My Son's BFL DQ Doesn't Make Sense

This is written by a 64-year-old dad whose heart is heavy with frustration and whose eyes are glassy and bloodshot from lack of sleep. It's been four long nights since I learned of my son Kevin's "disqualification" from the Lake Wheeler Regional BFL fishing tournament, and I'm still having trouble sleeping.

It started more than a week ago when my phone rang at 1:00 a.m – not a good thing for a parent. I'm basically an optimist, so I was hoping it was something that wasn't too drastic and it could be easily rectified.

It was my youngest son from Elizabethtown, Ky. He had just gotten home after driving all night from the Lake Wheeler tournament in Rogersville, Alabama. I knew he had been doing well because my oldest son had spoken to him and informed me he was the current leader. I was also aware he was one of six finalists who would be competing for 1st place on day 3 of the tournament.

When he began to talk, I could tell he was extremely upset. As he explained what happened, I could understand why. He said, "Dad, I outfished everyone there, fair and square, and caught a 3-day total of 35 pounds, 10 ounces. They declared me the 1st-place winner up on stage (prize was a Chevy truck and a Ranger boat). They congratulated me and I went off the stage into the crowd.

"Other fishermen and the audience congratulated me. Approximately 20 minutes after being announced the winner, one of the officials asked me to come around to the back of the trailer. Once there, I was told I was disqualified for not having a U.S. Coast Guard horsepower rating plate on my boat."

My son said he then went down to his boat and tore out the boat carpeting looking for this elusive plate, only to come up empty-handed.

Needless to say, he was devastated. I tried to console him by saying, "You know and I know you beat the competition, and they can never take that away from you." I didn't know what else to say. Although he said he wouldn't be able to sleep, I knew he had to be tired from the long drive back home to Kentucky.

I didn't get much sleep either as I kept reflecting on our conversation. I couldn't stop thinking about what else he said: "I outfished everyone there and they stole it from me." I can't imagine what I would have done if that had happened to me.

As his father, I know Kevin put in many hours and made many personal sacrifices to reach his current level of fishing skill. From the time he was 10 years old, he loved to fish. I was a tennis player and took Kevin with me. It was great.

I could play tennis for hours without any interruptions because there were two ponds close by where he could fish to his heart's content. It was difficult to get him to stop when I was ready to leave. I never realized how important his fishing would become to him. I am not a fisherman like my son, yet I realize how much that Ranger boat would have meant to him, especially knowing "he earned it fair and square."

Since we're several states apart, I don't get to see Kevin as often as I would like. However, last year I made it a point to take off work if he would fish with me in a big-money tournament. The 1st-place prize was a truck and Ranger boat. Kevin agreed, but warned me, "Dad, there's a lot of pros that get in this tournament and the competition is tough."

'That's fine,' I thought to myself. 'How hard could it be to catch a few big fish? All I need to do is watch what my son does and imitate him. I'll only be 6 feet away.' Well, I discovered fishing will make you humble. Needless to say, I did not help him win anything. He caught his limit, and although I had my line in the water just as much, I did not catch any fish.

I've come to the conclusion that there is a great deal of skill (and probably a little luck) involved in the art of becoming a good fisherman.

To the point of this editorial, I want to say that Kevin is a good man. Neither he nor anyone else deserves the treatment he received from the tournament officials at the Lake Wheeler Regional tournament.

I will never forget Kevin's comment to me when I mentioned they moved the 2nd-place finisher to lst on the Internet leader board and eliminated his name. He said, "Dad, I took 1st place." I quickly said, "You're right son, it was a slip of the tongue."

Something about the whole scenario didn't seem right. I took it upon myself to contact the BFL home office in Benton, Kentucky. This just happens to be the hometown of the 7th-place fisherman (18-05) who moved up to 6th place after Kevin's disqualification. Both he and the 2nd-place fisherman (32-11) are sponsored by Ranger. Kevin's catch was 35-10 for 1st place.

When I spoke to the BFL representative, he assured me that favoritism would never enter into the decision to disqualify Kevin. He said, "Rules are rules, and we don't break them." He informed me Kevin's boat did not have a U.S. Coast Guard plate.

As a layperson, I tried to understand his concern about the possibility of the boat being illegal to use in the tournament. I stated, "He has fished in five BFL tournaments prior to this one, and no one seemed to be concerned when they inspected his boat. If they were, they did not tell him he was illegal without that plate and would be disqualified."

Again the representative stated, "Rules are rules." He said he was very sorry, but they could not break rules.

I still wasn't satisfied and asked why Kevin's boat was the only one inspected for this plate. The BFL representative stated they only inspect the winner's boat. At that moment, a quick thought went through my mind. If that was true and my son had come in 2nd or 3rd, this issue would not exist. All he would have had to do was throw a couple of fish back in and he would have been one of the six anglers who earned a ticket to the 2005 All-American.

Instead, he was disqualified on a technicality which, as it turns out, didn't even apply to his boat. But "rules are rules," and we left it at that.

Over the last week I have talked frequently with Kevin to learn more about what actually transpired on the last day of the tournament. He told me that at the morning boat check on the final day, two tournament officials were checking his boat over with flashlights for approximately 20 minutes. He was then allowed to leave with the rest of the boats.

He had an excellent fishing day and was declared the tournament winner with a catch of 35-10. I can only imagine how that must have felt – onstage as the winner and the center of attention, everyone giving him accolades as he walked around in the crowd afterward and enjoyed his win.

Approximately 20 minutes later, a tournament official came up to Kevin and stated he needed to talk with him behind the trailer. At that point he told Kevin he was disqualified for not having a U.S. Coast Guard horsepower rating plate. Kevin was devastated and stunned beyond belief. How humiliating is that – to have to walk back around to the front of the building and tell all your well-wishers you were just disqualified?

Talk about the power to extinguish the human spirit. Kevin was on cloud nine for 20 minutes, then totally emotionally destroyed.

Kevin's current boat was purchased used from another owner. There was never a Coast Guard plate on the boat since it was not required for boats over 20 feet in length. The Coast Guard also concurs in this.

Kevin's boat is 20'1" inch and falls outside the "20 feet and under rule" that requires the Coast Guard plate. If you had the opportunity to know Kevin, you would realize he would never cheat or manipulate the system to his advantage.

All he ever wanted is to fish his best and compete against other good fishermen in a fair and sportsmanlike manner. He may own a Viper, but I think a Champion would suit him much better.