Official TOP BASS Statment

Official Statement from the:

Top Bass Fishing Series


June 9, 2016.


The Top Bass Fishing Series Tournament Director (Ted Gallone) was notified on the afternoon of Friday September 11^th, 2015 on the discovery of a makeshift cage on tournament waters. He was told that the cage in question contained 5 bass.

The witnesses who made the discovery where told by the TOP BASS Tournament Director to contact the Ministry of Natural Resources and report their find. Shortly after the first call the witness called the Tournament Director a second time and informed him that no actions could be taken by the authorities. At this time the Tournament Director asked that the witnesses not tamper with the evidence and just leave it where it is.
Against the Tournament Directors request, the witnesses showed up at the anglers meeting that evening with the cage in the back of their pickup truck. A third party (not one of the witnesses) interrupted the anglers meeting that was in progress and suggested that the anglers and Tournament Director reconvene outside to see what was found that afternoon.

The Tournament Director was temporarily occupied with tournament business inside the building. By the time the tournament Director was able to get outside to the group in the parking lot, he was shown an empty makeshift cage and was overwhelmed with questions from the anglers on hand.

Based on the time available, the Tournament Director started to implement a plan to conduct both a physical and electronic surveillance of the location in which the first cage was discovered in an effort to identify any individuals involved.
This course of action was not disclosed to the TOP BASS competitors in order to preserve the integrity of the investigation.

On the morning of Saturday September 12^th 2015, prior to the commencement of the Tournament, the investigative plan was compromised as a result of inadvertent disclosure by uninvolved anglers.
Later that day the Tournament Director was notified by a non-competitor that a second makeshift cage was discovered in close proximity of the location of the first cage. The empty second cage was brought to the Tournament headquarters accompanied by photos of fish in a cage.

After the weekends event the Tournament Director consulted with Law Enforcement personnel, for both guidance and further course of action. The witnesses were notified shortly after, that in order for the investigation to precede a signed statement from each witness was required with respect to what each person saw and what, if any actions were taken by them.

REGRETTABLY, AS OF JUNE 8, 2016, STATEMENTS HAVE NOT YET BEEN PROVIDED BY ANY OF THE INDIVIDULES INVOLVED IN THE CIRCOMSTANCES.

After further consultations with Law Enforcement Officials, it has been determined that there is no reasonable prospect of wrong doing at this time.

Please note that since 1993, there has never been a formal protest logged against a TOP BASS competitor. Unfortunately without a formal protest no actions can be taken on behalf of the TOP BASS Fishing Series.

As you all know, a verbal complaint alone, while taken with some validity, cannot solely be used as evidence of wrong doing.

Teodoro (Ted) Gallone

TOP BASS Fishing Series

1-1(b) The TOP BASS Fishing Series reserves the right to refuse any applicants. Don,t play the card you can be sued !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Empty cage, no video or photos of the incident or wrong doing, tampering with evidence, and no witness statements. Wow.

Seems like a slam dunk for a conviction. WRONG.

I fished the series for 2 years and all went well. I dont know the 2 guys that have been dragged through the mud, whether guilty or not, and we have nothing concrete on them???? I DO NOT CONDONE CHEATING AND IF CAUGHT, THE CULPRITS SHOULD BE BANNED FROM ANY COMPETITION FOR LIFE. But in this situation, if the above noted by Top Bass is all accurate, then we need to rethink things.

Ted is a good guy and cannot please every body and runs a great series.

Just my opinion.

Please dont disrespect our sport of tournament fishing by saying this didn't happen! They got caught red handed, tucked thier tails between thier legs and went home.

Ted is a awesome guy and most of us know why his hands are tied. That being said if these two show up at a event im fishing they wouldnt make it to the registartion table to sigh up so ted wont have to decide anything

I don't fish the series, however, like most members here I followed the story. While I am am a person of reason, if it walks like a duck, looks like a duck and sounds like a duck... In saying that, there probably was an opertunaty in catching these guys red handed walking up on stage on weigh in but looks like some witnesses got a little excited. I take it that these two participants that "allegedly" committed this cheat at play are wanting to participate in this seasons events? Again, I don't fish the series but if I did and I know these two "cheats" were participating I would be encouraging as many teams as I could to pull out. You will see how fast these guys will be asked to not participate when 30 teams don't show.

Will not be letting this blow up here again as it has in other places.

To put it in the most easy to understand terms a team was accused of cheating, the people or person who accused them
WILL NOT BACK UP THE CLAIM WITH A SIGNED STATEMENT
DID NOT FOLLOW TED'S INSTRUCTIONS
PICKED UP THE BASKETS AGAINST TED'S ADVICE
DID NOT FILE AN OFFICIAL PROTEST

Ted's hands are tied, there is nothing he can do about the incident, he has no proof, no witness, no actual act of cheating during a tournament.

The people who should be taking the brunt of this hate feast are the ones who WILL NOT BACK UP THEIR CLAIM THAT THEY SAW A TEAM CHEATING!!!!! not Ted who has run a good series for many years and has no options to prove the cheating really happened.

Really Bruce !!! Oh I see so its the anglers fault now lol there was no cheating involved I guess? I guess the cottagers were having a BBQ and where keeping there bass nice and fresh in the cane !!!

In summary; TB does not have the formal support to pursue legal action against an event that "may or may not have happened".
And this is unfortunately true.

I don't feel this post was a good idea unless you are of the mindset "any publicity is good publicity"
Business wise, Publicity wise or personally... Not an easy thing for Ted to write I am sure.

With the first event being on my home lake, I think ill sit this one out as enforcing rule 1-1(b) (As Gardy mentioned earlier) should be exercised for at the very least, the integrity of the sport.

However, you may see me at the ramp in the morning with a lawn chair and some popcorn.. Could be an interesting one.

Matt something has to be done the finger was pointed well before this happened it was brought to Teds attention before the cages were found nothing was done !! I believe for his own doing he should add 30 dollars or whatever it takes to have a lie detector test present for everyone one of his events !!!!

Yes Brian the anglers are at fault! If you saw cheaters why in the hell would you not sign a statement to prove it. If you were told not to talk about it or touch the baskets why the hell would you talk about it a take the baskets. Ted didn't F it up, they did by not doing as he asked so he could lay the trap.

Weather they cheated or not is not the issue now

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...pse6dyh5yx.gif

WOW....

I can't believe we have gotten to this stage... "Weather they cheated or not is not the issue now"

There are quite a few of us that know what really transpired that afternoon and I don't blame the guys that found the cage as they were left "holding the bag" in the end.

IMO - When I pay for a "fair playing field venue", I expect exactly that. When the owner/governing body "can't be bothered" to uphold the fairness aspect of the venue....then my money will never go there again.

Prove it and it's the issue, until then........ not

I'm surprised the incident has even been brought up by the TB camp. The suspected cheaters have come and gone. Thas part of the story has been written. Possibly this is preparation for them showing up in the 2016 season?

What is at question here is...

(1) Will they be allowed to fish TB in the future or will the first right of refusal rule be implemented?

And

(2) What is TB going to do to try and eliminate the chance of this happening again?

Two very simple questions that should have been dealt with months ago. The right responces can possibly restore confidence in the organization.

There it is... Right to the point. We as the supporters of Top Bass need to know. Thank you G for addressing this effectively and eloquently. I will wait for a responce.

Looks to me like a good friend of mine who I trust is getting thrown under a bus by top bass."Ted". Poorly handled, should never have gotton to this. If I call a tourney official with that kind of info I shouldn't be asked to do anything but get the hell outta there. Having an angler call ministry etc... Not the right move at all. Sounds like there could be a lot more to the whole story.

So much more to this story. I as well am good friends with the anglers that saw this shit go down. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but unless you know what really went down don't point fingers. I thanked these two anglers when my partner and I received our 2nd place cheque at the Classic. Knowing that we lost the Classic on the 2nd day by not being "cheated" out of it was a win in itself. And yes I know the whole story. Should have been handled way better

Bruce do you know the whole story or just from the Top Bass Camp ??? Why don,t you find out the whole story before you open your mouth your pointing the finger at guys and you haven't even heard the whole story from them. Sign a statement ?? who cares about the statement these guys were brought to Teds attention 2 tournaments prior to the classic what was done Bruce Do you know ?? exactly nothing !! So you say you are not going to let this topic go like the last time ? Its only getting started so you better shut it down now !!!!

I have heard from several camps....... The thing is you can't just say somebody cheated, you have to prove it. Without proof it basically didn't happen, legally. IMHO the whole thing was mis-handled by all involved. If the baskets had been left alone they could have been watched and whoever went to them and took the fish during the tournament would have been charged with fraud. That did not happen, the baskets were moved, everyone knew about it and sadly there was no chance to gather the proof needed. Legally all we can do is chalk this one up to experience and move on.

I have no reason to doubt the statement Ted posted. I have no reason to doubt what you guys are saying. But there are always 2 sides to any story. Hopefully in time we will get to the bottom of this but until there is proof I do not see how. Making wild accusations and pointing fingers is not going to get anyone anywhere, it will do more damage in the long run.

Time and effort may be better spent talking about how to prevent this in the future and how to handle it if it does.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bruce Farrell

I have heard from several camps....... The thing is you can't just say somebody cheated, you have to prove it. Without proof it basically didn't happen, legally. IMHO the whole thing was mis-handled by all involved. If the baskets had been left alone they could have been watched and whoever went to them and took the fish during the tournament would have been charged with fraud. That did not happen, the baskets were moved, everyone knew about it and sadly there was no chance to gather the proof needed. Legally all we can do is chalk this one up to experience and move on.

I have no reason to doubt the statement Ted posted. I have no reason to doubt what you guys are saying. But there are always 2 sides to any story. Hopefully in time we will get to the bottom of this but until there is proof I do not see how. Making wild accusations and pointing fingers is not going to get anyone anywhere, it will do more damage in the long run.

Time and effort may be better spent talking about how to prevent this in the future and how to handle it if it does.

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Well said.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bruce Farrell

If the baskets had been left alone they could have been watched and whoever went to them and took the fish during the tournament would have been charged with fraud. That did not happen, the baskets were moved, everyone knew about it and sadly there was no chance to gather the proof needed.

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Emotions and anger ran too high too fast IMHO ^^^^^^THIS SUMS IT UP^^^^^^

Again. You do not know the circumstances to why the actions that were taken where done. Best thing said was your last statement Bruce . How to prevent in future and how to handle it if it does.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bruce Farrell

I have heard from several camps....... The thing is you can't just say somebody cheated, you have to prove it. Without proof it basically didn't happen, legally. IMHO the whole thing was mis-handled by all involved. If the baskets had been left alone they could have been watched and whoever went to them and took the fish during the tournament would have been charged with fraud. That did not happen, the baskets were moved, everyone knew about it and sadly there was no chance to gather the proof needed. Legally all we can do is chalk this one up to experience and move on.

I have no reason to doubt the statement Ted posted. I have no reason to doubt what you guys are saying. But there are always 2 sides to any story. Hopefully in time we will get to the bottom of this but until there is proof I do not see how. Making wild accusations and pointing fingers is not going to get anyone anywhere, it will do more damage in the long run.

Time and effort may be better spent talking about how to prevent this in the future and how to handle it if it does.

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Very well said. I totally get everyone's frustrations with all this. But the reality of it is at this point without concrete proof this is all speculation with no legal backing for anyone to proceed with action against the accused. Hearsay without proof doesn't hold up in court so why should anyone expect it to hold up in this case? Time to find the best way move forward so this won't happen again.

Last Ted reference .........

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...pszt1nvbrn.gif

Lots of interesting phone calls today. About this and other matters. Nothing good will come of any of this if we continue to focus on the insedent itself. The most important thing out of all of this is awareness and preventative measures. More important then that even is that anglers stick together and stand up for what we feel to be fair in "OUR" sport!! These types of Informative Avanues are all we have to make our opinions known and clearly, independently we can be taken with a grain of salt. Tournament directors can address or not address whatever questions or opinions they wish to.
Food for thought guys...
Pretty deep hole the rest of this post will dig.

Urs..
Is that bear ever going to finish?
Keeps going and going..
Gonna burn a hole in his fur

i dont really post to much but i am tired of the bs. the fact of the matter is the organizer did not do his job. if he did his job we would not all be here talking about it. the individuals would have been charged and this would all be over.

after reading through all these posts ,,,I feel for Ted ...legally its hard to start accusing people without concrete evidence ,,,,,sometimes things get turned around so the good guy trying to do right gets thrown in the fire .....in hindsight things could have been handled differently . as tournament director of CANADIAN TIRE MITCHELLS BAY OPEN , Teds experience with this situation taught me a lesson if we have to deal with a situation like this ....
I need the anglers that found the net to trust me and the actions that I am going to take .I need a positive location as to where the net is . as a deer hunter I have 4 amazing trail cams , these trail cams will be set up to hopefully get all the evidence I need to catch the cage owners red handed .......
one more thing to remember . AS TOURNY DIRECTOR I NOW NEED TO FIND TIME TO DO ALL THIS STUFF ......Where am I going to find time to do this ....with our tourney coming up in less then a month yesterday I had 7 emails and 9 text from anglers asking questions about pre fish lodging and area bars .....I can only imagine how busy Ted was that night with angler questions and tourney director duties .
I hope we don't have this situation if we do . my trail cam has direct feed back to my pc we will know if someone is pulling fish from their cage before they even know they are on camera

All those that think TB didn't do their job should get up off the couch and start their own series. After all, when you're perfect, how could anything go wrong. You could be so proud of yourself for running the only perfect series in North America. When you suspected someone of cheating you could have him beaten and banned. No legal ramifications because you have the only perfect series in North America. As an outsider, it's not the Series I would choose to stay away from, it's you people that fish it. Everyone of you owe the organization an apology. You all say we don't know what actually happened. Well if you knew, why didn't you stop it? Once the basket was removed, you took away the only way it could be stopped. Kind of proves to me that the guilty party was being protected by somebody.

Now i can see where this is going so i think it will be my last post on this subject however one point does need to me made that hasn't yet. The second that you decided to fish a event/series as and angler, your only job is to show up and catch fish. You paid that money so a bookie can hold it with out problem and do everything in his power to make sure its a clean playing feild. As the person who gets paid to hold our money, Ted needed to step up as a business owner then and took matters into his own hands and not left it up to the customers (which is what we are and dont forget that ever!)

In any other business you have to make decisions on a dalily basis that affect your future. Simply not acting on a issure for 6 months would surly put any owner in this situation however as paying customers were allowed to voice our displeasure. Just hopefuly in the future this gets delt with as soon as that girst phone call is made!

This can happen in any tournament with any organizer. There are no "Best Practices" books, only experience and there are so few available to look back at. If someone has a complaint or is going to accuse someone of any infraction and expect results you have to be prepared to make the complaint official. The rules state that any complaints of accusations must be formal and signed by the person who is making the allegations. If no one is willing to own it then the organizers hands are tied. The old "I don't want trash my buddy" scenario doesn't work if you want action.

I don't fish TopBass, but I have fished tournaments in eastern Ontario for the past 20 yrs. I will say this, and this is my opinion only guys. No matter what tournament series you decide to fish, if somebody knows something, not rumours, FACTS, and witnessed cheating activity, which it sounds like is the case here, then they owe it to all their competitors and the tournament community as a whole to bring these forward. If it is a fact that somebody knows the truth, its too late to judge in the court of law, but they can be most certainly be judged by their peers for years to come!!

The take away here is..... If you see or find something wrong(like a makeshift cage) don't touch it. Set up a sting and catch the cheaters red handed! Plain and simple.
Let's learn from other people's mistakes and move on. Evolution 101!!

I have 2 last question and I would like someone who knows the whole story to answer it for me please Was the accused brought to Teds attention from several anglers before the cages were found like 2 tournaments prior ?????? Sorry I have another what did Top bass do when it was brought to there attention ??? Why wasn,t it dealt with then or at least a lie detector then ????????

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Brian Gardy

I have 2 last question and I would like someone who knows the whole story to answer it for me please Was the accused brought to Teds attention from several anglers before the cages were found like 2 tournaments prior ?????? Sorry I have another what did Top bass do when it was brought to there attention ??? Why wasn,t it dealt with then or at least a lie detector then ????????

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Good question. I know that I did and have been told by others that they had as well.

curious to know what happened two tournaments before?