Saturday, January 17, 2015

Monroe and Poche Disqualified from Southern Open!

By Luigi De Rose

Most professional athletes respect the unwritten rule that "what happened on the field stays on the field." This sportsman's code exists for ice, racetrack or ring but apparently not for fishing. Yesterday, Friday, January 16, 2015, Ish Monroe and Keith Poche got into a scuffle when Poche rammed Ish's boat at a lock on Lake Toho during the Bassmaster Southern Open tournament. Both had fiery words towards each other then Ish boarded Keith's boat. It is unclear what exactly happened next but both anglers fell into the water. By the end of Friday, Monroe was charged with battery by the local authorities.

The question many fans and pro-anglers have is to what extent does fishing relate to other sports when violations to the rules and unwritten rules of the game are broken. This might be a grey area of sportsmanship that has yet to be governed and the fact that formal charges were laid does intensify the matter ten-fold. So, the question arises, should what happens on the water stay on the water?

Here is the official statement from BASS regarding the matter.

Based on an investigation of an incident Friday during the Bassmaster Opens tournament on Lake Tohopekaliga, Florida, B.A.S.S. today disqualified two anglers from the event. Pursuant to B.A.S.S. rules, Ish Monroe of Hughson, Calif., and Keith Poche of Pike Road, Ala., were disqualified from the Open. Additional penalties for both anglers may be imposed pending the outcome of additional investigations that are ongoing at this time. Because of those investigations, B.A.S.S. will not comment further on the decisions.

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