BassFan spoke with Alton Jones who did confirm that his son Alton ("Little Alton") provided him with assistance during practice.
Jones was DQd for driving the boat while Little Alton looked for beds. The violation was similar, but also opposite, to Kevin VanDam's violation (VanDam's partner drove while VanDam looked for beds).
Another angler lodged a protest again Jones on Wednesday, and accused him of letting a partner operate the boat. Jones, of course, denied the allegation because he was the boat operator.
Jones discussed the situation with BASS tournament director Trip Weldon at Wednesday's tournament meeting. He said Weldon stated they'd address the situation again after the day 1 weigh-in. Jones was then found to be in violation of BASS rules.
Jones told BassFan: "My son works with me in practice in finding fish. We didn't do anything to intentionally violate the rules. We would never intentionally violate a rule. While this has affected my tournament and perhaps my year, I'm grateful that BASS is a company that enforces their rules."
Jones added: "I think it clearly adds to the stature and integrity of our sport when the rules are enforced, although I hate getting caught on the bad end. I'm very disappointed this happened. But it doesn't matter if it's Kevin VanDam or Alton Jones – our tournament director Trip Weldon treats everyone the same and fairly."
> A story on the BASS site stated that Randy Howell and Kevin Langill (both boaters) were subjected to a polygraph examination last night. Both are fishing the event today. Jones said the polygraph was the result of allegations similar to those lodged against him.
> To read last night's Tour Insider story about the DQ, click here.
