Alleged cheater busted

[Lee Borgersen]

   ....Alleged cheater busted at Park Rapids tourney

Park Rapids, Minn. — To get a jump on the competition at a Park Rapids-area ice-fishing contest, one competitor brought along with him a couple specimens of his own, according to the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Department. Now that person is facing possible attempted theft charges, as well as a DNR citation for transporting live fish from one body of water to another.

The fish the contestant was caught with wouldn’t have won the unnamed subject (charges hadn’t been filed as of  press time on Tuesday) the contest’s grand prize, a pickup truck, but could’ve qualified him for any number of other fine prizes, according to Hubbard County Sheriff Cory Aukes. The 15th annual Park Rapids American Legion Community Fishing Contest was held last Saturday on Fish Hook Lake.

Contests with big-buck prizes “sadly,” Aukes said, “make (cheating) more tempting.”

According to the sheriff’s department, the male suspect came to the American Legion fishing contest with two northern pike in a pull-type sled. Upon seeing the northern pike in the sled, other contestants confronted him, then contacted American Legion officials and Sheriff Aukes.

But the time Aukes located the suspect, he’d put one of his northerns down a hole. He still had one, however.

“We caught him red-handed,” Aukes said. “And he fessed up to what he did.”

The fish the subject kept was in the 2- to 3-pound range, according to Aukes. In the “northern, walleye, largemouth bass” division, the top fish was a 6.26-pound northern pike, and the angler won an ATV. The top fishing prize, however, went to the person who caught the 15th-largest fish (the 15th annual contest), which was a 2.06-pound northern.

The grand prize, the pickup, was won on a raffle ticket.

Aukes said some tournaments are operating that way – not awarding the largest fish – to dissuade cheaters.

“There’s less incentive to sneak fish in,” he said.

Aukes said he expects charges to be filed – and the subject to be identified – in a few days. Possible charges include attempted fraud or attempted theft by swindle, he said. A fine is likely, but jail time is also possible, depending on the individual’s criminal background, he said.

It’s likely, too, that the subject will be cited for transferring the fish between water bodies. CO Colleen Adam investigated for the DNR. She said the subject had a fishing license.

[Lee Borgersen]

 Note:not sure if this is the same guy :                    


                The great ice fishing scandal of 2013
  
             First Lance Armstrong, now Tom Mead?

It's quite a brouhaha that's broken out in Park Rapids where the winner of the community fishing contest has been accused of cheating.

The bulk of the evidence against the Long Prairie angler, from what we can glean from the Alexandria Echo Press today, is that he has a knack for winning fishing contests.

He won a new pickup truck in 2004 in Alexandria with his 7-pound walleye catch. Two years ago he won an ATV with a northern pike at the same tournament from where he was escorted off the ice by the police earlier this month, the newspaper says.



Tom Mead of Long Prairie carried a 7.14-pound walleye to the weighing station on Lake L’Homme Dieu during the 2004 Ice Fishing Challenge.

Aukes (the sheriff) said he had some difficulty escorting Mead through the crowd as angry anglers yelled "Cheater!" and crowded around him and the disabled man.

Other than that incident, Aukes said the derby went off without a hitch.

Because Mead has a disability, he is able to drive a vehicle out onto the ice. Security personnel otherwise were checking every angler for contraband on the way through the entry gates.

Mead, for his part, insists he is innocent and when the facts come out, he will be cleared of any alleged wrongdoing.


This, apparently, is a big problem in some parts of the country. Last October, the New York Times reported that fishing tournaments are beset by cheaters as the prizes grow larger.

[Cody Gruchow]

i seen all the commotion. i was at this derby. my cousin actually won the fish house.. (the 15th largest fish) they think this guy has cheated before, but theres no way to prove it. he has won numerous large prizes in the last 3-4 years..

[Cody Gruchow]

its the same guy