POST 24: April 24th (8:20am) The Witness Video - Full Version

Here is another very important post. Please take your time and go through all of the information provided. 

The Witness Video

As we learned earlier in POST 14, there was a short 12-second video clip making its way around on social media. The short clip taken by a witness and was just a few seconds of a much longer video. When the 12-second video was pulled out of context, it did not provide the full picture of events.

Once you watch the entire video, I believe it supported my walleye was hooked legally. Let me explain...

After making my post on Facebook asking for witnesses, I had several people reach out to me. One of the responses was from K.L. He knew Witness #1 who recorded the Witness Video, and at 8:20am on April 24th, K.L. provided me the full recording. This was the same video Game and Fish had in their possession which they received from Arnez.

As stated earlier, the Witness Video was recorded by Witness #1. He was a younger man who started fishing next to me, downstream. He appeared in several of my photos and even my wife's video. He arrived a short while before I caught the record walleye and was casting his jig out into the same slack water hole I was casting into.

If Witness #1 is reading this blog, I want him to know I am not upset with him in any way. Providing his video to Game and Fish was the right thing to do. I supported the investigation and would support additional investigations into record fish if they are handled better in the future. 

Here is the entire Witness Video: https://youtu.be/9QoL-ct9Ui0. I've done my best to transcribe this video here:

• :00 - :06 – Video pointing out into water. I can be heard stating, “It’s a hog...okay Joe…he’s coming down to that middle spot…get down there bud.”
• :09-:12 – Video looking out into water.  
• :20-:23 – Video shows me walking in front of camera. Gibbs is on the peninsula in the background.Video pans down.
• :31-:35 – Video pans back up and shows Gibbs is on the peninsula looking in the water. Witness #1 states, “Big, big walleye.”
• :45-:53 – Video shows shaky shot of Gibbs looking into water. Gibbs reaches into the water with the net stretched out. 
• :53 – Video pans down showing ground while fish is netted.
• :57 – Video pointing into ground; Audio – “Holy shit!” 
• 1:04 – Video pointing into ground; Witness stating, “Holy Shit.” 
• 1:05 – I stated, “That might be a big one.”
• 1:06-1:13 – Video shows Gibbs walking with the fish in the net over his shoulder. 
• 1:17 – I stated, “Ok…We might have to put that on the wall.”
• 1:19 – Video pans up quickly shows Gibbs walking with fish up on the bank. Fish is upright in the net. The hook is not visible. Video points back into ground.
• 1:19 – Audio - Gibbs stated, “You got to get that mounted.” I replied, “We might be getting that mounted…Done…Done…” 
• 1:24-1:27 – Video pans back up shows Gibbs walking with the fish. Fish is upside down in the net. You can see people behind Gibbs as he is walking. 
• 1:28 – Audio - Witness states, “That thing is huge.”
• 1:30-1:32 – Video pans up, shows fish upside down in the net, Gibbs walks past witness recording the video. Video pans down.
• 1:35-1:39 – Video pans up. Video shows Gibbs looking into net, my back is to Gibbs walking upstream. Gibbs reaches down and pulls on what appears to be the hook.
• 1:39 – Video points down. 
• 1:41-4:43 – Video pans up and shows fish upside down in net. Gibbs starts walking again. 
• 1:58 – Audio - I shouted “Holy Shit!” 
• 2:00 – Audio - I shouted, “Let’s go dude! That’s state record!”
• 2:02-2:03 – Video shows me and Gibbs standing next to each other. I am holding the net and running back towards family upstream.
• 2:11-2:14 – Video shows Amanda with me standing in front of her holding the net with fish in it. She states, “I need someone who has a good phone right now.
• 2:15 – Audio - I stated, “Amanda, get all this stuff.” “We got to go in.” 
• 2:18 – Audio - Amanda, “Hold on. I need to take a picture.” 
• 2:28 – Audio - Gibbs, “You got to get that mounted dude.”
• 2:30-2:38 – Video shows me and Gibbs untangling fish from the net.
• 2:43-2:55 – Video shows me holding the fish up out of the net. States, “We gotta go.” Gibbs is wiping down the fish. I stated, “Hurry up and get a picture of that. We gotta go Joe.” Amanda states, “Tom, your phone is dead.” 
• 2:57 – Video pans up and shows Gibbs taking a picture with a phone. 
• 3:16 – Audio - Gibbs, “…get in there…”
• 3:20 - Audio - "You guys done with that spot?" I responded, "Ya, but Joe's still got his spot there...but ya...you can take mine." Quad Rider responded, "Awesome" and walked past the camera. 
• 3:24-3:30 – Video shows family lining up for a photo. Kids are saying “cheese.” Gibbs takes picture of me holding fish with the family in the background. 
• 3:34 – Audio - I stated, “We gotta get going…” 
• 3:37 – Audio - I stated, “We gotta go! We gotta go!” 
• 3:38-3:42 – Video shows me holding the fish up for a picture. Witnesses can be seen taking pictures of me and my walleye. 
• 3:45 – Someone states, “Put it on the scale, man.” "You got it..." "This has gotta be a record." "It's the biggest walleye I've ever seen."
• 3:50-4:06 – Video pans up. Shows me holding the walleye. Gibbs asks, “You going to get it mounted?” I reply, "Ya. It's going on the wall." Video shows walleye is being placed on a hand scale. I scream, “15…16-3…16-6!”
• *****END VIDEO*****

Some overall points about the Witness Video:

• The witness video showed very little visual context which suggests the person recording did not realize the camera was recording a video. 
• The hook was not visible in the back, body, fin or tail of my walleye prior to it being caught. In fact, the hook doesn't seem to appear until 45 seconds after the walleye was caught, flopped and changed positions in the net. 
• The video documents over three minutes of audio after the walleye was caught where you can hear the excitement from me and other witnesses who were celebrating with me. No one expressed any concerns about how the walleye was hooked.

The Witness Video supported my belief the walleye was hooked in the mouth simply because the hook was NOT visible on the outside of the walleye on either side after it was netted. 

In fact, the witness video did NOT document where the hook was located prior to it being caught and not up until 45 seconds after it flopped and changed positions in the net. Below are some screenshots from the Witness Video documenting this: 

Image from the Witness Video. The walleye was not visible when it was netted.

Image from the Witness Video. The walleye was upright in the net, right side showing and the hook was not visible.

Image from the Witness Video. The walleye was upright in the net, right side showing and the hook was not visible.

Image from the Witness Video. The walleye is now upside down in the net, left side showing and the hook was not visible.

Image from the Witness Video. The walleye was upside down in the net, left side showing and the hook was not visible.

Image from the Witness Video. The walleye was upside down in the net, left side showing and the hook was not visible.

If the hook was not visible on the outside of the walleye on either side, where is the only logical place it could have been?

I believe the walleye was caught legally with the hook in the mouth.

Witness Video Slowed Down

You will want to make sure to watch the Witness Video slowed down: https://youtu.be/SXPZfK-dcR8.

This Witness Video corroborated my statements about how people cheered and celebrated with me when the walleye was caught. Gibbs could be heard asking me if I was going to mount the walleye. It also corroborated Gibbs's later statements about how the walleye flopped in the net and how the hook came "right out."

The witness video proved the hook was not visible on the outside of the walleye when it was fighting and when it was caught. 

The way the walleye was netted. 

I was standing upstream from Gibbs holding tension on my line when the walleye was netted as documented by videos and images. Hypothetically, if the walleye would have been hooked somewhere on the right side towards the upper back when it was caught and netted, it would not have been netted with the belly facing me, left side up, with the head upstream. It would have been netted in the exact opposite way. It would have been netted with the right side showing, back facing me, and head downstream.

As the walleye struggled and changed positions in the net for nearly 45 seconds, both sides of the walleye were visible, but the hook was NOT visible. If the hook was never visible on the outside of the walleye when it was caught, where is the only logical place it could have been located?

I believe the hook was in the mouth of the walleye. 

This would be the only explanation as to why there were NO witnesses (including Gibbs and myself) who could officially state they saw the hook when the walleye was caught and netted. This is the only logical reason the hook was NOT visible on the outside of the walleye when it was caught and netted. This is the only possible reason why it was NOT visible on the walleye as it flopped and changed positions in the net.

Being hooked in the mouth is the only possible reason why there is a huge hole/fresh tear in the mouth of the walleye. 

Recorded Reactions

Listen to the Witness Video one last time and focus your attention on the reactions and comments captured by the recording. The reactions and comments are genuine and in the moment: https://youtu.be/9QoL-ct9Ui0. What did you hear? Did you hear people cheering or did you hear booing? Did you hear excitement or did you hear concerns? Did you hear delight or did you hear anger?

The reactions of cheering, excitement and delight by me and witnesses would be considered evidence in a court of law and support the walleye was caught legally.

Witnesses were celebrating and asking me if I was going to mount the walleye. No one expressed any concerns as to how the walleye was caught.

Changes

I am not asking you to side with me on how my walleye was caught, and you can believe what you want. What I am trying to do is provide you the facts along with some of my beliefs thrown in. In a court of law, it would come down to the evidence.

Here is the simple truth, there was no direct evidence proving the location of the hook at the time my walleye was caught. 

Just because a hook appears somewhere on a fish after it was caught does not mean it was hooked there when it was caught. Fish (especially walleye) spit hooks and can re-hook themselves all the time - especially if they are flopping and changing positions in a net for nearly a minute. These facts support reasonable doubt.

Just because a fish doesn't "fight quite right" doesn't mean it was foul-hooked. Many factors can cause a fish to fight differently. Large walleye and smaller walleye often fight differently. Walleye in cold water vs. walleye in warm water fight differently. Walleye in current fight different than walleye in calm water. A fish that wraps itself in the fishing line will feel and appear to be foul-hooked. These facts support reasonable doubt. 

It was NEVER proven my walleye didn't get wrapped in the string as it fought.   

If it would have been proven my walleye was foul-hooked, I am the one who kept the walleye which would make me the criminal according to the current regulation. I don't agree with this. How could someone be considered a criminal if they had no concerns as to how the walleye was caught? I never saw the hook at the time the fish was caught and never removed the hook. No one told me where the hook was located and no one voiced any concerns. Considering these facts, how could I be considered the criminal in this matter? Doesn't some of the responsibility belong to the others involved, like witnesses who initially celebrated with me, took my spot on the shore and then later contacted Game and Fish with false statements? They have some responsibility in this situation.

Witnesses allowed me to leave with the walleye without expressing any concerns. 

Witnesses celebrated with me and asked if I was going to get the walleye mounted. They asked me to put the walleye on the scale and made comments about how it could be a state record. Others asked to take my spot on the shore to try their own luck at catching a big fish. There was plenty of time to express any concerns. They didn't.

We need to make changes to the current regulation to prevent this from happening to someone else.

The current regulation needs to include the word "knowingly." It could read, "It is a noncriminal offense to "knowingly" keep a foul-hooked fish." Without the word knowingly, people are going to have to be able to prove where every one of the fish they catch and keep was hooked and caught legally. This seems counter-productive if Game and Fish wants to increase the number of people participating in recreational fishing. The word "knowingly" gives the benefit of the doubt to the citizen and would make the regulation citizen-focused. 

Just like in a court of law, judgments and conclusions by state agencies need to be based on direct evidence. 

There was no picture or video documenting where the hook was located at the time my walleye was caught and netted. I never removed the hook from the walleye, no one told me where the hook was and no one voiced any concerns as to how it was caught. There was a lot of direct evidence to suggest my walleye was hooked legally in the mouth. There is reasonable doubt. Considering this, why default to guilty and write me a written warning? Why make me appear guilty by releasing a one-sided, intentionally misleading investigation report? Why make the statement, "based on the evidence provided" my walleye didn't qualify for a state record? Why write it was a, "well documented harvesting of the fish" when there was reasonable doubt and no direct evidence documenting where the hook was located at the time the walleye was caught and netted?

State law and Due Process clearly state if there is reasonable doubt, the person must be considered innocent.

Again, there was no image or video documenting where the hook was located at the time the walleye was caught and netted. There wasn't even a witness who provided an official statement saying they saw the hook when the fish fought or when it was caught/netted.  

In a court of law, I would find it hard to believe a jury of my peers would have convicted me of a crime based on the Witness Video and false statements made by witnesses. Again, the video did NOT document where the hook was located at the time the walleye was caught, and it can easily be proven witnesses lied. We need to get back to our principles.

People should be considered innocent until proven guilty, NOT guilty until proven innocent.

#northdakotaslargestwalleye  #volkswalleye  #justiceforthelargestwalleye