Thoughts on Cheaters

Preface: I don’t know for a fact that anyone has ever cheated in a top-tier professional bass tournament. I mean, it’s obvious that someone, at some time, has broken the rules purposely, but as for all of the rumors and innuendo – I wasn’t in the boat, and never received a confession. Yada, yada, yada. That said, I’ve been around the sport in a semi-professional capacity for nearly two decades, so I probably hear more rumors and stories than most of you. The rise of social media has altered and complicated that a bit, but I still feel like I get a lot of first and second-hand hearsay as opposed to the third-hand musings of most keyboard cowboys.

With that as an introduction, here are eight thoughts on cheating in tournaments, in no particular order:

• The outside world thinks we’re a bunch of cheaters anyway, or foolish for not cutting corners, so in this situation, absent pure legal malfeasance, we should be judged by a jury of our own peers (meaning anglers). Until an angler at the top level is willing to take a risk and go on the record about any perceived misdeeds, we’ll never fully air out these stories.
• When we talk about “cheating,” there’s a wide range of conduct that’s included in the conversation. Still, the actions can basically be divided into three main categories: inadvertent rules violations (typically not cheating, in my opinion), activities in the gray area (that may violate the spirit but not the letter of the law), and actions with a clear intent to break a known rule. Each may encompass similar behavior but show a different state of mind and merit a different punishment. For example, if you receive unsolicited information from a well-wisher standing on a dock, that might earn a different outcome than asking a local guide for that same info during the official practice period.
• There are anglers who always seem to operate in a gray area, taking shady actions that give them a competitive edge. Usually, with these guys, it seems that where there’s smoke there’s fire. What amazes me is that if I were under suspicion for those activities, I’d be extra-careful, but many of them seem to repeatedly flaunt the rules.
• On social media, I frequently see the argument that “That’s a dumb rule, so he shouldn’t be punished.” Um, wrong. It’s a rule. The angler signed a participation agreement agreeing to abide by the rules. If he breaks it, he’s subject to punishment.
• Another crappy argument: “That rule’s not enforceable.” Well, either are rules against murder and theft, at least not entirely, but that doesn’t merit striking them from the books. As Omar Little told us, “A man’s gotta have a code.”
• Just because someone is known to operate in a gray area, or far over that line, doesn’t mean that they’re a crappy angler. On the contrary, several Hall of Famers were known to push the envelope – hard.
• The rules-flaunting referenced above goes on for obvious reasons. Specifically, it’s because no one has ever been publicly made an example of at the highest levels of the sport. In these situations I’m often reminded of the words of the late Jerry Tarkanian, who was suspended and penalized on multiple occasions for major rules infractions: “The NCAA is so mad at Kentucky they're going to give Cleveland State another year of probation.” In other words, punishments always seem disproportionately light on golden boys and heavy on less favored nations, at least to those with skin in the game and an emotional attachment to its outcomes.
• On the one hand, cheating is a sign that the purses have grown substantially, to the point where people are willing to take a meaningful risk to their career and their reputation to gain a few places in the standings. On the other hand, I think there’s more to it than that – an ego element – because it’s just as pervasive at the lowest levels, fishing for a $50 pot, where an angler would be better off flipping burgers for a few hours if money was the only goal.

Finally, what happens to the cheaters or accused cheaters? I certainly don’t feel sorry for anyone rightly accused and given due process who turns up dirty, but when you’re excommunicated what do you do? There’s one I still see regularly on social media, but several others have faded out of view. Even though a cheater may have defiled the sport and ruined their reputation, tournament fishing was a huge part of their life and identity at some point. Now they’re 86ed – that’s gotta hurt, as it should.