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Pro Fisherman Faces Contest Fraud Charge
KMBC NEWS ^ | 11-18-2005

Posted on 11/18/2005 5:17:59 PM PST by Cagey

LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. -- A Missouri fisherman is accused of cheating in a professional bass tournament.

Paul Tormanen, 39, of Lee's Summit, faces a felony charge of contest fraud. He's suspected of catching bass before the competition and tying them to a stump, then submitting them during a competition in Louisiana last week, reported KMBC-TV in Kansas City, Mo.

Another competitor found tethered bass and informed authorities, who marked the fish, the television station reported. Tormanen was then questioned when he allegedly turned one of the marked fish in to be weighed at the Bassmaster Tournament on the Red River.

Fisherman who know Tormanen are shocked by the accusation.

"I just talked to him a couple weeks ago and personally congratulated him on such a successful season last year," pro bass fisherman Shane Voyles said. "He won, you know, $40,000, $50,000, $60,000 last year just in the Heartland ProAm circuit -- that's a local circuit around here."

"It's a sad thing ... I get phone calls from friends, 'Man, can you believe this?' We all knew the guy," he said.

Voyles has won a big bass tournament himself, which included a $51,000 prize and a trophy. He's also a spokesman for Xtreme Marine in Lee's Summit, and he said Tormanen's fraud charge has him worried about sponsorships.

"It could hurt those of us out there that are trying to raise revenue to help pay for our sponsorship. I mean, they're going to look at this and say, 'Wait a second here, is this a cheating sport?'" Voyles said.

Tormanen has posted bond and was released.

KMBC went to the address listed on Tormanen's arrest record and found the front door ajar. A sign on the door read, "Welcome Home Dad, We Miss You." When KMBC rang the bell, someone slammed the door shut.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Missouri
KEYWORDS: bass; fishing
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Paul Tormanen

1 posted on 11/18/2005 5:18:00 PM PST by Cagey
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To: Cagey; martin_fierro; mikrofon
He's suspected of catching bass before the competition and tying them to a stump, then submitting them during a competition. . . .

That's bass-ackwards!

2 posted on 11/18/2005 5:20:50 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (I'm stumped for a tagline.)
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To: Charles Henrickson

LOL! Very good.


3 posted on 11/18/2005 5:21:29 PM PST by Cagey (Some men are Baptists, others Catholics, my father was an Oldsmobile man.)
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To: Cagey

Country boys can survive.


4 posted on 11/18/2005 5:21:33 PM PST by Shaka
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To: Cagey

It all seemed rather fishy.


5 posted on 11/18/2005 5:23:10 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Proud sponsor of the Tagline-and-Release Program.)
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To: Cagey

Next thing ya know, we're gonna find out somebody's been feeding the bass steroids. Y'know, a little of "the cream" and "the clear", some "flaxseed oil", maybe some "vitamin B-12 shots"...and you reel in a 45-pound bass with a gigantic head.

}:-)4


6 posted on 11/18/2005 5:24:03 PM PST by Moose4 (Liberals and vampires: Both like death, both hate crosses, and both are bloodsuckers.)
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To: Cagey

I wonder if the fish were co-conspirators? Were they paid off?


7 posted on 11/18/2005 5:24:08 PM PST by Emmett McCarthy
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To: Cagey

That there's a hangin' offense 'round these parts.


8 posted on 11/18/2005 5:24:19 PM PST by Gordongekko909 (I know. Let's cut his WHOLE BODY off.)
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To: Gordongekko909

This happened some years back in an ice fishing gig on White Bear Lake. The prize was a high dollar pickup truck and the winner was found to have 'salted' a few fish on ice in his van, then pulled them out of his ice fishing hole.


9 posted on 11/18/2005 5:26:53 PM PST by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: Charles Henrickson

LOL


10 posted on 11/18/2005 5:29:10 PM PST by JNL
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To: Cagey

How slimey.....


11 posted on 11/18/2005 5:30:58 PM PST by fahraint (git thar fuhstest with the mostest)
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To: JNL

Leaving the fish in the shrink-wrap was probably a tip-off to the judges.


12 posted on 11/18/2005 5:31:27 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Proud sponsor of the Tagline-and-Release Program.)
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To: Cagey
He's suspected of catching bass before the competition and tying them to a stump. . . . Another competitor found tethered bass and informed authorities, who marked the fish. . . . Tormanen was then questioned when he allegedly turned one of the marked fish in to be weighed. . . .

"Well, uh . . . the fish must have slithered off that tether you refer to . . . and gotten back in the water . . . and, and that's when I caught him! Yeah, that's the ticket!"

13 posted on 11/18/2005 5:36:45 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Proud sponsor of the Tagline-and-Release Program.)
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To: Charles Henrickson; Blurblogger; hispanarepublicana; Joe 6-pack; LibertarianInExile

This guy is really floundering now -- he has to show his earlier victories were no fluke. Wonder if we'll ever know the reel truth?


14 posted on 11/18/2005 5:39:18 PM PST by speedy
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To: Charles Henrickson

Tethered Fish.

15 posted on 11/18/2005 5:39:22 PM PST by Cagey (Some men are Baptists, others Catholics, my father was an Oldsmobile man.)
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To: Cagey

If you're not cheatin'...you're not tryin'


16 posted on 11/18/2005 5:40:18 PM PST by 38special (You're welcome.)
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To: speedy

And if he is convicted, will soon be wearing stripers.


17 posted on 11/18/2005 5:40:21 PM PST by Cagey (Some men are Baptists, others Catholics, my father was an Oldsmobile man.)
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To: Cagey

I wonder where on the 'prison respect ladder' such tournament cheaters fall.


18 posted on 11/18/2005 5:41:01 PM PST by DancesWithBolsheviks (Does this font make me look fat?)
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To: Cagey

You're right on that one, chum. They won't let him skate.


19 posted on 11/18/2005 5:41:52 PM PST by speedy
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To: Moose4

Perhaps, name it Barry "Bass"


20 posted on 11/18/2005 5:42:05 PM PST by Libertas3188
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