On Page 4 of the Investigation Report, Game and Fish referenced my text message to Anderson and some of my social media posts.
Nearly everything I stated in my text to Anderson could have been proven true with direct evidence, and it provided additional information and evidence to Game and Fish. I stated in my text, "Let me know if you have any questions or want more information."
Why didn't Game and Fish use the image I provided to prove Knuth's statements false where he said the following:
Text and image to Game and Fish
On Page 4 of the Investigation Report, Game and Fish referenced a text message and an image I sent to Mike Anderson (Game and Fish employee). Read POST 10 for more information.
Nearly everything I stated in my text to Anderson could have been proven true with direct evidence, and it provided additional information and evidence to Game and Fish. I stated in my text, "Let me know if you have any questions or want more information."
Anderson Replied to My Text
On April 22nd, 11:34am, Anderson replied to my text message, "Thanks Tom - I forwarded it on to Greg Power!" My text along with the attached picture was later forwarded to the investigator, Winkelman.
The Game and Fish investigator documented he had my text message and image of my son holding up a walleye with the hook still in the mouth. Witness Knuth could be seen standing in the background of the image.
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| This is the image I provided Game and Fish on April 22nd. It is an image of my son holding up a walleye with the hook still in the mouth with witness Knuth standing in the background. |
Why didn't Game and Fish use the image I provided to prove Knuth's statements false where he said the following:
- Knuth stated, “They were snagging fish all day.”
- Knuth stated, “They were casting out…letting it set towards the bottom…with a single hook…reel real slow…then they’d set the hook…then the hook would dig in the back of the fish…or like in the tail. I didn’t even know how people were reeling in all those fish.”
- Knuth stated, “I seen him unhook a couple fish…he let his kids reel in a couple little fish…and they bring in the fish…and the hook would be in the back fin…or center of the fish…I seen em pull two fish in before that which were 2 pounds…4 pounds and they both had the hook in the top fin...”
When Game and Fish published the information by Knuth in their report without checking it against the evidence in their possession, it could be considered reckless. Publishing a written document with reckless disregard of the truth is a crime in North Dakota.
Nearly everything I stated in my text message could be proven true with direct evidence. For example,
- My jig and Moxi bait appeared in several photos taken throughout the day.
- I did feel the bite of the fish and lost the tail off of my bait as documented by images. My wife also got the tail bit off of her bait as she was fishing.
- In the video my wife recorded, the walleye did fight for a long time (over 4 minutes).
- My wife's video also documented how the walleye fought under the water and conducted head shakes. It could also be seen how the head of the walleye remained upstream pointing towards me.
- We did catch a lot of nice walleye all hooked in the mouth as documented by images.
- Even my kids caught walleye as documented in the photos.
- As you can hear in both my wife's video and the witness video, Gibbs expressed no concerns about how my walleye was caught and even asked me several times if I was going to get the fish mounted.
Even though much of what I stated could be proven true with direct evidence, I was called a liar several times by the investigator during Gibbs's official statement.
Social Media posts referenced on Page 4 of the Investigation Report.
April 21st, 8:45am
Game and Fish reviewed and included some of my social media posts which they found on the Nodak Angler forum. The first one was posted on April 21st at 8:45pm which stated, "I'm the lucky angler who caught the new state record walleye! Official weight was 16lbs 9oz or 16.59lbs. It was caught legally in the mouth and verified by witnesses. It was netted by a Sheriff's officer. I caught several fish today prior to catching the record. But, there are several being foul hooked too. It was caught on a white Northland jig and Moxi plastic bait."Nearly everything I stated in this post could have been proven true with direct evidence.
- I believed and still believe my walleye "was caught legally in the mouth" and the physical condition of the walleye supported it was hooked legally in the mouth.
- I did catch "several walleye prior to catching the record" all hooked in the mouth.
- The witnesses celebrated with me and voiced NO concerns. There were witnesses who stated my walleye "looked like it was hooked in the mouth, not snagged." Knuth himself stated I "caught" the fish and it "was such an epic moment."
April 21st, 9:34pm
Game and Fish referenced another one of my social media posts on the Nodak Anger forum. This one was posted on April 21st at 9:34pm which stated, "My family and I were catching a lot of nice walleye today prior to the state record - even my kids were reeling some in. When I felt the bite of the big one, I set the hook hard. The fish didn't move and started pulling drag. It was doing several head shakes and stayed down in the water for a long time. I knew I hooked a big one but many were saying it was a large carp or large sucker. That's when I started forcing it...not realizing what I had caught. I didn't think I was going to get it in and after several minutes it broke the surface. My buddy screamed "huge walleye." That's when it turned fast or rolled and went right into the faster current. It started getting away from me going downstream. My buddy Joe (Sheriff's Officer) ran downstream with the net. He ran faster than I through possible and jumped over rocks and bars. He got into position and I was able to pull one last time. That's when he got it in the net. He looked down and was silent. He handed the net to me and that's when I started yelling and screaming! I knew it had potential to be a record. I've been fishing for 35 years and it was the biggest walleye I had ever seen. We packed everything up immediately and drove to the nearest station with a certified scale to get it weighed and verified by GF. It got weighed at 3 different locations to make sure we had an accurate weight."Nearly everything I stated in this post could have been proven true by direct evidence.
- My walleye "bit and pulled drag."
- The walleye did "several head shakes and stayed down under the water for a long time."
- While fighting the walleye, I "forced it and before it turned fast or rolled and went into the faster current."
- While fighting the walleye, it went "downstream before being netted."
- I started "yelling and screaming and knew it had potential to be a record."
- The record walleye was "weighed at 3 different locations for an accurate weight."
Nearly everything I stated in my social media posts could be substantiated by direct evidence which includes images and video yet, I was called a liar by the investigator.
Did Game and Fish find information to corroborate and support my walleye was caught legally?
Considering Game and Fish was easily able to find my posts on the NodakAnger forum, why didn't they use the same forum to gather relevant information from potential witnesses and others? Posts such as:
- “I have seen a few people on Instagram that said they saw it be caught. No mention of it being snagged. If people were there and saw it brought in snagged they need to publicly come forward and take their own lie detector test.”
- “I fish this spot every day in the spring during the spawn…I caught my 5 and they were all by the mouth…those fish in there were hungry.”
- “I was at said snagging hole last night. as well as the GnF lady. only thing getting snagged was everyones fucking lines. holy shit balls. literally i stop cuonting at 8x people were snagging each other from across the river. guys casting over top of lines. just a shit show. fished for an hour. 0 fish caught saw 1 decent sized walleye id say 24-25" caught yes caught in the mouth and 3 carp. there is without a doubt "honey hole.”
- "Caught right across from me. Looked like it was hooked in the mouth not snagged."
There were a lot of people making posts on the Nodak Angler forum which corroborated my statements and belief the walleye was caught legally.
Game and Fish knew about this forum and even pulled information from it. So why didn't they reach out to other people who were making posts about my walleye who may have been able to provide relevant information? I believe Game and Fish intentionally didn't reach out to these people because they weren't looking to prove my walleye was caught legally.
I believe Game and Fish already had their mind made up about my walleye and were only looking for information to corroborate their beliefs. And because of this, they weren't looking for information to prove my walleye was caught legally.
Potential changes
I spoke on behalf of Gibbs in my text message to Game and Fish (and later to the media). This was wrong of me to do. I believed at the time, Gibbs was more specific about where he believed my walleye was hooked and how it could have been wrapped in the string. Lesson learned. I will not speak for anyone again. I put Gibbs and me in a bad spot by speaking on his behalf. From now on, I will let others speak for themselves. I will try to state the facts and only the facts. If there is something I believe, I will make that clear. Gibbs is a good guy and an honest one. I made us look bad, and I'm sorry for that.
It was not my intention to mislead anyone with my text message and statements.
The facts are (which we will learn more about in future posts), if you listen to both my wife's video and the Witness Video, you can hear Gibbs's reaction to the fish being caught. Gibbs asked several times if I was going to get the fish mounted and stated, "you got to get this mounted." In Gibbs's official statement, he stated we "didn't foul-hook any walleye." And stated, the big walleye fought "normal the entire time" and that he "had no doubts." He stated the fish "was staying under" and you "could see the head-shakes." It was "ripping drag" and "fighting like a normal-hooked walleye." He stated the fish was netted with the "head upstream" and that he "never saw it coming in tail first" again repeating it was fighting "like a normal-hooked walleye." He stated, he "didn't see the hook in the fish anywhere as it fought or when it was netted" because he "wasn't looking for the hook." He was just trying to "make his way back to the shore without falling" and had the "net over his shoulder." He said he didn't have to "unwind" any string but also stated he "couldn't see the string because it was dark string." He stated there was a "huge hole in the mouth of the fish" and asked why Game and Fish "didn't do a better job of inspecting it" when they had it. He stated, "Tom's saving the fish for you guys. He wants this to be legit."
From now on, I will let others speak for themselves and will try harder to clarify my statements.
Back to my text message to Game and Fish, I was willing and did provide more information and evidence to Game and Fish when asked. I even wrote, "Let me know if you have any questions or want more information." I provided Game and Fish with the image of my son holding up a walleye with the hook still in its mouth with Knuth in the background.
The investigator could have used the image I provided to prove Knuth's statements false.My image could have specifically proven these statements made by Knuth as false, “I seen him unhook a couple fish…he let his kids reel in a couple little fish…and they bring in the fish…and the hook would be in the back fin…or center of the fish…I seen em pull two fish in before that...and they both had the hook in the top fin...”
During an investigation, Game and Fish must do a better job of reviewing evidence.Maybe Game and Fish should have reached out to me for more information before making the statement about how "Gibbs was witness to the violation." I was being sincere in my text to Game and Fish when I wrote, "Let me know if you have any questions or want more information."
I was providing evidence and information prior to the investigator's statements he made about a "violation."It wasn't until after the investigator stated my walleye was "under investigation" and Gibbs was "witness to the violation" did I make the decision to seek legal advice. The words used by the investigator felt threatening, especially since the current regulation pertaining to a foul-hooked fish is criminal with potential jail time.
As for the posts I made on social media, I have learned there are always going to be people who spread rumors and conspiracy theories on social media. There are going to be people who judge you on the actions of others and their own perceptions. That's the sad reality we currently live in. One change I am going to make for myself is, I am not going to entertain or care about rumors and conspiracy theories anymore. I feel like I am in elementary school when I say this next statement, but I am not going to engage with people who call me names. I will provide my information as accurately and honestly as I can and leave it at that.
I was excited to share more information and provide additional details as to how my walleye was caught. My statements included my beliefs and perceptions and were not an official statement.
I was being honest in my statements yet, people called me a liar. I tried to provide clarification, and people pulled my statements out of context and picked them apart to support their own conspiracy theories. I am not going to entertain rumors and conspiracy theories by people on social media platforms who hide behind fake names and profiles anymore. I will simply provide my information as accurately and honestly as possible and will be content with that. If people want to call me names and pick apart my statements, that's on them. I will assume these people are just jealous I caught the largest walleye in the state!
Game and Fish stated jealousy, rumors and false claims have always been an issue yet, they have done nothing to prevent it.
The Director himself stated, "anytime a big fish is caught, you hear that all the time...there is always someone who says they did it wrong, they did it illegally." If this happens all the time, why wasn't there a better process in place to verify my walleye? Why wasn't there a better process in place to provide transparency and confidence to the citizens? Game and Fish has done little to nothing to solve or prevent jealousy and false claims.
One change Game and Fish could take would be to create and implement a robust procedure for verifying record fish.
This process could include documenting any damage to the fish. It could include images and videos released to the public. It could include a hook location and verification process. It could include witness statements and a public report. I asked them to consider making these changes, and they showed no interest.
The public has very little confidence in how records are verified because of how things have been handled in the past.
False claims and rumors will continue to be a problem until Game and Fish follows a better, more transparent procedure for verifying records.
#northdakotaslargestwalleye #volkswalleye #justiceforthelargestwalleye
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