BassBlaster

Should Record Catchers Get Polygraph?

Bear with me here, quick striper story first.

Have you ever heard the story of the guy who caught the world record striped bass? Talking the one before the new record caught last year.

Guy caught it in a storm off the NJ coast with one witness – and pretty much everyone else disbelieved him.

The effects on his life were bad. And all he did wrong was catch a record.

Crazy.

Then when Manabu Kurita caught his world record largie in Japan, some of the same types of rumors popped up. Kurita was at the Classic a couple years ago (if memory serves) and some folks there were talking about how he supposedly did this or that.

Crazy.

So now we come to the story of the guy who apparently, allegedly, maybe broke the Arkansas state largie record…by 1 ounce (16-05) at Lake Dunn. Happened about a week ago.

If you haven’t heard, the record was invalidated because turns out this gent didn’t have a valid fishing license – something he attempted to rectify after the catch. But that’s not all. Check this quote from a fieldandstream.com article:

“I should have had my license,” Crowder said. “I’ve had several tickets for fishing without a license before, me and my two kids too. It ain’t that we don’t mean to get them, we just forgot to get them.”

Uh-huh.

That article also says this:

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission goes through a series of investigations when a state record is at stake, Stephens said, including x-rays to make sure the fish has not been tampered with.

If you’re going to go through all that, why not – after the fish has been weighed – give the lucky angler a polygraph first? That would get pretty much all the ducks in a row (or not) right away. Questions like:

> Did you have a valid fishing license at the time of this catch (which the Game and Fish agency should check first anyhow)

and

> Did you find this fish floating in the lake?

would be good ones for starters. In other words, are you legal and was the fish legally caught?

Because without that, even if the fish was legally caught the rumor mill will spin. Usually not a good thing.

One More Thing

Here’s my final question: If someone catches a record fish without a valid license, is it not a record?

Put it this way. A 16-year-old angler catches a 22 pound 15 ounce largie. While fishing…meaning not doing drugs or other bad stuff. Problem is, he forgot to get his license. Maybe he was fishing the same little pond he always has, for catfish, bluegill, crappie, whatever.

Is that not a world-record bass?

In case anyone no understando the ingles, no way am I advocating fishing without a license. Just asking the question because, just like antlers from poached deer get scored and ogled, I’d want to see that bass, hear the kid’s story, see him feel great about it and have him learn a lesson from it that hopefully other kids would learn too.

That’s where I think I’m coming out, anyway.

5 Comments

5 Comments

  1. Tumblebug

    March 13, 2012 at 1:38 pm

    I would have no issues with a polygraph test for record breakers. I would have issues with the 16 year old fishing without a license. Rules are rules. Yeah kid, it’s the biggest bass ever caught, BUT, you broke the rules, therefore it dosen’t count.

    If you allow an area of gray, some part of our population will gravitate towards it and live there. I see it every day.

    Long before I turned 16, I knew I had to have a fishing/hunting license. It was looked at as a rite of passage, the same as a drivers license.

  2. Flip 'N' Pitch

    March 13, 2012 at 2:37 pm

    To me, it’s the same as “Vacating Wins” in other sports. Most everyone can agree Reggie Bush was the best college football player on the best college football team in the nation in 2004. However, NCAA sanctions being what they are you can no longer say that in mixed company without generating controversy and debate. So if Crowder did actually catch that fish (some folks commenting on the F&S site think not), then everyone knows it but it just won’t appear in any official record book. That’s the price you pay for conveniently and repeatedly “forgetting to get your license”!

  3. paul zuest

    March 13, 2012 at 7:15 pm

    in oregon you can hunt and fish on your own private land without license. what if you caught a world record? would it stand? people all over would scream foul but its still a record. write him a ticket. its not his first. give him poly test and see. why do big game records from private hunting ranches count and fish from private lakes scorned? never will everyone agree.

    • Flip 'N' Pitch

      March 13, 2012 at 10:40 pm

      As long as it was caught legally then yes it would stand. So whether you catch it in Oregon on private land or in California where no foul hooking is allowed, it has to be an ethical and legal catch. Read the book “Sowbelly” to find out about all of the people trying to breed a World Record Bass just so they can catch it from private waters. The IGFA scrutinized the claim that Kurita caught the tying World Record Largemouth in an “Off Limits Area” of Lake Biwa. Had he been found in violation of the local rules which actually stated that a boat could not be anchored or stopped then the catch would have been invalidated just like Crowder’s was. As for hunting, unless it’s one of those “High Electric Fence” enclosures the illusion is that the game animals could theoretically come and go as they please. Even though we all know that they’re going to stay where resources are most plentiful and hunting pressure is the least. Fortunately for us, sportfish haven’t figured out a way to migrate from a land locked private pond or lake. 😉

  4. Chad Keogh

    March 13, 2012 at 10:57 pm

    Yes to the polygraph, no to records counting if rules/laws are broken.

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Gitcha Bassin' Fix

The best, worst and funniest in bassin'! Jay Kumar is the guy who created BassFan.com, co-hosted Loudmouth Bass with Zona, was a B.A.S.S. senior writer and a whole lot more in bassin™. Make sure you sign up for the BassBlaster email!

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