Karen Savik is a former FLW Tour Pro from Minnesota and she is also a host of North American Fishermen TV. She won the Bassmaster Weekend Series (BWS) Division 17 Tournament, held Sept. 18-19 on the Mississippi River out of Winona, Minn. Not so fast. In the aftermath of the victory she was interviewed by somebody from the BWS for a story about the tournament. The story quoted her talking about how many fish she culled in the tournament. The problem here is that it is against the law to cull on the river where the tournament was held. Open and shut case for a DQ right, well not so fast. Apparently Karen contacted the MN DNR to find out if culling fish was allowed when fishing out of Winona MN. Whoever she spoke to told her it was OK. In addition to that little fact, the Tournament Director for the BWS told the anglers they could cull in this tournament. However, her remarks caused a controversy which made the DNR step in and give Karen a ticket, presumably because she was honest and told a DNR Conservation Officer directly that she culled on the river. I am not a lawyer, but I don't think they could have given her a ticket based on the BWS article.
Unbelievable to me is that the people of the American Bass Anglers Bass Weekend Series retroactively revoked the permission they gave to cull and DQ'ed Karen for something presumably all the top finishing anglers in this tournament also did but dishonestly (some would say smartly) wouldn't admit too.
This is a clear case where no good deed went unpunished and the good gal finished last. To me it's total Bullshit!!!
8 comments:
Only one word to sum up that deal, and you stated it eloquently -
BULLSHIT!
Karen has fished hundreds of bass events on the mississippi river. She knew the law about culling and broke it. Along with her was Howie lee who also admitted to culling he also should be DQ'ed. Not a raw deal she cheated!!
Anonymous- As you said she has fished many tournaments on the river and until now SHE NEVER CULLED. Aren't you a little curious about what changed? One of the reason's things changed is because she found out that most if not all of the other BWS anglers were "cheating" by culling.
In my blog post I highlighted two other things that changed her SOP. A big problem I have is that it's pretty much a certainty that all the other anglers who had the opportunity to cull did it as well in this tournament because the BWS Tournament Director told the anglers to do it. In addition to cheating, those anglers are being dishonest. Karen was punished for being honest. This tournament was a sham and everyone deserves to get their money back.
Never culled before...hmmm, if one knows that culling is illegal, they too would have the responsibility to declare it so and not overlook it for an individual advantage. The only honest thing she did was admit it. The act of culling on the river regardless of who you are or how you spin it is illegal, so if you do so, you should also accept the what comes with it.
I disagree with the DQ, unless they are willing to verify specifically who else did so and deal with it the same.
Anon#2 You should go to Bass Parade blog and check out the comments made by Pro Tom Monsoor. I believe Tom knows how the game is played on the river and he explains that in these more minor events a "don't ask, don't tell" unwritten rule is firmly in place among the anglers.
I believe what has been said by some on Futurebass.com forums backs Tom up.
Bass Parade said it all. ABA CHEATED KAREN. And all the anglers by giving them false information, ADMITTED by the other anglers both for culling and for the TD telling everyone they must cull. ABA screwed her, but they screwed themselves worse, now everone knows what ABA is " BULLSHIT " Anonymous you have no idea what your talking about or you work for ABA.
Anonymous, Karen may have fished ten tournaments on the river in her life. You don't have any facts right. You sound like BUZZ a guy who has tried to spread lies about Karen on every website. The facts are all out and clear. ABA is Bullshit, and this hole deal was Bullshit. Karen did nothing wrong, she was honest, ABA wasn't. It couldn't be any clearer.
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