Clausen BASS DQ

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Permalink Reply by Don Hogue on May 10, 2016 at 2:58pm

A real can of worms.  The real conflict is between those who want to have a set of black and white rules that would legitimize professional bass fishing and those who understand the realities of what goes on.  When getting information is akin to "cheating" then you are going to have these issues in the age of information.  The sad/weird thing is the same scenario happens many times over, at every event, all season long.  Only the officials at BASS know how/why Luke was caught up in this - if the polygraph was truly "random" or if there is more to the story.  

When I fished the Classic down in Alabama, there were strict "off limits" and "no information" rules.  The off limits wasn't hard to deal with but no information was a source of stress for me - and I'm from Washington.  I can't imagine how somebody who knows lots of people, who know lots of people, etc. would realistically deal with a "no information" rule.  Just during the time I was practicing and competing I had dozens of people give me un-solicited information.  From the guy at a gas station to a lady at KFC, to several people fishing off a dock or out on a john boat.  The guy at the gas station told me that the Classic would be won "right out back" and he was right.  Van Dam won it right where the guy said, right behind his gas station.  He probably told thousands of people that.  Now, while that's "unsolicited", it's also a pretty good nugget of info to have.  In fact, I was so afraid to be seen in the winning area because several locals had told me it was gonna be won there that I purposely avoiding the only creek that the top weights came out of.  Rookie.

On another level, the way the Elites or FLW Tour is set up, those with the best network end up surviving.  Getting info doesn't diminish an anglers talent or abilities but it does de-legitimatize the sport in the eyes of some and therein lies the dilemma and reason why some want to see BASS and FLW draw a line in the sand on this issue.  

Permalink Reply by Jordan Doucet on May 10, 2016 at 4:33pm

That's awesome feedback Don. I get stressed about a Northwest Bass or Nixon's Invitational tournament - can't imagine the classic! 

Permalink Reply by Jordan Doucet on May 12, 2016 at 8:57am

Luke posted this to his Facebook page yesterday:

I’m ready to get things started here at Toledo Bend, but before I do, I’d like to get a few things off my chest.

First, to say that I’m disappointed in the outcome of things that have transpired in the past two weeks is a major understatement. I’m shocked, confused, embarrassed, and more than a little ticked off. I’m sure everyone has read about what happened at Wheeler Lake, and about the ensuing appeal and judgement to enforce my disqualification from that Elite Series event, so I won’t rehash any of that here. What I do want to accomplish, however, is to share my thoughts about this whole thing, so I can start to move on and focus on this tournament, and the rest of the Elite season.

First, to the heart of the matter: I did not, would not, and have NEVER solicited information during a tournament that would benefit me in that tournament in all the years I’ve been fishing as a pro. Never. Period.

That’s just a simple rule that every one of us abides by, and it was most certainly the case at Wheeler. I’ve fished Wheeler several times, know the lake very, very well, and have made good friends in the area. As has been documented, I had dinner with one of those friends during the tournament, and he made in innocuous comment about something he had read on the Bassmaster blog (about where two of the anglers might’ve been fishing). I responded simply “Nah, I don’t think that’s the case” (or something of that nature), and the conversation moved on. That was the entire extent of it.

That was deemed to be “receiving information”, and the basis upon which my disqualification was upheld. In my opinion, that’s unfair, and completely inaccurate. I didn’t receive anything. I responded to a 20-second comment made by a buddy over dinner.

This all came about because the administrator of the polygraph test I took after Day 3 at Wheeler felt I was being evasive in response to a question. Just to clear the air on that, I submitted to a second polygraph test (independent of B.A.S.S.), and passed with flying colors. And that second test included the specific questions that Rule C3 is based around: “Did you intentionally solicit or receive any information that would benefit you in this tournament?”

The answer has always been “No”. The second polygraph came back with the absolute truth: I was not lying.

I’ve been doing this for a living since I graduated from college. It’s my livelihood, and I take it (and the rules) very darn seriously. The Wheeler disqualification dropped me from within range of qualifying for the 2017 Bassmaster Classic to 94th going into Toledo Bend. It’ll be next to impossible to make up the AOY points that DQ cost me.

But I’m going to put my head down and work hard. I’m extremely fortunate to do what I do for a living, and if I’ve learned nothing else over the past two weeks, it’s that I can only control what I can control.

Thanks for listening, and for all the support over the past couple of weeks, it's been awesome! Wish me luck this week, there are some giants swimming around down here at Toledo Bend!