Louisiana man arrested for contest fraud

Louisiana is a place made for sportsmen. The northern half of the state, from Ruston to Monroe and south to Alexandria, is famous for its deer leases. This same part of the state is also known for several great bass fishing lakes. Closer to the coast we have our own honey holes for big fish. Some of them are on land, others are offshore.

Zip Recruiter estimates that someone interested in bass fishing could earn an average salary of just over $50,000 per year. Yeah, you can make that much money fishing every day. Of course, you have to invest in a boat, lures, lines, rods, reels, and you get the idea. Fishing as a hobby can be done very cheaply or can cost you as much as a second house.

Of course, today's fisherman is not as interested in landing a lunker to feed his family. Today, most fishing is done for sport and trophies. This is why fishing tournaments are so popular throughout Louisiana. Almost every weekend you can find or make new friends and fish for “cash and prizes”. Sometimes these amounts and prices are small and other times they can add up to thousands of dollars.

For example, at the Big Bass Splash recently held in Toledo Bend, Louisiana, the top prize was valued at $100,000. It included money, a new boat, an engine and every accessory you could dream of. The second prize in this tournament was $15,000 in cash. So, you see, there is a motivation to win.

Where there is a motivation to win, there may also be a motivation to cheat and agents from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries were called to the Big Bass Splash in Many, Louisiana, to investigate a fish which had been transformed by one of the competitors.

Tournament officials suspected a fish returned by Aaron Moreau of Pollock, La., was not in tip-top shape. So they contacted LDWF agents who discovered that the fish had been stuffed with 2.59 pounds of lead. The fish was reported during the weigh-in on May 17.

LDWF agents learned that Moreau had fled the scene when they attempted to confront him about the charges against him. Later, an arrest warrant was issued and Moreau turned himself in on May 23. If convicted, Moreau faces a $3,000 fine and a year in prison.