Some of you guys know I've been fishing a lot of tourneys lately at Don Pedro. CV and I won the WON Bass, 100%, Nor-Cal Bass, and Angler's Choice. The other one I fished was the ABA with SWMB8R in my jon boat and we took 5th after losing an 11-12lb fish.

I know everyone wants to know what we are doing and where we are fishing. I'd be talking about it too if I was fishing those tourneys and the same guys were winning every one. I also know that some guys have seen us hook some fish in the tourneys so people are barking up our tree so to speak. That's all part of tournament fishing and I expect that in tournaments people will try to get on our stuff and see what we are doing.

So let me tell you as much as I feel like telling about what we are doing. The bottom line is that we are winning on swimbaits and sight fishing. When the fish are active we're catching them shallow. When the fish shut off, we're going deep. This is exactly what I said at the awards Saturday and its the truth. Pedro is extremely clear and those fish move up and down daily, even hourly. I am not going to say what we're catching them on, what spots, what our patterns are etc so please stop emailing and asking :) I don't have an obligation to anyone to say what I'm doing and so rather than lying, I'm just saying hey, I'm not telling.

Now to the topic of cheating. A few weeks ago one of the anglers fishing the 100% bass tournament caught a fish that had a wire clip in its lip and a piece of braided line coming off the wire. It was apparent that the fish had been tied up and had managed to break the line and get away. This weekend one of the teams fishing the Angler's Choice found a mesh cage back in Woods with live bass in it. They dumped the fish and brought the cage in to the TD and everyone got to see it at weigh ins. The bass in it were apparently 2 and 3lb bass (baffling since catch 10 to 13lbs on beds right now at Pedro is not very difficult). There was another tournament at the lake Saturday and its possible that whoever was cheating was in that tournament. No one was caught in either incident.

I am bringing this up because there could not be any more clear indications that TD's with upcoming tourneys at Don Pedro should be giving the polygraph. I am by no means accusing anyone in particular of cheating, I don't know but a handful of the fishermen in the Motherlode region anyway. But with two definite cheating incidents in the last month, something should be done. I've had the pleasure of meeting some of the local guys at Pedro and there's a lot of regular hard-fishin guys out there playing by the rules. But there's also some scumbags trying to cheat everyone out of their money. That's BS and I hope the TD's will use the polygraph more.

-Rob

Thats amazing that people would try to cheat.Where`s the integrity?Is it for the money or the fame?It seems like its becoming more and more common also.The polygraph I`m not so sure that is the answer in busting these guys though.When do you give someone the test?Should every winner have to take one?Or when someones weight is huge?How do you make that call?I think one thing that would help weed out cheaters would be to sign a stipulation in the signup form for the particular tourney saying if your caught cheating you have to pay a hefty fine of some sort.I think the best way to get rid of these bastards is to threaten to get in there pocket book.Maybe get the DFG involved somehow,for instance if someone gets caught cheating then they can no longer purchase a valid fishing liscense indefinately or for a period of time.Maybe possibly having there gear or boat taken away,like they would do if you were poaching or fishing without a liscense.Maybe a little extreme but I dont think so.
As far as kicking down all the info from your wins,I here ya all the way.You worked hard it sounds like to find the spots the paterns and the baits,why would you want to give it all away when you can do the same thing year after year from now on and have great success in tourneys without people being in your spots and doing your thing.I know plenty of people that would have b.s`ed about everything just to get them off there back(me being one,lol)so your honesty and frankness is cool.

http://www.bassanglerprofiles.com/billsweatt.htm

As I understand it (and someone can correct me if I'm wrong) doing a polygraph takes quite a long time, several hours to do two people. That could explain somewhat why they don't give them more at team tournaments since the time between weigh in and the awards is typically short at a team tourney vs. a pro/aaa or a TOC where the awards are usually in the evening on the second day. Either way, I'm just hopeful that the TD's in the Motherlode region will take notice that there is clearly something going on and use the polygraph as a deterrent.

The guys that found the cage should have marked the fish. like making a big scratch on the mandible of the upper lip. Then put the cage back with the fish in it and reported to the director. Then they could have identified the fish when the cheaters weighed it in.

www.mattlures.com

Hey that is a pretty good sugestion. Sure is sad that people are that hard up to TRY win some cash...This whole cheating thing was talked about a while ago on BASS Center and I liked what the Creator of BASS said, " we will make them so well known as cheaters that they will never want to fish around here again", saying that making them VERY public!
Hey Rob, have you posted this on WesternBass.com? This would sure get them yappin on there.....

Bryan

That sucks, big time- congrats on the wins, Rob! What ever happened to the guys that got caught cheating at Castaic last year, that was a cage deal too, never heard the outcome of that one? Amazing how low people will go, there are some creeps out there. x(

I fished against the guys who cheated at Castaic (who took our money), and none of us down here know whatever happened to them. Most of the anglers know who they are and the TD's definitely know who they are. They won't ever fish another tourney down here again.

They were basically caught by an alert tourney angler who found the cage (a small dog cage connected to rope, connected to monofilament, tied to a bush in the back of a cove). He notified the tournament organization and asked what to do. They asked him to clip the fins, save the clippings in water in a ziploc, and put the fish back in the cage. When the guys weighed in the fish, they literally matched up the clippings.

If anyone of you ever finds a cage with fish, consider doing this to nail those bastards!

EW

Very impressive!!

No worries not sharing all the details. This is tournament fishing for money. All of us know that we need to do our homework to find our own fish.

EW

Thanks, Eric- I've been waiting to hear what happened to those idiots, sounds like they won't ever get charged with anything? At least they got themselves blackballed, I wish they'd get more then that.

Rob or Anyone,
Did not read through your complete novel, however personally, I believe fish tournaments S _ _ K!!!!!!!! I do have that reserve right to view my opinion, don't I?! Whatever happen'ed to the good days of JUST FISHIN'!? Now in this age, one has ta' create a business and make a profit outta' the one cherished thing we have in this world - nature!!??
I know for a fact that I definately, "ruffled some feathers" and if that's the case, apologies are in order. Have a good day. Outta here... ~Skip C.

Whoa PETA boy. You have the right to your opinion but what good does it do to throw it out in that manner? Everything is about money. The $9 million dollar fish ladders for your beloved Steelhead gets its funding not only from the state but from other venues that make the state and DFG money. We do value your opinion thank you for offering it. :P

swmb8r,
Thanks for valuin' my opinion ( am not bein' a wise a _ _ with the thanks ). Want ta' clear one thing up, I go whoa' with our horses and I am NOT A PETA LOVER! I have fought with those a _ _ _ ol _ 's since they HATCHED! Anyway, if ya' noticed I pre - apologized for any feathers bein' messed up annnnnd I did'nt think I was, "throwing" it out in any way but honestly. To reiterate, " Have a good day". Outta here... ~Skip C.
p.s. I'm sure I have'nt heard the last of this...

Forgot to mention, I fish Don Pedro and have for about twenty years (if thats anything at all??). As far as the ladders for MY steelhead, I'm well aware of that along with other mis-appropriated funds that never seem to go to where there suppose to. Like PETA, I have gone around w/ the DFG and other government branches. I am talkin' about private individuals wantin' to make a buck. Please spare me on the right to ,"private enterprize". Again, have a good day and am, "outta here"... ~Skip C.

wow, how did we get off on this tangent?
do I sense that this post is going to spiral off into stupidity at any moment. YES.

So deep breath and lets just chug along to the next one.

No it won't, I've obviously got some people upset...