Oakley Big Bass Tourney sets record, produces another DQ
I’ve been hearing a lot of people saying this spring that the bass fishing at Smith Mountain Lake is as good for nice-sized fish as it’s ever been.
It’s hardly a secret.
This past weekend’s Oakley Big Bass Tournament drew a whopping 502 entrants. That’s a record for the tour, which visits such other bass-crazy states such as North Carolina and Texas. A record was also set for the number of fish weighed in, and the average size was up from last year, too.
I love seeing numbers like that because they show just how important bass fishing (fishing in general, really) is in these parts. That helps justify the amount of time and newspaper and blog space I spend covering fishing, and is important if any of the head honchos here ever try to tell me that I do too much fishing coverage.
The tourney featured a likeable winner in Phillip Cox, whose story I told in my column this morning in The Roanoke Times. I wanted to post a shot of Cox with the Nitro Z7 he won, but just realized that I left my camera at home. I’ll try to add one later.
And, like last year’s OBBT, it featured a disqualification of a leader who did not complete a polygraph test.
Tournament officials declined to provide specific details about the test or the circumstances that brought suspicion on the 6.45-pound bass submitted by Perry Brown. They said that he declined to take the test. There are lots of rumors flying around out there, non of which I will repeat here because they are only rumors.
I sure wish one of these DQ cases would end up in criminal charges, because that would sure help squash the rumors that are inevitable. I should point out that putting a case in court might also help an angler whose rep is shot by a DQ like this clear his name, if so deserving.
The Optimist tournament is coming up in two weeks. Anyone want to put odds on whether we’ll see a DQ in that tourney for the third year in a row?
April 24, 2012 - 11:41 AM
Great coverage Mark of all the recent outdoor events – Fishing, Hunting, Marathon, Etc. Thanks for reporting all the info including the disqualification stuff.
Also I’ll have to add comment about the Bass at Smith Mountian Lake…. YES, we’ve got some great Bass fishing there! I’ve caught MORE nice fish in the last few years than ever before. The last night I was out I caught two HAWGS and several other fat keepers….. I’m amazed at how many quality fish Smith Mountain is producing! But I must admit they can also sometimes be tough to pattern and catch. I think one of the hardest things to figure out, (at least for me), is how the fish react to the heavy recreational boat traffic on pretty days. I see my success rate going way down when the boat usage picks up.
And also CONGRATULATIONS Phillip on your tournamnet win in the Oakley Tournamant!!!! Man, I cannot even imagine the excitement you must have felt when you got the keys to that new boat!!!!!
I fished the Oakley Big Bass tournament this weekend, I knew there were a lot of fishermen out by the number of boats I saw, had no idea it was 502 of them though.
It didn’t turn out like I had hoped, ha ha, but It was fun, and there’s always next year!
It is a shame someone always try’s to beat the system and do the wrong thing, win or lose you gotta play fair!
I’ve never had much desire to tournament fish, but that’s one I’d be tempted to enter. I think the format is pretty interesting in that it involves some strategy and gambling.
I may enter the Optimist tournament this year so my kids can fish in the Bill Cochran kids tournament. I wouldn’t enter a fish myself because I can guarantee I would get picked for the polygraph test. Not that I wouldn’t pass, but…
Just a quick question. I’ve never entered a tournament before, but have considered entering one this year. What type of things can get you DQ’d from a tournament? I figure that would be good to know before entering and accidentally messing things up.
Thats why I quit tournament fishing! It was hard for me to deal with guys cheating. I started fishing bass tournaments when I was 15 years old and was the youngest to make the State Team in the federation at age 17. It was then, I got serious and quickly realized that I couldn’t compete against cheaters. I fished my butt off, practiced, and took notes. Felt good with the bass I had in the live well until I attended the weigh-in! Now granted, there are some guys out there that are great bass fishermen, and whooped my tail a few times. But there is SCUM out there too that must cheat to beat us “honest” fishermen. For what? Money? Reputation? You ain’t much of a fisherman if you have to cheat to beat. You are nothing and I would love to catch y’all.
As you can tell…… This is a sore subject for me. I used to love to tournament fish, but these idiots are the reason I don’t.
Polygraphs are notoriously inaccurate and inadmissible in court. Per the Code of Virginia:
Ҥ 8.01-418.2. Evidence of polygraph examination inadmissible in any proceeding.
The analysis of any polygraph test charts produced during any polygraph examination administered to a party or witness shall not be admissible in any proceeding conducted pursuant to Chapter 10 (§ 2.2-1000 et seq.) of Title 2.2 or conducted by any county, city or town over the objection of any party except as to disciplinary or other actions taken against a polygrapher. “
I think the coolest thing going is the RiverBass Tournament. After reading Cory Routh’s book on kayak fishing, I was really excited to see paddle and CPR tourneys taking hold in the area. I would LOVE to see a club get started on SML or Philpott and have weekly tourneys. The biggest turnoff of tourney fishing is the hectic pace. This format is more my style, and more people can afford to participate.
#4 Rory,
There are lots of reasons for someone to get DQ’d in a fishing tournament. Every tournament has a set of rules, usually set by the tournament director, the person in charge of the tournament, that if broken would result in a disqualification.
When you enter the tournament you are usually given a copy of the rules, and by signing the entry form you basically agree to abide by those rules. The tournament director will usually go over the rules right before the official start of the tournament.
A few examples are- fishing within a certain distance of another boat, fishing in an off limits area, such as the immediate area where the tournament is being held, Fishing before the official start time, catching fish illegally as in snagging them, unsafe operation of your boat, not wearing your life vest when the big motor is in use or refusing to submit to a polygraph test as in the Oakley Big Bass Tournament.
These are some of the basic rules, and like I said before the rules are the soul discretion of the director.
As with anything else in life that has a reward or a pay out, there is always going to be a few bad apples who will push the rules as far as they can, and some folks who will flat out break the rules if they think they can get away with it. Those folks eventually get caught, and when they do any success they have had to that point is brought into question, and they will have a hard time living it down.
As a person who participates in tournaments from time to time, you just have to do the right thing and believe that everyone else is doing the same. Give it your best and play by the rules and at least you can hold your head up win or lose!