Boater Aspen Martin of White, Georgia, has been reinstated for the 2026 Bass Fishing League (BFL) All-American championship following new disclosures after he was disqualified from the Lake Murray Regional held Oct. 10-11.

 

Details: https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-martin-12225.html

 

Your thoughts?

I'll bite and throw some thoughts out there on this one.

 

Much ado about nothing really.

 

So what if fishermen talk to each other. All those words do not put fish in the boat.

 

During a tournament if a fisherman pulls up on a spot and he is catching fish and another fishermen sees this happen, then he too can roll up on that spot and start catching those same fish.

 

Point is, a spot has been communicated from one fisherman to another by way of sight during a tournament.

 

So what if Kevin Van Dam calls up Iaconelli and tells him, hey I got fish right here! Come get some!

 

How is that any different than Ike seeing Kevin catching fish on that spot and rolling up on it too? The result is the same. But it does not mean Ike is going to catch any more fish because he saw KVD catching them in a spot or if KVD told him to come fish that spot.

 

So its cheating if KVD tells Ike, but its NOT cheating if Ike sees KVD catching them and rolls up on the same spot. Here is precisely this scenario happening during a tournament:

 

 

What difference would it make above if KVD texted Ike to come there rather than Ike seeing KVD catching on a spot? Results are precisely the same, but one way is cheating and the other is not. Makes no sense.

 

To me cheating is when a fisherman is putting fish into his boat in some illegal fashion. That's cheating. But seeing a fisherman catching on a spot is no different than being told where to fish. One is considered cheating while the other is not, yet the results are precisely the same.

 

I just do not see what these guys did as cheating. And its not fair to Martin to be disqualified for something he did not instigate nor have anything to do with. And lie detector tests should not be grounds for disqualifying someone. If they are no good in court, they should be no good in tournaments too.

 

The fact Martin's text record showed he did not reply should have been enough to prevent any harm to him. The fact it did not is something that should be changed.

 

"BFL Rule No. 10, which states, in part, that contestants may not use mobile communication devices to communicate with anyone about locating or catching fish on tournament waters during tournament hours."

 

But its OK to scope out other fishermen and move in on their spots by sight communication, but not electronics communication when end results are precisely the same makes zero sense to me. What is the difference? Sounds like another bogus rule that should not exist.

 

Sometimes there are quite simply too many rules. And one fisherman should not be able to use said rule or rules to cause harm to another fisherman like O'Connell did to Martin. If you want to sabotage a leader simply text him!

 

When $100,000.00 is on the line how is it fair for one fisherman to simply text another fishermen and get him in trouble when he did nothing wrong? It should not be possible for one fisherman to be able to intentionally sabotage another fisherman by manipulating the rules like this. A $500 fine for what? For someone else breaking the rules?

 

Glad they straightened it out for Martin, but its not his fault and he never should have been harmed by any of it. Change the rules or eliminate some. Fishermen like Martin should be protected by the rules, not targeted and harmed by them through no fault of his own.

 

Asking where fish are, & telling where fish are does not put fish into a boat. Someone still has to cast and use artificial lures to trick fish into biting. That's straight up fishing. All the yak is meaningless, especially to the fish. Tournament politics is another story clearly. Fishing is supposed to be fun and enjoyable.......

 

But the drama keeps things interesting. 😉

 

 

Don't know either of them, but the one individual that was cleared in the end, seems like a decent guy that just didn't want to rat on someone over relatively nothing and possibly ruin the guys career as no information was seemingly actually exchanged. Plus, it was seemingly tournament day and he didn't initiate contact so he was probably focused on fishing and trying to win himself which is understandable. If you are someone that has had the passion to get to that level, I can see where you wouldn't want to take that away from a competitor, doesn't mean you approve of his actions, just means you don't want that on your conscience for being the one to turn him in. This is obviously very different than if you saw him truly cheating on tournament day, putting weights in a fish or whatever...

 

Imagine if your career was to continue or not was essentially being gauged by a polygraph, I would be so paranoid/nervous about the device getting it wrong and falsely accusing me, I would likely trigger it to show everything as deceptive lol 

Fish Boat Docks.

 

Doesn't this whole story completely validate @MN Fisher's (and others') abhorrence of polygraph use for guilt/innocence determinations?  Not only did the first test falsely lead org to conclude that the angler was lying, it led to a suspension for cheating that never happened.  I hope he gets reimbursed for his out-of-own-pocket retest.

 

As many here have said repeatedly, the 'no info' rules are nothing but unenforceable trouble at all levels. 

I believe WON Bass doesn't have info rules and I've never heard a negative thing about that decision. 

Quoted from MLF BFL rules on mobile communications:

 

"10.  BOAT OPERATION • Boaters will fish from the front deck of the boat only. Co-anglers will fish from the back deck or seating area of the boat only. Boaters will have complete control of boat operation and waters to be fished. For safety concerns in rough water or swift current, in the event of an outboard or trolling motor breakdown or during an emergency, co-anglers may operate the trolling motor or the outboard but may not fish anytime from the front deck. Boaters may not request that the co-angler not fish. Any boater that, in the judgment of the tournament director, operates the boat in such a manner that unfairly handicaps his/her co-angler and any co-angler who unfairly handicaps his/her boater may be disqualified for that day. Boaters paired with boaters will receive equal time in the front of the boat to operate the trolling motor and equal time, including travel, to fish their selected waters. Contestants may not use mobile communication devices, including but not limited to, cell phones, tablets, marine radios, walkie-talkies, CBs, etc., to communicate with anyone about locating or catching fish on tournament waters during tournament hours. Mobile communication devices may be used during tournament hours to communicate with lockmasters about locking, to communicate with the tournament director or to communicate with MLF editors or producers. Boaters may use smart phones and/or tablets during tournament hours for GPS, mapping, weather, power generation, barge traffic updates, tidal charts, personal fishing notes and related data. At no time during tournament hours may contestants read or discuss social media posts from other contestants. Co-anglers are not allowed to record GPS waypoints or use any type of handheld GPS during any competition day. Contestants are expected to compete every day for which they are qualified; failure to do so may result in ineligibility to compete in future MLF tournaments. If a special circumstance arises that inhibits a contestant’s ability to compete, the tournament director may allow the contestant to withdraw from competition and maintain the weight caught to that point. Depending on the need to maintain an equal number of boaters and co-anglers (i.e. day 2 at super tournaments and day 3 at regionals and the All-American), the next highest contestant in the tournament standings may be invited to continue competition."

 

Not much in there that doesn't resemble a can of worms