Party Boat pool "irregularity"?

[bulletbob]

On a sea bass trip on an unnamed boat, I was involved in a pool fish situation I thought was questionable at best, and overtly crooked at worst..

I was with my adult son, and although it was not a great day for us, we had some fish.. At one point I caught our best fish of the day, a decent size knot head sea bass. You know the look, blue and black with a big hump on the head..
The other look I often see with sea bass is the more brownish color ones that are leaner, no hump, shaped more like a smallmouth bass/yellow perch etc...
Anyway, I knew we had a good shot at the pool, as it was a day without a lot of big fish..

When the trip ended, there was NO call for the pool at the bow where i was sitting.. Finally, I asked the mate who was digging around in a bucket, and pulled out the largest fish in it, a lean brown sea bass about the same length as mine. He put it on the balance scale. I knew we had won the pool, seeing that fish.
However, when he put my thicker fish on that scale, it never moved, not even a 1/4 inch.. It was like the skinnier fish out weighed mine 10-1.. Never did the mate center both fish on the scale as I have often seen them do... I looked at my son, and we walked away shocked.. It didn't even look close, but we accepted the proof of our own eyes....

anyway, as we talked on the way home, and I thought about my last pool win a few years ago, I realized we might have been scammed.. Last time I "won" a pool, the mate balanced both fish several times, centering the scale .. When it didn't move either way, he split the pool between myself and another angler...

However, as the mate held up the balance scales on this boat, he never made an attempt to center it. and that much skinnier fish stayed up top locked.. That scale never budged, as though the screw that held the balance beam in place at the center was locked down tight. When my fish was placed on the scale, there should have been a slight movement, even if the other fish was a bit heavier, it would seem .
It is what it is... this boat has lost a customer forever, and i usually went out with them once or twice a year.. No big loss, i know, and they do need to take care of their regulars, not once a year out of staters..

I don't like seeing mates digging into the buckets of fish of guys fishing alongside them for pool fish, but I have seen it before on various boats...

I often wondered why these days I see a lot of old timers NOT entering the pool.. They might be aware of something I am not aware of...

Should I have said something to the captain as soon as this happened, or would that have been inappropriate? I always feel out of place as I am an unknown among groups of guys that are obviously good friends.

I just thought at the time, that " no these things don't really happen, these guys have to be honest to stay in business", but when I replayed the scenario after we stepped off the boat, and even still today, I realized that maybe there is some distasteful behavior going on... In times past,I have seen half frozen fish with white cloudy white eyes win the pool in
the past, by the son of the woman running the galley.. It was long ago, and I didn't have a pool candidate that day, but that day burned into my memory.. Just wondering if pool cheating by head boat employees really happens?.. Maybe not, but I will no longer be entering any, like many other old timers ... bob

[hartattack]

Smells fishy ! Whenever I have a contender I insist on the mate switching the 2 fish on the balance so that the winner wins on both sides

[june181901]

Don't blame you for not naming the boat but now suspicion is cast upon all boats. Hart attack has a great solution!

[Rocky]

Originally Posted by hartattack

Smells fishy ! Whenever I have a contender I insist on the mate switching the 2 fish on the balance so that the winner wins on both sides

That is the only way to be sure of the winner imo.

[PeteyHD]

Originally Posted by Rocky

That is the only way to be sure of the winner imo.

I agree. I don't fish on many party boats anymore but I have heard of shady things going on with sinkers and other random things stuffed in fish to win. I have even seen mates open the bellies of pool fish to show what's inside at times of disbelief before paying the winner. (probably the most extreme thing I've seen)

Every boat is different but you have the right to ask them to switch the sides the fish hang and hope the other fisherman is honest.

[porgylber]

First off, you were scammed, sorry to say. My best guess is a foreign object (like a sinker) was shoved down the throat of the “winning” fish.
Unfortunately, I can kind of relate. About 7 or 8 years ago, I was on a party boat out of Central NJ. The boat was packed, easily more than 50 anglers on board. I was fortunate enough to catch the largest, pool winner. When it came time to collect, the mate handed me a 20 dollar bill.
I knew this was wrong, so I asked where the rest was. She ( it was a female) told me the total pool was $20!!!
This was total BS...and to this day, I have never set foot on that boat again. In retrospect, I should have raised a stink with the Captain. However, due to their dishonesty, they have cost themselves easily a couple of thousand dollars over the subsequent years in lost fares from me.

I have been fortunate to win a few pools over the following years on other boats. I have always been troubled by the fact that the system is so unregulated. The overwhelming majority of boats are honest...but as you saw, and I have seen, shenanigans do take place. Perhaps collecting the money and placing it in a clear container that all can see would eliminate my issue.

As for your issue, all that can be done is to fully examine the fish if you suspect cheating.

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by hartattack

Smells fishy ! Whenever I have a contender I insist on the mate switching the 2 fish on the balance so that the winner wins on both sides

Thanks for the comment..You must understand how I am.
I am pretty much a naive' and trusting soul, thats more inclined to believe in the best of the human nature, not the worst.. As I get older, thats starting to change, sadly...
As I stated, on party boats I always feel like an outsider at a best buddies club.
I didn't think it was right to say anything and that on a party boat the mate is to be trusted 100%, period, no questions.

If the general consensus from the knowledgeable membership on this site is that thats not an inappropriate thing to do, I will certainly do it next time, if I have similar doubts.. the trip in question i was just not thinking along those lines as this was happening.. It was later on when I started re thinking everything when I put it together..
1-His fish being lean and streamlined, and mine was much fatter with that typical big head and mouth,
2-The scale looking "locked", never moving even in the slightest at any time when the fish were being placed on and off,
and 3-
the fact that the mate never once centered the fish as they always do.

Next time, outsider or not, I will ask the mate to center the scale, or better yet, to remove both fish and change sides.. If he and the captain get pissed off at me , so be it... bob

[Rocky]

A great way to check those scales would be to hang a full beer can on each side by the pull tap, and then switching the cans to make sure it was correct.

[tombanjo]

If you spent as much time standing up for yourself at the scene of the "crime" as you did writing this then maybe you would have won and set a good example for your son.

On an unfamiliar boat you:

1. Ask the mate to switch the fish

2. Check the other fish for foreign objects

3. Check the scale

If the mate resists any of this, scream bloody murder to the captain and threaten you'll go public with it.

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by Rocky

A great way to check those scales would be to hang a full beer can on each side by the pull tap, and then switching the cans to make sure it was correct.

Possibly, but if an outsider asked the mate to do it, both he and the captain might very well get pretty pissed off... bob