derrickw3 (US)

 I was recently reading through our local outdoor paper, The Outdoor News, and read a very disturbing story about a couple of dirty rotten cheats that were entered in our annual Mille Lacs Lake Muskie Tournament. This tournament has an average of 150 boats, and 300 fisherman that fish as a team. The top payout for this tournament this year was $12,000. The article read like this " How low will a muskie team go to win". This article was written because of evidence that was found on the lake two days before the tournament. The evidence was discovered by a couple recreational fisherman that were trolling deep crankbaits for walleyes. These fisherman were trolling out in what we would call no-mans land, away from any type of structure that most fisherman would look for on a 135,000 acre lake. They were trolling along when one of their rods got hooked on something that they could not move. Well they didn't want to loose the $8 dollar crankbait, so they turned around to check to see what they were caught on. They got to where their line was snagged up only to find that it was caught on a white and green cord. The cord had a white milk jug that had been sealed around the cap to keep it from leaking tied to one end and on the other end was a concrete block. The disturbing part was that it had a three way leader tied to the middle with a very legal, very live muskie attached to it. This was obviously placed there so that one of the teams could later come and pick it up on one of the tournament days. The fisherman who found this little rig said that the muskie was around 45" and it had a sliding stringer run through its lower jaw, so the fish could breathe and survive for a couple days, and if need be, it could be used in the tournament to gain the winning points. Mind you, this fish and rig was found two days BEFORE the tournament, so the fisherman that found it showed fish&game officers where they found it. The officers did stake out the area to see if the culprits would show their ugly heads during the tournament, but nobody showed. They figured the word had already gotten around and the team that put it there stayed their distance. What a couple of bastards!! These things are becoming more and more common in walleye and bass tournaments, but Muskie guys are supposed to be a cut above the rest. These guys that did this are probably the same guys that would shun someone for keeping a trophy fish for the wall. This story was too amazing not to share, so I figured this would be the best place to do it. Have a great fall everyone : )