.That is what matters everything else is buy the rules.Or am I wrong by assuming this??Plus where does it say in the rules that if a angler gets a good fish on Monday an a better one on Friday he can't pull the slip. It just states he can only register one for the week.well it's still just one.One way of fixing this is to have numbered slips with the tackle shop responsible for keeping things in order sure mistake could be made but those slips would have to come in also. A stream of improprieties could be case for suspicion.I guess any contest will have room for doubt.Like I read somewhere else in this thread we have to have more faith in Our Fellow Man or not enter.

[Mike P]

My understanding of the rules is, once a fish is entered, it's entered. You enter it by signing the slip. You decide before you sign the slip whether to enter it, after you see the weight. Once you sign the slip, that slip gets sent in. I think if I was to ask the weighmaster to pull that slip so I could enter a bigger one, that'd be against the rules. And most of the weighmasters would refuse to do it.

As far as Major goes---there is conflicting information on whether he's even received a citation in the mail yet. It was clear he was not issued one on the spot, as it was too rough for the single EPO working solo to board. Also, since the EPO never boarded, the illegal fish were never seized as evidence, or even photographed. OTW is in a very bad position here. Could it be possible that, after the EPO conferred with his superior officer, the conversation went something like, "Gee, it's all well and good that you claim you saw 4 bass over the limit, but we don't have the fish, and we don't even have a picture of the fish. I think it'd be a waste of time to even cite the guy."? Can they disqualify a guy based on internet hearsay? Was the person who posted here when it happened, purporting to be Bill Major and admitting to a "miscue", even Bill Major? Major has 2 of the 5 keys to the lock that gives away the truck in his pocket. There is every possibility he'd institute legal action against OTW were they to disqualify him without a conviction in a court of law, or an unambiguous admission on his part.