Saturday SPRO held a crankbait only tournament at Guntersville. We didn't finish in the money but still it was a great tournament and good ledge fishing..... I got an email from SPRO that was sent out to everybody that competed in the tournament with the lie detector results. The winners used electronics from somebody who works at SPRO and that person also have a guide service on guntersville. The question was asked "Did they use any of the waypoints?" They said no and passed the test. In your opinion is this cheating or just shady?

Depends on the tournament rules.

 

What do the rules say about the use of waypoints?

 

Waypoints are used in tournaments all the time and by using the SPRO and guide's data they may have received a strong advantage but it may not be illegal.

 

it is sad to read that someone had to do this and damage the tournament's competitive spirit.

 

But sometimes guys and gals need help from outsiders to do well and it seems this angler in question received a nice advantage which may not have been illegal.

 

Shady?  Yes.

Cheating? No.

Good to hear you had a fun time. That's good sportsmanship attitude when you don't win. If I understand your post -- the winners passed the lie detector test, so unless there is proof of cheating, that should be the final word. Case closed.

The rules stated "No Guides" but didn't make any mention of waypoints. I wasn't in contention to win,but had I known a contestant was using a SPRO employee's electronics I would have never signed up. It seems extremely shady. We had a great time as this was my wife's first tournament but we may choose another tournament to fish

Seems shady to me too. I don't like that about tourneys. Everybody's looking hard for an edge. I know people complaining about cheating  in take-a-kid crappie tourneys.

 

I knew another guy when I was a kid who sunk gutted appliances at every spot he had all over the lake a couple weeks before a tourney to enhance the spots. Then he'd only enter tourneys on that lake. He won or placed in almost every one he could get in.

it is definitely shady and since this is a SPRO tournament and a SPRO employee was involved in providing the waypoints, at a minimum, if i owned SPRO, that guy would be fired for unethical behavior that impacts the competitiveness and spirit of the event.

 

I also find it very hard to believe that they didn't use the waypoints, maybe not day of the tournament but i am sure they review them to use from memory at a later time.

Do a lot of tourneys hand out polygraphs to the winners? Furthermore it's not like their accurate

Do a lot of tourneys hand out polygraphs to the winners? Furthermore it's not like their accurate

Seriously. Several decades of controlled experiments have shown pretty conclusively polygraphs don't distinguish truth-telling from lying well at all. I would not put much stock in the lie detection results.

LIe detectors for fishermen?  Seems paradoxical! 

LIe detectors for fishermen?  Seems paradoxical! 

If he passes, he's not a fisherman!

THANKS FOR THE INVASION OF PRIVACY UPDATE. 

 

If there were concerns about cheating going on they should have had checkers on the water during the tournament. 

 

I find this LD action disgraceful. I highly recommend a boycott against SPRO.

Use only Spro lures? Sounds like you didn't participate in a tournament, you participated in a commercial.

Hootie

Certainly sounds shady to me, I feel like using electronics from a guide on a waterway that has waypoints in it should not be allowed in the first place and should constitute an immediate forfeit, but I didnt write the rules. Also, lie detecors for fishing... seriously?

 

 

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day and drink beer.

When you hire a guide you are paying for his knowledge of the local lake.  Having a guides electronics with all of his waypoints is effectively having a guide...so I say it's cheating according to your "no guides" rule.  

 

Also, polygraph results are fairly controversial...probably more so when administered by some folks who are running a fishing tournament.  

 

People will always cheat...no matter what the contest...no matter how small the "prize"...even if it's just for pride or to be "known" as the guy who wins.

I agree, it's shady. If nothing else a conflict of interest.

It gave them an unfair advantage that not all other anglers had access to.

Why use the other persons electronics if you don't use the waypoints?

It gave them an unfair advantage that not all other anglers had access to.

Why use the other persons electronics if you don't use the waypoints?

x2

If he used someone elses waypoints , I consider that shady. Thats tournament fishing now days though. I imagine it goes on in the highest levels of the sport.  

The fact that there's a lie detector involved should be a red flag to you.  I wouldn't enter one that put my fate in the hands of a Ouija board either fwiw.  

  I've never competed in a tournament before but form my view point it's clearly cheating.  Cheat!

Meh, spots could have been learned in many, many other ways so I could care less. Would it have ok if they had emailed the waypoint coordinates before they knew they were going to fish the tournament? Is anyone with a secret spot privy to an unfair advantage? When I think of cheating, I think of putting big fish in a cage and using them for weigh in. Or cramming lead down a fish's throat. Or sabotaging a competitor. But spot sharing? Get over it. You got beat. Try again next time.

Because the spots were from a guide on G-Ville, yes its cheating. Had it just been from a Spro employee or another competitor, than no it wouldn't be cheating. It is only cheating because the rules state specifically: NO GUIDES. Otherwise, its not. Reason being, that sharing spots will happen. Pros do it a lot. Last year on FLW "Circuit Breaker" I believe that Clint Davis and JT Kenney were the ones being followed by the show, and they were travel partners if I remember correctly. Now they were on Kentucky Lake (or another ledge lake, can't 100% remember) but Davis knew he wasn't gonna make the cut, so he gave his spot (a secret ledge known to produce year after year known by only a few tour pros) to JT Kenney. So it happens, and in certain circumstances it is not cheating, but in this specific one I believe that it is cheating

We'd all like to assume everyone who casts a lure is honorable, unfortunately even in tournaments we find bad eggs. Last year I fished a Strike King open on lake Coeur D'Alene and the rule was to only fish with strike king baits.

 

Most of the boats did stick to this but I very specifically recall several of the top weights that day throwing roboworms, A Rigs, and several other quite unique baits to catch their bags. Sometimes you just have to shrug and say "oh well," or be the guy who makes noise about it and you're now potentially bolstering a reputation for being a stickler. Wish we had more larger tournys sponsored by companies like that. They offer nice checks!

I had no idea about somebody using the electronics until the day after and it didn't affect my placing at all.SPRO sent out the email of the lie detector results showing somebody questioned why the winners used the electronics. It just seemed odd to me that a SPRO employee who is also a guide on the lake the tournament is on seemed a little shady. We had a great time and culled up numerous times but not enough to finish in the money. I won 2 duckett rods in the raffle so it was a great time. I just was curious as to other people's opinion on the situation

Someone that works at Spro and has a guide service on the lake you fished a tournament loaned another contestant his sonar/GPS unit and won the tournament; is that what you are claiming?

Many tournament anglers are sponsored by tackle companies and work as guides on lakes they tournament fish at, it's common. Sharing way points happens all the time between tournament anglers that are close friends.

If your tournament had specific rules against sharing way points or guides fishing, then you have a good argument, however the TD apparently resolved that issue.

Anytime money is involved people tend to stretch rules, some cheat, that has always been a problem with fishing derbies.

Tom