He calls it his “Columbus moment.”
Not unlike a shrewd TV detective, Mark Mandick, the owner of Pro Bass, a series of professional fishing tournaments, had just uncovered a cheating scandal at one of his high-stakes tournaments in the early 1990s in Barrie, Ontario.
There was a qualifying prize of $10,000 — more if the fishermen who hid six huge pre-caught bass in a cage in the reed-covered narrows then took home the championship grand prize.
After a competitor alerted Mandic to the caged fish the day before the tournament, he and a marine biologist decided to tag the bass by cutting an eighth of an inch off its dorsal fins so they would know if anyone tried to pass them off as their catch. The next day, Mandic took the stage as the tournament’s MC, with hockey legend Bobby Orr to help with the weigh-ins in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
“Mark, we’ve got some really nice ones here,” the marine biologist inspecting the fish called out to Mandich. That, he said in an interview with CBC News on Thursday, is the agreed-upon signal that someone has indeed entered the tagged fish into the competition.
“Obviously the fish are huge. They took the lead,” Mandic recalled.
“What day did you catch those fish?” he recalled asking the duo onstage when they began stuttering. “Because it couldn’t have been today,” he continued, before dropping the bombshell that they had found the caged fish the day before.
“They elevated it. They couldn’t have left any faster.” Although he said the police did show up, Mandic said he was never sure what happened to the crooks.
In a photo from the Lake Erie Walleye Trail Facebook page, Jason Fisher, the Lake Erie Walleye Trail’s tournament director, is seen disqualifying an angler from a walleye tournament in late September after finding lead weights in their catch. (Lake Erie Walleye Trail/Facebook)
Scandalous rock fishing scene
Although this incident happened decades ago, the tales of the fish keep coming after a series of scandals rocked the professional fishing circuit, revealing how widespread dishonesty is in a sport that can bring lucrative prizes for winners and legal consequences for cheaters – when they caught again.
Last week, an Ohio fishing tournament turned ugly when a director cut open the winning catch of five kingfish to find lead weights and finished fish fillets inside. A video of the incident went viral and the district attorney’s office is investigating.
And on Wednesday, a fishing duo revealed what they say is a story of cheating at a major Canadian tournament, including a competitor who allegedly cut his reel to make his catch bigger in June.
“It’s an eye-opener for any kind of sport industry, whether it’s fishing or not,” said Victoria Pallotta, event manager for the Stouffville, Ont.-based Competition Sport Fishing League (CSFL).
The league puts on about 30 tournaments a year and can have prize money of up to $30,000, she said.
Polygraphs ‘keep people honest’
With so much money as well as sponsorship on the line, the CSFL has now implemented polygraph tests which are mandatory for major title winners and can be used at random or when a competitor is suspected of cheating. Next year, Pallotta says they plan to start using metal detectors.
“No one ever wants to go into things thinking people are cheating,” she said. “But by implementing things like the polygraph test, we like to think that it makes people honest, and because it’s also done randomly, people know not to try.”
Anglers head out at sunrise in Bobcaygen, Ont., during a sportfishing league tournament. Before each event, each boat is inspected by tournament officials, not only for safety purposes, but also to ensure that there are no fish caught prior to the event hidden in the live wells of the boats. (Submitted by Victoria Pallotta/Competitive Sport Fishing League)
Fishermen caught cheating not only face disqualification, but when money is at stake, they can face criminal charges.
In 2014, two Alabama anglers were given one-year suspended prison sentences after they were found to have won a night owl fishing tournament using pre-caught bass, according to WAFF 48, a local news site.
Michael Consul, tournament director of the CFN Fish Off, confirmed to CBC News on Thursday that his tournament was affected by the roulette scandal in June. The multi-species online tournament is designed to culminate in a never-before-aired TV series as producers try to determine what can be done with the footage.
The Consul and other tournament officials did investigate allegations that an angler had sent in a fish using a tape measure that he had cut to make the fish appear larger than it was. But before they could announce a decision, the contestant in question dropped out, he said.
An alleged cheating scandal in Canada involved a reel that was allegedly cut to make the catch look bigger than it was, as seen in this June 2022 photo submitted by Mitch Zinally, a Toronto angler , who competes against the person accused of fraud. (Submitted by Mitch Zinali)
“We take all allegations seriously”
After speaking with legal counsel, Consul said they decided not to disclose whether the contestant was found to have cut the tape, as they were disqualified anyway. But he noted that they “take all allegations seriously.”
Although there is no cash prize with the Fish Off, sponsors provide material prizes to winners and also make a cash donation to a children’s charity of the winner’s choice, Consul said.
Mandich, now 65 and living in Peterborough, Ont., says that while his cheating story is spicy, it’s also the only one he’s known of in his 10 years of running Pro Bass.
“People always lie about the fish – the size of the fish they catch or whatever,” he said, noting that although most anglers are honest, hard-working people and cheating during competitions is rare, some people still do it .
And when they get caught?
“I think humility is the best punishment.”
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