Cuivre

I also think that many people don't realize what a fully rigged tournament kayak looks like. I routinely have 9 rods/reels in holders behind me/staged beside me, with exposed treble hooks. The rods behind me have coiled trimmer cord tethers on them. I also have a throttle beside my seat for my Torqeedo, an Anchor Wizard, depthfinder, DonkeyLeash and anchor trolley. Even my Ketch board has a tether on it. If I were to ever flip my kayak (knock on wood, it hasn't happened), I can be very sure it would be nothing like jumping off an uncluttered dock in the summertime in swim trunks-there are far more risks of entanglement involved with what surrounds serious kayak fishermen with a rigged kayak. You could be snagged by hooks, clothes snagged on a gear fitting, etc. (happened to me when getting out of my yak in shallow water). Your "I'm an excellent swimmer" status goes out the window very quickly when you instantly become unable to move freely due to these hazards.

I learned the importance of PFDs when I did canoe trips in Alabama when I was in grad school at Auburn floating some class 2 and 3 rapids. The buddies I hung out with stressed it as my informal "mentors". When I got into tournament kayak fishing, it was required, and it quickly became part of "me"- plus a spot for my camera and other incidentals (NRS Chinook model). I used to push and fight hard for the importance of a PFD on kayaks, but I've run across too many people who think that is an integral part of what "freedom" means to them. I have since become cynical and remorseless for those "excellent swimmers" who die thinking they know better. It also makes it easier to spot the kayaker noobs on the water- they invariably aren't wearing a PFD. All kayak sales should come with a PFD as a condition of sale.

Kind of a close cousin to an excuse an old coworker of mine used who was Kuwaiti. He was pretty direct and politically incorrect at times with women, so he figured out that whenever he said something that got him in trouble he would use the "its a LANGUAGE barrier!" excuse. He could speak perfect English, but he knew HR couldn't devise a come-back for him when he said that. It got to be such a joke everyone else started to us that excuse. LOL. At least Ben didn't say "I got HACKED!", but claiming the license he was 99% sure he had mysteriously disappeared comes pretty close.

That and they may not yet have heard about HOBIE not having their series. Joshua B. runs a couple great tournament series. Years ago I tried unsuccessfully to have MoYak cover the entire state of MO, but he said they had too low of turnout for lakes north of I-70. About that time KAMO started up and they do cover the entire state's 4 corners.

I saw this reply from BM to a friend of his' YouTube video. It sheds some more light on the details and a bit of what/how Ben is thinking about: A couple facts to provide that were missed: I actually wasn’t required to provide a fishing license at the time the fish was taken, had my license been checked, this would have been avoided. I was made aware a few hours after ShareLunker took the fish, that I needed to submit the catch to their app. I was still fishing and had terrible reception, so when I couldn’t find my license info on the TPWD nightmare of a website, I said screw it, I make a living fishing these awesome Texas lakes, I’ll just buy another year license for $40 so I can submit the catch and get on with fishing. I was 99% sure I had a fishing license purchased the previous September, I’ve purchased a fishing license every year since I moved to Texas and 6 times prior to moving to Texas…I also had a fishing license in 11 different states last year, plus Ontario. Also, regarding the prize packages in the drawing, I believe the drawing is for 2 different $5k fishing tackle bundles. Ironically, the company I own, 6th Sense, donated $5k worth of product to the ShareLunker program each year. So my “intent” was allegedly to win back tackle that my company donates to them.

My first "fishing vessel" was a used Ram-X 15 canoe I bought in 1990 out of grad school. I ended up tricking it out with a Trolling motor and a shoot through the hull Eagle depthfinder. I got lots of comments when I was on the water with that-had lots of fun with it and never flipped. Graduated through a Tracker, Aluma-Weld (pre-XPress brand) and now an HP180 G3. But I did get back into the small vessel bassin in 2015 and bought a Perception Pescador Pro120, then a Jackson Coosa FD....then added a Torqueedo motor. I think it depends on what your goal is. I got heavily involved in kayak fishing tournaments and traveled the mid west and south fishing them, so that made me see other folk's kayaks and the rigging chase becomes a real deal. Kayak fishing/tournaments are still a 'brotherhood' type of activity, and people are much friendlier than those you run across in bass boat tournaments (been there, done that). We have camp-outs, campfires, feasts, tip sessions and other BS sessions the weekend of our tournaments-it is something to take away regardless of your tournament performance. It is worth checking out if you want to meet like minded folks. Most clubs allow canoes in tournaments as well, but double check first and find a mentor to help you get familiar with the rules and process of measuring and submitting fish.

So, you didn't hang around to watch him chumming the water with his puke? Such a classy dude. BASS should be proud to have him on their "advisory committee"!

One of the reasons I don't use the term "MFer" when I refer to him/his groupies. I call them the more accurate (in a couple different ways) "BMers". Ben is approaching middle age, yet he still tries to project the same attitude as the teenagers and tried to be the "Edgy Cool Guy" in a community where kids, and immature adults, still look up to him and where that holds cachet. I honestly like 6th Sense baits- some of them are my 'go-to' soft plastic and frog baits. I can separate the representative from the product. Many people have a problem with that.

Very true. Ben didn't, and he got a simple citation for that. That would have been the end of it in any other situation where an 8 or 13 pound Share A Lunker bass wasn't involved. People seem to persistently ignore the fact that he got into the bigger mess for knowingly committed fraud- not the actual license violation. They are linked, because Ben lied about the "fish was caught legally" requirement. Ask any politician- it is rarely the first offense that is the most serious. The actions that result FROM that first offense is where things typically start to go south.

Anything we are discussing is not a court record or official judgement or condemnation in any way- nor is it going to be used to hang anyone on any cross. Let's not take things overly seriously (or literally). This is what "discussion forums" are about- to discuss. If people genuinely don't want to discuss it, the best way is to continue to sit silently on their high horse.

I read that the SAL banquet was the time when things got checked and when the SAL committee verified the lapsed license. So, he had from February to then to have his contest/tournament entry pulled out of consideration for the $5-10K prize drawing. A real question is for how long was it lapsed- did he do the typical Aug 31 effective license starting date or did he buy the version that was dates to dates other than that date. If he went from Aug 31 to Feb without a license, he would have a lot of video content proving he was fishing without a license in that interval and therefore in violation. Live by video content, get busted by video content, I guess.

He literally was charged with tournament fishing fraud. The thread title is correct, as written.

Just to demonstrate the faulty reasoning and holding to a principle (i.e. not a "comparison"): Did the infamous walleye cheaters in OH get prize money before they were caught and wasn't their entry "voided" as well? They never took any money so they only could have "potentially" have won something as well!!!! The operative words are "intent", and entering a contest/tournament/drawing demonstrates de facto intent, no matter if he donated prizes to it. At least the way many in law enforcement may see it. I don't consider him anyone of "my own" either. I couldn't stand to be in the same boat as him for 30 minutes. He shows disrespect to other people, the sport, tradition, and the fish itself. His attitude is why I quit participating in the bass boat tournament scene and converted to kayak tournaments.

One thing I have picked up on among the many comments on boards, videos etc. (even on Milliken's own video), is a philosophy pushing back against the need to even have a fishing license. Kind of like the videos of sovereign citizens saying they don't need a Driver's License because that is not needed and it is their right to "travel". Like I said, I've seen Milliken express this philosophy himself, so, if TPWD sees him spouting this ideology for his little follower posse to start to adopt, TPWD might very well see a need to nip that in the bud, in a very visible manner. Ben put his head on a silver platter for them, if they were looking for this opportunity to pull this nascent movement out, root and stem.

Sounds like the pattern the winner of the KBF National Championship used when I fished it years ago (Caddo). I was fishing a similar pattern, but not as slow as he said he was. He would actually make the line (with senko) wrap itself around the cypress tree trunk to get the maximum coverage under the water. Learning how to focus and settle your mind while fishing slow is a skill that will definitely pay dividends.

Not that this detail matters, but he entered the tournament when he signed the dotted line for the prize packs/shopping spree he got a chance at by submitting his big fish. Tournaments come in all shapes and sizes, and if entries are received and prizes handed out, it is legally a tournament. It even says it on his booking sheet and the blurb released by the law rep. Lots of people seem to think this makes a difference-poacher, cheater, fraudster? Pick one and try to brag about it like Ben is doing by using his mug shot as his IG avatar. THAT will surely ingratiate himself to those prosecuting him! (NOT!). His lack of seriousness, and not recognizing he needs to show remorse and humility during this time will not serve him well. He is doubling down on behavior/character that causes many people to dislike him.

Our kayak club has some "radius events" like this around a certain location. Sometimes they have a specific list of lakes, but other times the lake has to be on our state (MO) fishing app list of public lakes within the radius of a certain address, via Google maps. Our TDs fish our tournaments but they don't judge the on-site tournaments. Your directors having additional lakes added with that short of a notice should have caused ALL of the members to have said something. The larger the lakes, the more fair it is! We had one tournament where 4-5 kayaks were fishing the same 20-30 acre lake for one such event- and a couple of the guys who placed (including the overall winner) was one of them. One innovative thing we did a couple years ago was to have some sponsors give a special prize for a certain listed lake's biggest fish (guided half day trip, good sized gift equipment certificate or fishing gear). Some prizes were big enough that the members went to that lake just to win that prize and to be on an unpressured lake, even though it might not have been the "best" lake on the list.

If his license was not in effect during an Elites BASS event during that window, he might catch another wave of grief from the mothership BASS. Having to parse out the difference between being a "cheater", a "poacher" or a "fraudster" isn't a very enviable position to be in. LOL!

Have you fished the All American Kayak Series? I've hit several of their tournaments in the past and it is a well run series. Lake Wilson is on the schedule this year- I fished it several years ago and liked it.

I think they waited until the awards program before they realized he wasn't going to ever come clean about him catching it while he was without a license. I'm sure he had to sign the tournament/contest/drawing form stating he caught the fish legally. Maybe he thought that citation was expunged after he paid the fine at the time of him submitting the fish to the SAL personnel. The contest is a distinctly different deal with higher amounts of money involved. Some on another board claimed that "double jeopardy" applied, but these were two totally different violations. I heard Ben got busted before in NE for not paying to fish a pay lake-he paid a fine for himself and his posse. We had a similar problem with a club in my state. A good angler took some money in our club events and qualified for the National tournament. The club pres. was alerted that he did not/could not buy a fishing license-he used back channel methods to find that he indeed did NOT have a fishing license. By this time he was pre-fishing for the National Champ tournament and the National director told him he had to literally show his license. He had lied repeatedly to the club officers and delayed and defected, but this time he was busted and got sent home. I was told he didn't pay child support or some such deal, and that caused him to not be allowed to buy a fishing license.

Before making a firm decision, you might want to see if you plan to fish kayak tournaments. They are very popular and the type of people who fish them are generally much friendlier and down to earth than the glitter boat crowd. Most competitive guys and girls have an electric motor on it or at least a pedal drive. If you just want to putter around- it isn't as important. Don't get a 10 foot kayak for your size-that is way too small. Oared inflatable catamarans became obsolete in the 1980's. There are many possibilities for a guy your size- many kayak anglers are big guys.

I second Custom Mold and Tint. My brother got a windshield for his 1989 Ranger for them after a coangler broke a piece off it by using it to get out of their seat. (it was me-but I paid for it. LOL!)

I think the first point of information is:- will you pay cash for the boat or finance it? I can buy a boat like those with cash now, but I have to also keep in mind what else I could do/buy with that money and the amount of time I have to enjoy it. When I decide to upgrade, I will likely pick a 19 foot aluminum rig with a 200 on it.

The east wind curse is true, in my opinion. It validated that idea this past weekend for me at a local lake I usually do pretty good at. My other buddies on the water at the same time also found it extremely tough, and I've noticed it many other times. I can't see how people cannot pay attention to the wind! Wind from the West, the fish bite the best! Wind from the south, it will blow the bait in their mouth!