Weekly Weigh-in

Eleven Ounces of Fame

My mornings are fairly routine. A series of stretches, then off to the shower, chased by a cup of caffeine on the way to the office.

Per usual, I briefly scanned the current headlines of The Fishing Wire. One in particular caught my eye, “BFL Wylie Results Changed for Rules Infraction.” At first glance, it can be interpreted one of two ways. The angler inadvertently made a mistake OR blatantly cheating prompting a DQ from the tournament officials.

Past experience with the majority of anglers lead me to believe this was going to be another example of an angler self-policing and disqualifying himself for a rule infraction (ie…forgot to attach their kill switch lanyard, buckle their life jacket, fishing too close to a gas dock, etc). Unfortunately, the latter was true.

“Boater John Hoyle of Rutherfordton, N.C., who finished Saturday’s competition in third place, was disqualified for violation of BFL rule No. 9 Sportsmanship after an 11-ounce weight was found in the stomach of one of the fish he weighed in Saturday’s competition,” by FLW Outdoors

I have zero-tolerance for those who cheat, violate fishery’s regulations and abuse wildlife. The natural world is life’s greatest classroom. Treat it as such.