cell phones in tournaments

[kalde]

Here's a hot topic. I have been in a few tournaments and I feel some guys are cheating with the cell phones. They have buddy teams and when the bite is on in one area, a simple phone call and they increase their odds. In Saskatchewan there are no cell phones aloud and it eliminates this kind of team work. Alberta needs to do the same. I am sorry but the safety thing is not an excuse.

[AB Walleyehunter]

It's about time that cell phones and fizzing needles be removed from tourney boats.I agree with the aforementioned.I see this all the time,the phone rings,boats are moving,although,I don't consider it cheating. There has been occasions where all the boats moved and then the bite turns, great for me.The safety issue is a concern for a very small percentage of fishermen.How do the organizers determine who's carrying cell phones on their boats?

AB Walleyehunter

[WalleyeJason]

>It's about time that cell phones and fizzing needles be
>removed from tourney boats.I agree with the aforementioned.I
>see this all the time,the phone rings,boats are
>moving,although,I don't consider it cheating. There has been
>occasions where all the boats moved and then the bite turns,
>great for me.The safety issue is a concern for a very small
>percentage of fishermen.How do the organizers determine who's
>carrying cell phones on their boats?
>
> AB Walleyehunter


Why should Fizzing needles? be removed?

[AB Walleyehunter]

I have caught several 4lb eyes during tournaments that were brutally punctured several times by another angler,tourney organizers now inspect the fish physically for any such marks. Needleless to say, my fish were released and couldn't be taken to the scale.I'm no biologist, but this sort of practise can't be healthy for the fish.Along with holes in their bladders,possible internal damage, the fish is probably in shock for days.
I catch lotsa fish shallow and still make it to the podiumn.

Needless Walleyehunter

[ma bell less]

How can a no cell phone rule be enforced. I have seen guys Tex messages . Never putting phone to ear.

[Chad]

>I have caught several 4lb eyes during tournaments that were
>brutally punctured several times by another angler,tourney
>organizers now inspect the fish physically for any such marks.
>Needleless to say, my fish were released and couldn't be taken
>to the scale.I'm no biologist, but this sort of practise can't
>be healthy for the fish.Along with holes in their
>bladders,possible internal damage, the fish is probably in
>shock for days.

Just trying to clarify....

Sounds like you are saying that another tournament angler caught a bunch of 4lb walleyes, punched holes in them and let her go. Then the same day you caught a few of the same fish.

How do you know these fish were caught by tournament anglers? Why couldn't you take your fish to the scale?


ChadM

[KlassAct]

Short of strip searches, and deep crevice invasion, education is the answer. Education and a higher degree of integrity. Unfortunately, sometimes no matter what the law says there will be law breakers. One way to bring the message home is to have a mandatory 30 minute pre-tourney meeting and slide show. Then, after going over all the ways to cheat, let them know that cheating is stealing, and if caught they will be prosecuted as theives and to the full extent of the law. Then you need a half dozen enforcement boats with binoculars.

Anyway, if we had strip searches the tourney may never begin. :censored:

[Tourney Guy]

Sounds like catch and release is working for your tournaments then if you were able to catch that same fish you claim was weighted in a previous tourney. That's some tough fish going through the fizzing and tourney weighting and still lived to be caught another day.

[ksmntman]

Recently the KS Walleye Assoc. outlawed cell phone usage during tourneys, with the penalty of DQ. I thing this will stop 95% of cell phone abuse. You will never completly stop those that plan on cheating somehow. I believe that if you are caught cheating in a tourney, you should be DQ for life! Anyone caught cheating simply doesn't understand the reason for local tourneys. :shame:

[stacking the odds]

I fished several tourneys in the state just north of you ksmntman, . What a joke. There association rules say to cell phones , that did not stop any one in the tourney using there phones. Then some or the teems that help in the weigh in in get to go out early. Stacking the odds is what that's called

[FizzOK]

Its refreshing to finally hear some factual accounts that actually support the benefits of fizzing. Mostly you just hear the nay sayers who try to convince you that all fizzing leads to mortality and right here in front of our ears we have a registered witness who has caught these very fish that others tell us are going to die for sure.
Thank you AB Walleyehunter for weighing in on the issue and showing that fizzing is an effective measure to keep fish alive to be caught another day..Your point is heard loud and clear..

[proelite175]

people are going to cheat no matter what.... but you wont catch me leaving the dock without my cell phone. I shut it off before i launch the boat and dont turn it back on till after weigh in.

[AB Walleyehunter]

The read states,"caught by another angler" Those fish in question couldn't be taken to the scale due to the physical markings left on the fish. When the organizers at the scale enter your boat and inspect the fish, any such evidence of fizzing,will result in DQ. For the 08 season another rule in effect states that, "any signs of deflation of the stomach,[caved in bellies] with or without fizzing marks will result in DQ. Not only do we now have to release a caught fish with needle markings, we have to release fish that have deflated bellies, even if you didn't preform the procedure. Where is this going?


Needleless walleyehunter

[AllenW]

You'd prob have to outlaw marine band radios, walkie talkies, spotlights and tin cans and string, all could be used to send meassages..:)

I think I'd pass on the no cell phone thing also, at 60 I like being able to contact or be contacted if a emergency comes up.

Al

[ksmntman]

Cell phones for emergencies may be valid when you are pre fishing or on the water when few people are around. But during a tourney when you have (in our tourneys) up to a 100 boats on a single lake? Our state requires an air horn be carried. I don't know who I would call in a emergency, but the air horn would put 6 boats by me in a second. And if I were catching fish, they would already be there!!:cheers:

[proelite175]

what about the people who run 70 miles to the middle of no where(escanaba) where they are the only people fishing that spot. i think ill keep my phone in the glove box

[ksmntman]

I would think that if you are fishing a tourney and running 70 miles you would have a marine radio instead of a cell phone. I know that reception is tough on some of our waters. I would really like to talk to that guy that asks "can you hear me now" :banging: !! There are no lakes in our state that you would run anywhere near that far, there are always boats nearby. I firmly believe in trying to change the rules that you feel are wrong, but playing by them until they are changed. If everyone decides what rules they will play by and which ones they won't, you don't have a sport, you have chaos. I mean, if you play tennis without the net, is it still tennis?

[kalde]

I agree, If you are worried about safety a two way radio or marine radio is the best because it is broadcast to everyone. If you had to use the radios then everyone would hear you-either broadcastig for help or letting your tournament buddies know where the catch is. I would bet there would be far less chat on the lake.

[proelite175]

well there still legal till that day comes all im saying is its in my boat...what we should be worrying about is the guys who cant catch fish without there 6 boat teams

[ksmntman]

I agree Proelite. The tourneys I fish in KS have made them illegal. Of course, we don't have the huge lakes you do up north. But the problem is enforcing the rule. Those that were cheating before by using cell phones will just have to duck down on the floor of their boat to use them and no one will see. As an earlier post said, we would have to do a complete body search, which is not feasible. It's to bad that we have to worry about it. That is why I feel that if one is caught cheating, they should be subject to lifetime DQ on that circuit.

[TEAMNEXTEL]

The RCL had a bunch of guys years ago that we referred to as TEAM NEXTEL. They were a joke! I have carried a cell phone even in events that did not allow them and guess what, i have never used one to find the bite.

[rcrouse]

The best way to deal with this is to require the top three teams to submit their cell phone records at ramdom events. Maybe a polygraph instead?
I always have mine, never used it. The emergency I care about isn't mine, it's my family back home. Even though I couldn't do anything at the moment, I could be home earlier. It's only a tournament.
Cheaters will always be cheaters they are on the same level as a thief.

[walleyejim1216]

My take on this is that Is that it would be impossible to police this! I fish the kwa and yes they will check your boat before the tourney but how hard would it be to hide a cell phone? I'm like you other guys cheaters will cheat no matter what! I really don't understand why some do cheat, it's not like we are doing this for the money! If you was to win half of all the tournaments you might break even! I know I fish them to have fun and have made some really good friends along the way!

[ksmntman]

I agree, these tourneys are for the fun and friends. :cheers: I do think that the new rule will stop a lot of guys that just want their friends or relatives to catch fish, especially some of the locals. The idea of being dq in public. :shame: But I still think that they should make it a lifetime dq. That would really make some think harder before they cheat. Of course, it really doesn't affect me that much! I couldn't break into the top 20 even if I cheated! :boohoo: lol! Guess I should just keep my day job.

[ksmntman]

I agree, these tourneys are for the fun and friends. :cheers: I do think that the new rule will stop a lot of guys that just want their friends or relatives to catch fish, especially some of the locals. The idea of being dq in public. :shame: But I still think that they should make it a lifetime dq. That would really make some think harder before they cheat. Of course, it really doesn't affect me that much! I couldn't break into the top 20 even if I cheated! :boohoo: lol! Guess I should just keep my day job.

[Rcouse]

For what I've won in tournaments, I need two day jobs.:Wedgie:

[Rcouse]

For what I've won in tournaments, I need two day jobs.:Wedgie:

[walleyejim1216]

I would go along with the banning for life thing for certain things but not all things that you can be dq'd for! For instance if you weigh in a short fish I don't think that should be a lifetime ban! For that tourney yes, but I can tell you this much from expieriance it is very hard not to bring a fish to the scale that can go either way! And if it happened to stress out and shrink a 1/8 of a inch in the livewell I don't think that should be a ban for life thing! Now if they would of caught the SOB that had the 8#er tied up 2 yrs ago at melvern, he would be done! Period!

[perchjerker]

walleyejim-

I like your attitude.

you are welcome in my boat anyday!!!

[Crankbaiter]

Amazing
6-8 years ago a cell phone was a new gadget that few of us had ever used or certainly thought we needed.
Now most of the folks here cant go fishing without it.
What happened to that independent spirit that made this nation?

[ksmntman]

I agree with you jim. I have taken some fish to weigh in with my fingers crossed! So it would have to be set up where you know that the rule you are breaking is that serious. I was fishing next to the guys that found the 8# tied up at Melvrern, it was a really nice fish ... dead. That would have been a criminal offense had they left the fish and caught who tied it up. We are never going to rid ourselves of those who feel they have to break the rules to feel better about themselves, we can only enjoy the game as we play it!

By the way, I hate cell phones!! I had to carry one when they first came out for business reasons, you know, the ones in the case! I am tied to one every day. That is why I always turn mine to vibrate and put it in the glove box of my boat when I fish. That way I can tell who called, but I don't look at it until I'm done fishing. Whatever is happening in the world can wait a few hours! I go hunting in CO for Elk for days in the wilderness area where there is no reception, the world seems to servive without me! My wife says that I would feel terrible if something happened, and she's right, I would. But I am pretty sure that me knowing would not stop it from happening and I would still feel terrible!

[bradley894]

we have a few boat on my home water, NIcknamed the three cell mates. open water trollers, pretty obvius in open water or on a lake aprox 30 miles long and 8 miles wide..... two boats running wide open full roosters picking up from opposite sides of the lake to settle down on the third one who called them in... my son age 14 and i were fishing a small bar tourny about 50 boats last year. finished fourth behind these three cell mates.... my son picked up on it right away ,,, the cell mates he said... we were less than an ounce from second and third and a couple pounds out of first... we caught6 leagle fish that day and were allowed to way 5 , tuff bite for all on the lake ,i told him if we coulda jigged up a couple more 18 inchers or a 20 we woulda had em ,,, maybe they all talked about the trolling bite on the south end the day before that few new existed. if it existed the day before , either way , a sour taste and we both coulda fished bit harder or set the hook a bit quicker a few times. still had a cold one after , cashed a check and took ma out for steak that saturday night.... still finished well ahead of the majority of the pack and it will all turn out ok.. what comes around goes around, live by the cell phone die by it the same. powering down on somone elses fish and catching them are two different things. stil sucks though... someday they will slip up and the truth will come out ... until then ,,, its all speculation

[Phil V]

I just received a West Marine Ad, promoting this product. The SPOT Satelite Messenger. Here's how there ad reads; "Using an array of low-earth orbitiing satellites, the SPOT can tranmit messages with three levels of urgency to your choice of up to ten email addresses and/or mobile phones. The SPOT has a built-in GPS, your messages are tagged with your precise position, allowing the recipients to quickly identify your position on Google Earth." Here's their link,
(http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product/10001/-1/10001/340100/)

This is a great safety device that perhaps could be used in the wrong manner in tournament fishing.

[T Mac]

Jim...
I posted on some of our state websites that I couldn't believe cell phone use was legal in a MT tournies.
I was roundly thumped.

LOL -- Most tourney waters here don't have cell service anyway... But one sure does.

At that one....the helpers and weigh people were calling their husbands/buddies/whatever and telling them to watch for such and such boat ...that they'd just weighed in a large basket of fish. Yah... No Bull!

But then, we see it all the time during non tourney sitiuations...just as bad in my opinion.
I have had guys stop in on their way to the lake mid week...all the way from Bozeman, no less. 'cuz their buddy called and told them to get up there PRONTO.
That just doesn't seem like a 100% sporting thing to do... to me, anyway ??
Kind of like calling a guy at work and saying..."come quick there's a 6 point bull standing in front of me..."

[KLN2 ul]

If you can't beat them, join them. If I person was on a lesser team in the FLW, this satellite technology could help win tournaments.

A team could use friends and fellow team members to track top weight locations, concentrating on these areas to increase total team weights or to remove fish from a spot, taking weight away from the competitors. Since there is usually more than one spot that holds the winning weght, this could be a huge advantage.

No phones, but within the rules? If I was a team member with a chance at a large payday, it would be very good strategy. Remember, You still have to catch the fish!