Was the tournament hurting that bad for entrants?

Ironically, ol pony tail Millie has a video about this very incident.

 

Cerebral Tackle posted an interview with Houseman.  All I'm going to say is wow.

On 11/11/2025 at 4:49 PM, Swamp Girl said:

he said he caught 157 smallmouth in a day

Look out @Swamp Girl, you’ve got competition!

1 hour ago, DogBone_384 said:

Look out @Swamp Girl, you’ve got competition!

 

I once caught 254 and 251 smallies in consecutive days. Sadly, I can't reach that lake anymore and even if I had a young man to carry my canoe and gear to the lake, I couldn't fish from pre-dawn to post-dusk, which is how you catch 254 smallies in a day.

I tried listening. I got 10 minutes in and I cannot believe a word he said. Hunter who was mentioned him and I do talk occasionally on instagram. I have not met him personally but, we talk fishing and do plan on fishing together at some point.  When he said the whole kayak washed down the river and he kept it is a big red flag. He would have had to report it and if no one came forward then he could have claimed it. At that point it’s still stolen property. 

On 11/27/2025 at 8:20 AM, Susky River Rat said:

I tried listening. I got 10 minutes in and I cannot believe a word he said.

SAME.

 

I was really interested into what he had to say, until I heard what he had to say. 

Turned it off.

 

@HawkeyeSmallie I can’t say I would ever support the company who was giving the interview either. It was way too much of a buddy buddy interview. 

On 11/10/2025 at 9:17 AM, Susky River Rat said:

I guess it does put the kayak vs boat debate to rest. Boats are clearly better if you have to use one to cheat 😂

as a kayaker I agree...simply being able to move a distance that doesn't require 5000 calories.  hahha..

having said that, my cardio health is off the charts.  

On 11/12/2025 at 8:27 PM, Tackleholic said:

I wonder if any cheaters have been caught using false bump boards?  I once had a "fisherman's ruler" which would show a 12 inch fish to be 24 inches.

Before Ketch and YakAttack boards, the tournament standard was Hawg Trough boards. But as it turns out, those were easy to cut an inch or so off of them and then bond them back together.

 

There are other tournament incidents of guys putting bass on a stringer and tying that stringer off to a dock and then retrieving them come tournament time.

 

Photoshopped pictures have been an issue now and then. The worry now is AI generated photos. However, there are companies like TourneyX working on a solution for that.

 

I don't understand the brains of people that choose to cheat. My brain doesn't work that way.

Absolutely Disgusting. Zero integrity