Cheater Caught at the US OPEN at Mead

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mike Bess on July 22, 2010 at 1:26pm

At least there is one reasonable reply to this discussion. The guy didn't "poach" anything. He killed 3 bass and cheated in a tournament. He's a thief and should be punished accordingly, but not for killing 3 bass.

Josh Potter said:

Does Lake Mead allow for the retention of bass?If the Lake allows a daily limit on bass then how could this be considered poaching? I'm certainly not defending the guy. He sounds like a dirt bag but I don't know that the citizens of Nevada really need to pay taxes to jail a guy who killed three fish and cheated in a bass contest. Does anyone know the annual cost of housing an inmate in prison. It is around the sum of 75-80k per year. If he does 3 months it will cost the people around $20,000 for killing a few bass. Obviously he should be banned from contest fishing. I would like to see him do hard time in habitat restoration for a number of years so the people get payment rather than having to pay.

Harry Hardy said:

Not only should he do jail time he should also loose his boat and all his gear. If you get caught poaching a game animal they take everything, it should be no differant in this case.


Dave Massey said:

BEAT DOWN?

Not only did he cheat but he killed the fish in the process. That guy definately needs jail time as well as banned for life from being able to obtain a fishing or hunting license. Wouldn't this be a federal offense?


Mark Byrne said:

JAIL TIME?

Permalink Reply by Mike Bess on July 22, 2010 at 3:40pm

Jon you plagiarizing douche.

Jon Sessler said:

Phil,

I hate criminals, cheats and most other categories of people, however....

Cruel and unusual punishment is a phrase describing criminal punishment which is considered unacceptable due to the suffering or humiliation it inflicts on the condemned person.

These exact words were first used in the English Bill of Rights in 1689, and later were also adopted by the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1787) and the British Slavery Amelioration Act (1798).

Phil Mehrtens said:

They should make him spend the night in Sparkys "dutch oven" and be the wiper boy after the morning sit down!

Mike Bess said:

At least there is one reasonable reply to this discussion. The guy didn't "poach" anything. He killed 3 bass and cheated in a tournament. He's a thief and should be punished accordingly, but not for killing 3 bass.

Josh Potter said:

Does Lake Mead allow for the retention of bass?If the Lake allows a daily limit on bass then how could this be considered poaching? I'm certainly not defending the guy. He sounds like a dirt bag but I don't know that the citizens of Nevada really need to pay taxes to jail a guy who killed three fish and cheated in a bass contest. Does anyone know the annual cost of housing an inmate in prison. It is around the sum of 75-80k per year. If he does 3 months it will cost the people around $20,000 for killing a few bass. Obviously he should be banned from contest fishing. I would like to see him do hard time in habitat restoration for a number of years so the people get payment rather than having to pay.

Harry Hardy said:

Not only should he do jail time he should also loose his boat and all his gear. If you get caught poaching a game animal they take everything, it should be no differant in this case.


Dave Massey said:

BEAT DOWN?

Not only did he cheat but he killed the fish in the process. That guy definately needs jail time as well as banned for life from being able to obtain a fishing or hunting license. Wouldn't this be a federal offense?


Mark Byrne said:

JAIL TIME?

Permalink Reply by Bill Roberts Sr on July 22, 2010 at 4:05pm

I want to know who the other two guys were?

Permalink Reply by Jake Anderson on July 22, 2010 at 5:54pm

What I don't understand is how someone could put so much time, money, and effort into becoming one of the best anglers getting to one of the biggest stages, and then to simply throw it all away like that. Thats just a shame.

Permalink Reply by Aaron Christel on July 22, 2010 at 5:56pm

Great point.

Jake "The Snake" Anderson said:

What I don't understand is how someone could put so much time, money, and effort into becoming one of the best anglers getting to one of the biggest stages, and then to simply throw it all away like that. Thats just a shame.

Permalink Reply by Says L. on July 22, 2010 at 10:10pm

Maybe he was a great angler because he cheated at other tournaments? Maybe that's how he got to the big stage?

Jake "The Snake" Anderson said:

What I don't understand is how someone could put so much time, money, and effort into becoming one of the best anglers getting to one of the biggest stages, and then to simply throw it all away like that. Thats just a shame.

Permalink Reply by Mike Bess on July 22, 2010 at 10:10pm

Not so sure if he will be banned from fishing. That lrule is a pact between states for big game violations but it may be viewed differently in this case. I know that because there was so much money involved this is definately a felony to what extent will be up to the state or it may even be a federal deal.

Craig Taylor said:

Lock this douche up 2 years min. This dude entered one of the biggest tournaments in the world, had the game plan of cheating and steeling every ones money. Plain and simple. If you don't think he should go to jail than you obviously don't understand the magnitude of cheating at the U.S. Open. Or any tournament that has such big cash payouts for that matter. It's not him killing fish that will get him in trouble, it's F'ing with peoples money that will get him locked up. I'm not 100% sure but once so much money gets involves with these big tournaments, dosn't it go under gambling laws?

Jail time, band from obtaining a fishing/hunting licens for life anyware in the U.S., $75,000 fine, pluss more IMO

Permalink Reply by J-Dawg on July 22, 2010 at 11:14pm

it doesn't matter how much he cheated, it's just the fact that he did cheat, and steal money from people, (which if he did cheat on every tourney, that's a lot of money). I hope that they lock this guy up. and yes, it does go into gambling because there is money in the pot. what a complete shame...

Says L. said:

Maybe he was a great angler because he cheated at other tournaments? Maybe that's how he got to the big stage?

Jake "The Snake" Anderson said:

What I don't understand is how someone could put so much time, money, and effort into becoming one of the best anglers getting to one of the biggest stages, and then to simply throw it all away like that. Thats just a shame.

Permalink Reply by Mike Matkowski on July 23, 2010 at 6:21am

He had been known to "dominate" a particular lake in California which got him on Kraemer's Top twenty (or however many) list for Ca's top sticks. Many will question all his past accomplishments and successes pondering if he has cheated in the past; which will also impact others he has fished with, since people might also question his success in team tournaments and the integrity of his prior partner(s). I would predict that the harshest penalty that will ever be imposed on him won't come from a state or federal court, it will be the public ridicule that follows him for long after any court imposed probation period ends. IMO, It is unlikely a federal prosecutor will intervene in this matter, and more likely he pleas out to a State misdemeanor crime.

Permalink Reply by Scott Sevigny on July 23, 2010 at 8:30am

Here's more from the article about Hart and speculation that he may have cheated in the past:

"Hart, in tandem with partner John "Zanko" Viazanko, have torn up the Southern California fishing scene over the past several years. This year, the duo won six of the seven events in the WON Bass Southern California Teams division. Competitions were held at Castaic and Pyramid. The year before, the duo won four of the seven Southern California WON Bass team events.

Over in National Bass West, Hart and Viazanko won three of this year's six events in the Southwest division. Additionally, Hart and partner Aaron Fischinger won a National Bass West Friends of Castaic benefit tournament in May of this year.

Notably, there were reports of a fish cage found by anglers in Pyramid Lake in April of this year."

While it's a pretty broad statement with no basis, it has to make people wonder if and how much the guy has cheated in the past.

Permalink Reply by Jerry Wilson on July 23, 2010 at 10:26am

There have been cages found in the dunes at Potholes before and at least two people that I know of have been caught cheating here in Washington. So don't think it doesn't happen that often. As soon as the prize money starts getting big people start to try to find ways to get and edge. Sometimes that edge isn't always legal.

If everyone was polygraphed do you think everyone would pass?

Permalink Reply by Chris Lambert on July 23, 2010 at 11:02am

I remember when the cages were found at Potholes before the NW Bass tournament and it made me sick. I was disappointed that whoever found them removed them instead of leaving them there and notifying the authorities so the guys could have been caught in the act. It seems that is how this type of deal needs to happen or else it all becomes rumors or speculation. That's why the WON Bass officials waited until the next day so that they could catch Mike Hart in the act. Do you know if whoever set the cages at Potholes were ever caught?

I've been fishing tournaments since the early nineties and I believe 99.9% of tournament anglers are trustworthy and honest when it comes to following the rules. I do believe some bend the rules when it comes to off limits/no information rules.

Jerry Wilson said:

There have been cages found in the dunes at Potholes before and at least two people that I know of have been caught cheating here in Washington. So don't think it doesn't happen that often. As soon as the prize money starts getting big people start to try to find ways to get and edge. Sometimes that edge isn't always legal.

If everyone was polygraphed do you think everyone would pass?

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