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Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Many of the Great Lakes, Summer midwest, and western events are harvest oriented with a single limit to weigh in. Walleyes are difficult to keep alive in big water where they get trashed in the livewell, too. Where possible, tournaments have live release boats to transport the fish in oxygenated tanks back out to a release point. The Merc Nationals still do what was described in the post above with excellent results.
Dead fish are cleaned by volunteers and donated to a pantry in the area. In this case, the team always kept their fish, now it's known why.
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Posts: 1415
Location: Brighton CO. | Lead poisoning !!! |
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Posts: 15
Location: Chardon, Ohio | raftman - 10/4/2022 10:11 AM
Do these tournaments have an option to release the fish? Seems unnecessary to harvest fish with the technology available today.
In one of the interviews it was said that Ohio DNR would not issue a catch and release permit for the tournament.
Edited by Cover Dog 10/4/2022 11:17 AM
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Posts: 761
| Yesterday's Feds would shrug there shoulders and say we got better things to do. These two guys , unfortunately fit the profile of who they would want to prosecute today. Kdawg |
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| kdawg - 10/4/2022 12:27 PM
Yesterday's Feds would shrug there shoulders and say we got better things to do. These two guys , unfortunately fit the profile of who they would want to prosecute today. Kdawg
The feds have never want anything but slam dunk cases but as to these guys, the sums they have derived from their winnings amount to several hundred thousand dollars, some sources say over $300,000. That kind of money has always attracted attention, at least in banking where I worked for over 30 years. I think the issue is more that they only have real evidence in the one, Ohio based event. If they had it in multi states, than feds would have jurisdiction. No reason the state can't prosecute. |
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Posts: 1415
Location: Brighton CO. | We all use the phrase "we have bigger fish to fry" but sometimes there is so much crime going on you don't have enough cop's or jails. A friend of mine engine (not transmission) on his truck went out and it was a lot of money so rather then getting a new truck/car payment he paid to have it fixed and it took a long time with supply chain issues when the new engine come before they could install it somebody broke it to his truck busted up his steering column trying to steel his truck with no engine and they did get his stereo and back up camera. In Colorado you can steel a 50,000 car post bond and go home with no jail time. |
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Posts: 61
| I like the fact that they have been failing polygraphs for years and always had a suspicion. The guy that runs the tournament Fischer says they were friends of his in an interview. Now what is the point in giving a polygraph if you are not going to do anything about the results? And not a keep a closer eye on it. Seems kinda fishy to me. Maybe they couldn’t afford 9 livescopes so they decided to go with heavy metals to cut cost. |
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| K and M tackle - 10/4/2022 3:16 PM
I like the fact that they have been failing polygraphs for years and always had a suspicion. The guy that runs the tournament Fischer says they were friends of his in an interview. Now what is the point in giving a polygraph if you are not going to do anything about the results? And not a keep a closer eye on it. Seems kinda fishy to me. Maybe they couldn’t afford 9 livescopes so they decided to go with heavy metals to cut cost.
They did lose a six figure Ranger Boat because one failed the polygraph. He then filed a lawsuit to try and get it back. |
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Posts: 398
Location: SW Ohio | Muthsky - 10/4/2022 10:22 AM
They will have to either start x-raying fish or pass the fish through a metal detector  Reminds me of Tom Brady and Brady-Gate!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFnByQCDjz0&t=18s&ab_channel=KBBOutd...
A handheld metal detector available anywhere would work. Just pass it over the fish. Of course, cut off hooks and any other metal will alert, too, but 8+ lbs of lead would set off all the alarms. |
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Posts: 1288
| Not often that a walleye tournament gets a feature on the Today show. Won't be too many places those guys can go, where people won't know who they are. DNR could probably levy a pretty hefty fine and maybe even take away fishing privileges, as they are the ones that regulate tournaments.
Edited by TCESOX 10/4/2022 6:29 PM
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Posts: 1415
Location: Brighton CO. | The cool thing if they take there fishing/hunting privileges most states honor them and hopefully have no where to go. With the amount of money involved they should be breaking rocks and wearing a ball and chain. |
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| I guess I don't see where the DNR would be involved. In WI, unless the anglers violated rules on bag limits, fishing methods, size, etc., there would not be grounds for citations. If I catch a walleye on the lake in front of my house tomorrow that meets the size limits, I can stuff it full of lead if I choose. Maybe Ohio is different?
They committed fraud for monetary gain, which could lead to criminal charges, but not game law violations. |
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Posts: 1288
| North of 8 - 10/4/2022 7:20 PM
I guess I don't see where the DNR would be involved. In WI, unless the anglers violated rules on bag limits, fishing methods, size, etc., there would not be grounds for citations. If I catch a walleye on the lake in front of my house tomorrow that meets the size limits, I can stuff it full of lead if I choose. Maybe Ohio is different?
They committed fraud for monetary gain, which could lead to criminal charges, but not game law violations.
True, probably isn't any specific regs, spelled out for something like that. I was just thinking their might be something in all that legaleze that's probably in the granting of the permit, and paperwork signed by participants. You know, all that stuff nobody ever reads.
Edited by TCESOX 10/4/2022 9:02 PM
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Posts: 326
| Wanton waste comes to mind.Suspect feeding one walleye the fillets of another violates something. |
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| dickP - 10/5/2022 6:59 AM
Wanton waste comes to mind.Suspect feeding one walleye the fillets of another violates something.
Perhaps. But couldn't they claim they were planning on using them, since they did not turn their fish over to the organization? I think a smart lawyer could beat that. Sadly, they have a lot of money from previous tournaments to spend on lawyers. |
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