whitley open
- Thread starter sidblank
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g-force
Well-known member
Very hard going today mate, a lot of very good anglers blanked. Just put the winners up - Alan should be posting a fuller report with pictures later, I've just sent him the full result.
Fished Crawleys, then end of Whitley Pipe then the pipe skeers & only had one small bite all day........
Gary
No mention of a 6lb+ fish in the results mate !
Not from snab point mate !
sidblank
Well-known member
It used to go on years ago mate a few on here might be able to tell you better ? it was one of the reasons i give up fishing the opens, there were "rumors" people were found to have sinkers in their catch and so on, anywhere money is involved you will always find someone who cheats in any sport i guess, im not saying it goes on now-a-days hopefully not but with large boundaries it must be still hard to Marshall these events
bluepied2280
Well-known member
that is correct and round corner to the south
i hope not too,, ok just asking how easy would it be to cheat in an open comp how would a cheat go about it with big boundaries anything could happen im sure someone on here had a discussion about it a few years ago and i can recall someone getting banned for cheating or accused of cheating in a big open quite a few years ago, i too used to fish all the big opens and could see how easy it would be to cheat (never did never would )i like to think the northeast anglers are honest and so it should be, but im sure cheating went on in one way or another in any angling, big prize money would attract the cheats it goes on in other sports im sure our sport would be no different in the end its all about honesty i thought snooker was an honest sport and cricket , football , horse racing lol ,athletics, do i need to go on ? regards batt22
Stewart 1971
Well-known member
I have fished matches since I was 11-yrs-old (I'm 42 now) and all of the opens all over the North East.
I have never, ever been at a match weigh-in where somebody has weighed a fish with sinkers stuffed in it.
Maybe someone who used to do weigh-in's could enlighten us.
In fact, I've never been at an open where the winner was disqualified for cheating - mind you...it was always top match anglers that won anyway...Not me...
Cheating in opens, never seen it happen, but the organisers have it covered and do a great job in organising them - I hope your comments doesn't put anglers off entering this season's events.
Some clubs rely on their opens attracting a good turn out....
The rumours have always been there and as far as I know there has never been any proof to back them up.
I was scalesman for the Seaham club in the late 1980's, back then the £1000 top prize is probably equivalent to £2500 in todays money. Never any hint of cheating back then, nor at the Feedex which had a massive £3000 top prize IIRC. The big fish with a chance of winning would be checked thoroughly anyway, held upside down and given a good shake, belly squeezed etc just to make sure and as I said, never happened.
How many 5oz sinkers would you have to stuff into a fish to be sure of winning anyway? And besides it would have to be a good sized fish to be in with a chance to start with. Would it really be worth getting caught and being banned from every open comp in the country for an extra few ounces that you might not need? There are always plenty of anglers around and when someone gets a good fish word spreads very quickly and it will often be weighed there and then if someone nearby has a set of scales.
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I agree with the sinker malarkey i always thought that was a bit far fetched but what about Billy bucktooth he takes a few mates fishing the comp they all catch but give all their fish to Billy bucktooth who weighs in, big boundaries no one see's job done Billy bucktooth shares the prize money all go away happy i bet this goes on ? ps if there are any Billy buckteeth on here i don't mean you LOL
Stewart 1971
Well-known member
Don't know how much has changed but back then almost all the big opens were heaviest single fish. Certainly ours was at Seaham, as was the Feedex down on the Holderness.
For heaviest bag even then it is likely that most marks will have a fair few anglers on them so anyone weighing in more fish than they were seen catching is taking a big risk. I know when I've fished matches on the south coast (fair enough all pegged and C&R) word spreads very quickly if someone is bagging up as I'm sure Paul will testify to (especially now so with mobile phones, I've been fishing one end of a beach and known very quickly that a guy a mile away in the next bay is bagging up).
For heaviest bag even then it is likely that most marks will have a fair few anglers on them so anyone weighing in more fish than they were seen catching is taking a big risk. I know when I've fished matches on the south coast (fair enough all pegged and C&R) word spreads very quickly if someone is bagging up as I'm sure Paul will testify to (especially now so with mobile phones, I've been fishing one end of a beach and known very quickly that a guy a mile away in the next bay is bagging up).
everything is done to check for and prevent any kind of cheating at every open i know ,is someone going to risk being banned from every club in the land and possibly get done of the police if they are caught, never mind what honest anglers will do to them when the word gets out . i hope not and if anyone is stupid enough to try i hope they get caught and get what they deserve .
