The BIGGEST CHEATER in FISHING HISTORY! 

Before the Walleye Cheaters there was Mike Long….

Raised a bass in a 200 gal. aquarium years ago. She was like a pet dog, she'd get excited when I'd walk in the room, or spun a spinnerbait blade. When the barometer was high , would sit on the bottom as if sleeping. when the air pressure dropped, Everything that could fit in her mouth wanted out. She'd down a dozen goldfish, hand size bluegill, and her favorite meal waterdogs. She'd do 6 at a time $$. Loved that fish till she got too big , 7 pounds. Let her go at a catch & release only lake.

I agree with you. The extreme lengths that he went to are crazy. I don’t understand how or why “winning “ is that important to them. If I win a tournament (and I’m talking a $10 entry fee club or open tournament) , I feel pride. If I don’t place in the same type of tournament, I still feel pride. I did the best I could that day and it either worked or didn’t. That’s it. Then I congratulate whoever won and discuss what we should’ve done with the rest of the people that didn’t win. It just boils down to morals. Most folks have them and live by them. Then you have people like what this discussion is all about. Win at all cost. It will catch you eventually.

My close friend was at Lake Sutherland, the day Mike Long showed up with a bass that was clearly from lake Poway and claimed the lake record. My friend and the locals knew immediately that the bass was from another fishery. Just disgusting! Nobody has seen him around the San Diego lakes btw, there are plenty of places he could've disappear to, but So - Cal lakes are relatively small and highly pressured, he's not showing up without someone noticing.

Imagine cheating so long that you get so confident that you actually sell your boat with your secret livewell still installed in a secret compartment

Randy Blaukat just did a video on Intuitive Angling telling a story about Tony Christian. For years, Tony transported big bass into tournament lakes and staged them in Tupperware bins with a hole in it. He’d ride right out to his hidden bass, drop a jig into the hole in the bin and bag his big boys. He apparently got away with it because the rules didn’t specify transporting fish. He stood by the fact that other anglers were allowed to dump cover and he caught every fish in the mouth.

Mike Long for a long time was know as "Live Bait Mike" because some of his big fish were actually caught using live trout. He was fishing tournaments here in Southern California in the early 2000's and on and we all suspected him of cheating. He actually sucked as a bass fisherman when fishing team tournaments with a partner. He won a lot of tournaments BUT it was always while fishing by himself. I personally left 3 tournaments before launching because Mike Long showed up by himself. Which BTW, he won those tournaments.

I'm on my 5th trip in a row getting skunked, and I'd rather be honest about that, than lie about catching anything. I don't get these guys...🤷🏽‍♂️

There’s a guy here in West Tennessee that got busted for catching crappie in a different lake and tried to turn them in at a Crappie Masters tournament on a different lake. The tournament director told him he could weigh in, and be prosecuted or don’t weigh in and never come back. He didn’t weigh in. On a side note, I heard Mike Long couldn’t cast very well

If I remember right. I heard stories about Mike Long sabotaging people's vehicles, that were a threat to exposing him

From Oklahoma, been bass fishing for 46 years,fished a lot of tournaments this has been going on for ever,I know to be true a guy weighed a dead 11 ,won tournament someone took fish home with permission from angler to eat ,it still has ice inside

my dad took 2nd to mike long like 20 times in tournaments in the 2000’s and he knew he was cheating, crazy it took that long for him to actually be exposed

There's lot of things that need to clean up on tournament fishing. These cheaters getting exposed is good lesson for tournaments to be aware of, and create rules to prevent stuff like this happening. I see more tournaments using metal detectors, and larger ones using volunteers, a body on the boat to verify these catches, hell I put my name in that hat.. Have to implement rules to prevent this stuff happening, look at everything possible from past and what people are capable of doing.. Sad we're there, but there's alway that guy like we see. While we're at it, different subject, we should include fish management, guys have to realize these fish can't be out of the water for 3--5 minutes. I continue to see it at weigh ins, and fish being thrown into empty sacks just to drive back to the ramp to drop off, and some are trying to revive them. This is a great sport, I absolutely love bass fishing, but if we don't take care of our fisheries and prevent a-holes from cheating, we're going to ruin it for everyone in the future.

I'm a former successful bass tournament angler from Canada, cheaters are a slap to our faces, charges need to be increased 👊

Couldn’t agree more! Fished the lakes he frequently regularly, meet him a couple of times! 25 years ago, it was well known through the bass community that Mike cheated regularly! No one could prove it, but time and karma did it’s job! Lived in San Diego, for 42 years!

There's video and a huge article about Mike Long. Didn't seem to get a lot of publicity outside of California.

I love the sport of fishing and appreciate what y'all do. I'm fascinated like so many others about this controversy. My only question is since this hasn't been the only cheating scandal - the cheaters that are caught are there actual charges given to these people? Lots of money people invest in being part of these tournaments would be a good reason to charge these guys with fraud. Does this end result happen ever or are they just banned?

The Mike Long Story is insane! I'm actually fascinated by his mentality. How could you build your whole life and persona around being a big bass pro, when you don't even know how to fish!?

I knew you’d keep making these

I saw guy snagging bass on mlf one time. Using LiveScope and big spoon with huge treble hooks. I got chastised for saying that. People claimed I don’t know how to fish big spoons. I know exactly how. He was way behind so he took advantage of the rules that haven’t been changed for using LiveScope. He was sacking em up but half were snagged. They do the same thing with salmon run but they outlawed the big treble hooks

Cool story to hear thanks for the video!

I was vacationing on a lake in maine fishing a very productive cave, A cove I have fished for years when a local in a canoe came up to me and asked me politely to "Not Fish the cove" and that the "local Pro" was fishing A BASS sanctioned tournament in 2 days and that "He planned on winning it here on the cove". That explained why I had seen a fisherman release 5 or 6 big Smallmouth Bass two days before over an isolated grass bed. Would you consider that cheating? I do.

I fished San Vicente, El Cap and Morena weekly back in the hayday of Mike Long. My fishing buddy used to always notice him and point him out, just regular fishing during the week.......not during tourneys. He never seemed to be doing what other anglers were doing and would be in weird spots. I always suspected that he was using live trout when I saw him at San V. I remember thinking "something is going on" this dude pulls out a lake record everywhere he goes and don't forget about the "snow bass" at Lake Cuyamaca, that one was the biggest joke of all.

Don't see the color thing being much of an indicator to cheating . I catch small mouth here on the upper Mississippi river in WI on wing dams with perfect camo patterns on them . Then an hour in the live well turns them solid brown !

Money all cheater care about. I heard this story while back too it crazy. I like you making this type of video. Keep it up

As Corn Pop once told me, if you ain’t cheatin you ain’t tryin!!!

Lol Mike long is my uncle. I remember going to his house when I was young and seeing the bass in the tanks. Crazy how all that was involved in scandal. I thought they were his pets lol.

Just read up on this guy a few weeks ago .. hoping with the attention the walleye cheaters get, Mike Long get some more too. Kudos for bringing thus up (again)

I just heard of some guys catching paddlefish in a lake where they are protected....then bringing them to another body of water. They are facing prison time.

One guy in Florida claimed he caught a 22+ pound largemouth bass but for a reason I forget, he was only able to mount the head. Someone called BULLSHIT, and it turned out he mounted the head of a saltwater grouper and painted it up like a largemouth for the state record. It was an article in a fishing magazine sometime in the 1980s or 90s.

I remember easing an article back in 1920’s I believe. Black bass weighed in at 22 lbs at a tourney in GA. It was found to have weights put down the throat. Even back then, 🤦🏻‍♂️ cheaters.

Jussie slommett says he's going to take up fishing. Even if you get caught cheating, no punishment will be giving.

i went to Jr High Middle School with the son of Orlando Wilson...and the stories he would tell us around the lunch table about the fish cheaters...and thier tricks. If u ever asked Mr Wilson about cheaters... he could produce a list a mile long of all the tricks.. The thing is, we asked his son..all the time..how does he catch those fish?? we knew the spots he fished.. and we just could belive the sizes his dad would catch.. to this day, ..i have always rememered the weights in gullet trick..i knew it at a young age..they also carries shots filled with liquid filler they would inject intot he fish.. ( injections mixed with corn starch and play sand) to increase the weight..every once counted..

I brought a baby bass home from a local housing lake. He fit in a Dr pepper can. I named him roachclip. That damn fish eat me out of house &home. Had a virosious appetite. He even enjoyed bologna. !! Anything meat based. A true predator !!

I think the whole fishing community needs to email the Ohio DNR. THey need to prosecute to the fullest as an example. THis has national headlines. It would be nice to see these pos's in prison for 20 years. Teach other poachers/cheaters not to try this crap.

Look in Louis Spray Musky story. 1939 worlds biggest Musky. To this day people say he paid people to catch fish and he fattened it up with weights or ground fish. Seen the mount at fishing hall of fame in Wisconsin. It is big But swear it is Same size as a Bass pro fish in their tanks. Several other “record” breakers were stuffed with weights and tools. Tons of articles about the early record days

I bought Mike Long's personal signature swim bait rod 12 years ago in which he hand delivered to me at the bait store I bought it from. I wouldn't even scratch my "balls" with it now.

Yup I completely agree about Mike being the worst. I remember when the scandal with him broke was huge news

Thanx, I can't even fathom that mentality. How can you live with yourself. Their pictures should be in every tackle shop, boat ramp or where ever anglers congregate.

You're right on the money, fish lighten up and darken on daylight plus temperature.

Theres been some pretty nasty cheating scandals in the kayak fishing world. We catch, measure, photo, submit, release. The photo gps pings you to the map to make sure you on legal water, theres a daily code they give you that must be displayed in the pic, all fish must be held same way on board, with one hand holding fish down, or no hands. So the worst cheating in kayak, a guy in texas cut the tail off a bass and then when he’d measure the next several fish, he’d hold the tail over the real tail adding an inch or two, and he’d hold the fish down where hand covered the cut part of tail so at first glance it looked legit. Now theres people messing with the meta data on their phones and building apps so that their phones will show they are in a certain place when they take pics. Or the app will show a certain place when really the person is in a completely dif body of water. That’s the future of kayak cheating. Luckily it looks like the hobies and bigger tourneys sre trying to go to a more live stream format where a good portion of boats will have live cams. They also have the camera boat that comes out and follows people around, etc. But for state trails, you will start hearing of this type of cheating. Also theres people that plant fish while kayak fishing practice, and theres people that have their buddy on the lake in a bass hoat bring them fish to measure, etc Dont get it twisted, Theres a bunchnof ways to beat a polygraph. Polyis just a tool and a deterrent cuz most people have no idea snd think they are crazy accurate. But meditation beats them, lack of empathy, mental tricks where you repeat a lie to yourself so much over the day you respond to telling that lie as if its fact. People who have aspergers and certain personality disorders or anxiety disorders can show inconclusive or pass telling lies. Many types of common drugs can throw off a polygraph, from otc sleeping pills, to blood pressure meds, gabapentin, seizure meds, benzos like valium, cbd, thc……all can change your physiological responses to lying and throw off the test. People can also manipulate the baseline questions by thinking hard of traumatic events theyve suffered or causing themselvesnphysical pain by biting their tongues……doing that while answering the baseline questions truthfully can completely throw off the test and cause inconclusives or make it look like lies are the truth to the examiner. Every single person is different and has dif responses thats why the exsminer has to ask a bunch of baseline questions. Every test is catered to the individual, theres not some set response range that proves pass or fail. If people knew the truth of polygraphs, theyd never be used. Theres a reason they dont hold up in court.

Yeah I don't know why Mike Long didn't make much bigger news. I think it's because that was before TikTok and Instagram were huge. This guy's whole career was on lies. He would literally go fish a body of water and catch the record fish for that water within the hour. And he'd always film his big catches in super low resolution, if he ever he filmed.

I fish quite a few bass tournaments, never fished a walleye tournament. Here in western ky where I’m located walleye, while they are present in some of our rivers and reservoirs, don’t have a super high population number and aren’t really targeted by many people here. Anyway I personally haven’t fished a tournament where someone was caught cheating so I could only imagine how fired up a crowd would be if it happened. That’s a lot of money a cheater would be stealing from everyone. I’ve been reading this stuff after all this happened and evidently cheaters are stuffing fish with ice now so they’re getting smarter. After being weighed all the evidence just melts away. 🤦‍♂️

First and foremost, respect the fish. Secondly, if you are fishing tournaments, respect your fellow anglers. It's stuff like this that makes all anglers look bad, even though it's like 1 percent that do this type of stuff.

he really should be locked up for stealing people's money

A Garrett security wand is $150. What the hell are they doing with polygraphs and voice stress analysis? Just scan the fish like the doorman at a club. Squeeze test too in case they try ceramic weights.

Sounds like the big fishing tournaments are the problem. Cheaters everywhere.

I fished in tournaments where huge Walleye that were caught, had been held in Gabions , this went on for years, until they found scares on walleye's noses and sides where they tried to get out, One Judge noticed the same Guys winning and decided too investigate the walleye's, and sure enough the truth came out, and they shut the walleye Tournament down. This was many years ago in Canada. It ended up that a few Indians were selling the big fish to the highest bidders, My fish were over the 10lb range and I ended In 14th position no prizes. This went on in other tournaments as well, around the same Area. Most Tournaments in the areas have also shut down , due too cheats.

It even made the news here in norway 😂😂 famous for all the wrong reasons 😂😂

Mike, did go to other lakes but did not go to Nor Cal to claim a lake record as stated in this video.

I don't think this was the first time those 2 cheated. It's hard telling how long they got away with it. I'm guessing most of their wins. They amount of money they got makes this worse to me. Mike long sounds like a piece of work also.

When they are giving polygraphs to run a tournament it's time to stop lol

They are not alone!

greetings from finland ! i just wonder why this kind a competition you dont take just a measures not weight.every boat has to be judge who take the fish measures.

Most Americans despise cheaters of any ilk! Cheating is a slap in the face to all who genuinely compete. 'Winning' by cheating is a hollow victory and inevitably, sooner or later such theft will be discovered and punished.

Destroying the time honored tradition of "the one that got away" lie

So I always thought bc I have a small retention pond that’s so small but has a channel that’s 3’ deep but the pond is the color of coffee I mean 0 clarity but most of the lake is 6” deep the birds walk across this thing just a couple holes but for some reason they’re is starving 5 pounders in there and they’re in there naturally but they are all pure white even the small ones and I thought or still think it’s bc they don’t get sun I feel like clear water they get a tan from the sun and without it they are light colored??

To understand how a cheater or scammer feels pride and satisfaction about the way they win or get rich, you have to understand that to a cheater or scammer the the skill they take pride in is fooling people and getting one over on everyone. The fame and prize money is just a side effect of being a successful con man. That’s why cheaters and scammers continue to run scams long after they have made millions of dollars or gotten rich and famous…they love getting away with it. Some aspect of having higher risk giving them a greater satisfaction is present considering that the repercussions of getting caught are greater than the repercussions of simply not winning so the thrill and excitement of getting away with the cheating feels 100x greater than they would feel had they won legitimately. To them, fooling everyone and making all that money at some other suckers expense and keeping their dark secret is more exciting, satisfying, and fulfilling than being a famous fishing tournament champ.

What is the issue with snagging and what is it? I’m new to the sport just wondering

If you can catch a fish, you can catch a fish... they were passing those polygraphs by taking some sort of downers to keep their blood pressure low.

They need to record all catches on video with chest cameras and tournament day specific wrist bands and mark individual fish on video to compare with the actual fish brought to weigh in. For the tournament's weigh in, the tournaments need to stop using weight as the decider and go with a point scale based on length and girth. That way nobody is cramming ice or shad or fillets down a fish before weigh in.

Yep, Mike long. BASS actually put him on the cover of their magazine.

I’m actually surprised checking fish for weights isnt standard practice for competitions like these. That is like the first thing that comes to mind when thinking how to cheat and isn’t creative at all. Guys need to think outside the box.

I mainly fish walleye. I catch different species as well. A few times, I have accidentally snagged a fish while trolling or casting. I have always released the snagged fish out of respect for the fish. My thinking is the fish has enough to deal with navigating nature without me not catching it legally. I give it a sorry for snagging you and here you go back into the lake.

BASS is in my opinion an organization run by fear. Mike Iaconelli tells of a time early in his career, that another BASS pro who didn't like this new Rookie. He won the tournament but on his way home he was phoned by a guy (Dewey something) telling him to come for a polygraph. He had been fishing amongst other anglers in the tournament and he had a Co-Angler. Funnily enough they all said they saw him fishing outside the boundaries. He wasn't. I question that they actually interviewed anyone. When he took the polygraph it was given by a guy with no credentials and when he failed Mike wanted to pay for an actual Tester. He was denied but they told him he would just lose the one day. Mike was pretty angry. The last name of the contestant who complained was Butter I believe but he did not have to take a polygraph. Mike almost quit but came back and won in the top 5 of the next one then won Angler of the year. There is always corruption where there is money. This story comes from Mike's Autobiography on RU-vid

I have a Dobyns rod that has his name on it a Mike Long special

The guy that busted him was an x partner that knew his pattern of lakes during spawn and went and videod from up in woods while long was on facebook claimin he caught on jig but snagged it dude was on fb also showing him snagging at same time

Google the 2 guys cheating on KY lake in 2006. Catching Bass and putting them in baskets and submerging them. That's the one that sticks in my mind bc it's in my neck of the woods. That ticks me off to no end. I work my butt off, fishing before and after work, to do well in online tournaments, starting "pole loaner" programs at the library where I work that allows patrons to check out rods and reels, and hopefully one have a career in the fishing world. I have no use for someone who screws over those who play by the rules, to take the easy way out, but thought and energy into cheating in any way. I don't know how some folks live with themselves thinking that ok. Shame on you.

Integrity trumps having great angler skills. 😏 All these cheaters are living a lie.

Mike Long holds the record at Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet. I had a feeling that he most likely did not catch it to be honest. Edit: They removed him!

Welp. Gotta do what you gotta do to survive make money and eat right? Lol.

Not just cheaters, they are thieves...and thieves have no conscience that it why they continue to try to win at all cost ...to steal prizes, prize money, and accolades ...

The Mike Long story is just another example of greed and ego trumping everything. The walleye guys and Long are both bad deals.

It's not only in USA that cheats prosper I've seen here in England fish with weights in and fish being transferred to venue,s ,,what can you do 🤔

Can anyone link me the original sdfish article on Mike Long’s cheating? sdfish’s server seems to be non-existent now.

Mike Long, the Eddie Guerrero of fishing

Ive seen him he looks so different it all makes sense now

Dark water makes the colors bolder on some fish

Af friend of his gave him 24/7 access to a SanDiego lake and he caught some at night when no one else could

Fishing tournaments need to scan all fish being weighed in under a metal detector, period, no exceptions. There are a lot of inexpensive detectors available that would work just fine for the job.

I appreciate the effort and lengths he went to... he put a lot of thought into it...

Lol. You’ve seen my comments on the other channels as I can see. You’re welcome. 👍🏼

Walleye guys aren’t hiding they are arrested

He was on the cover of Bass Master magazine

Time to get some mouse traps bud!

That's like the hunters who hunt in yellowstone

That's just pathetic. I love to fish for the sake of fishing. I haven't ever done a tournament, but I'm thinking about it. Truthfully I'm not real good. I catch whatever hits my bait. I've been impressed by anglers who can go out and just catch pan fish or crappie. And bass and walleye. There's a lot I need to learn

now your tnak water is brackish again...different tanks i think try one of those purification cubes im telling you you wont regret it makes you tanks water crystal clear. take a before and after picture to show yourself as if you look at the tank everyday you might not notice since the colour change will be normalto you but over 3 days you'll see the diufference it gets rid of the green brackish colour of the water.

Pro walleye guy makes more than Pro bass fisher 25yrs ago. I remember wanting to become Pro basser tho, I look in there salary and decide not. I think there was only a few people making real good money back then. Too much money involved now.

Lance Armstrong was on the cover of many magazine's also ! A cheater is a major let down !

I never heard/read that Long had “special compartments”, and I have read alot. What I read he did (and was confirmed being seen in his garage), that he put fish in plastic bags with water, then pressurize the bags with pure oxygen (like welders use). Also would use oxygen tablets (used for tropical fish transportation) to infuse the water. Then hide the bags in the boat. I read where he was somehow able to pull this off while fishing out a partner’s boat. Reports of Long being a great, or even good, fisherman are suspect. There are many on record, both acquaintances and tourney partners, stating his skill levels were not even up to those of a weekend angler. It took Long 3+ years of trying to even throw a baitcaster without backlashing.

I don't fish, but why are competition fish not routinely cut open on a table by the scales immediately after weigh-in? It's dead, so you need to gut it ASAP anyway, and you'd notice any extra fish ballast a lot easier.

Also. Tad wrong on the coloring about weeds and clear water. The prettiest fish I’ve ever caught are in clear water

I live in San Diego. In the mid 90s I was all in with the big bass hunts. I even left work early to attend a Mike Long seminar at a fishing store. Also, when I was taking my kids to the Poway Lake youth tournaments, Mike was one the MCs. Wow, you talk about the big news when he was exposed. What a total POS.

I can’t believe what people will do to win a frickin fishing tournament! All the hard working honest anglers who got screwed over for years should be furious!🤬🤬🤥🤥

A co angler said he barely knew how to cast

They ( Erie guys) have also failed lie detector test

I caught a guy cheating in a tournament on Lake Fork. He cut the tail to make it under 16”. I took a pic of him and sent it to the tournament director and got caught. He failed the lie detector test and was banned from fishing that circuit.

Andrew Shepherd is from my home town.

Fishing to catch fish