The hottest topic among FLW Tour pros right now concerns what happened recently at the Norman FLW Tour.

BassFan reported on the story twice this past week. In summary, Greg Pugh spent the final minutes of day 2 at Norman looking for bed-fish in the designated off-limits area.

He said the mistake was inadvertent. Once he was informed of the infraction, he was administered two polygraph examinations. He said he answered truthfully in both, and was not DQd

based on the fact that he never made a cast in the off-limits area, and was hence not "fishing" in the off-limits area.

And Pugh's day-2 co-angler, Gordon Unrein, also told BassFan that neither he nor Pugh made a cast in the off-limits area.

However, two witnesses continue to claim that Pugh did in fact make casts inside the off-limits area.

Although that point is largely moot now – Pugh was not DQd and he went on to finish 4th in the event – the occurrence still has many pros talking. Those conversations seem to focus not on Pugh – everyone BassFan spoke with said they believe Pugh inadvertently entered the off-limits area – but more on the method by which FLW Outdoors officials addressed the situation.

FLW Outdoors offered no public comment or clarification on the ruling, which is in keeping with past practice. FLW Outdoors officials have said repeatedly that in matters such as this, rules violations are to be made public, but the details of the violations are to remain between FLW Outdoors and the angler or anglers involved. Since there was apparently no rules violation, no statement was issued.

For comparison, while BASS will often issue statements and hold press conferences to clarify rules violations, it often does not issue statements about protests or potential violations that do not result in penalties.

Still, the Norman incident continues to reverberate through the Tour field due to the disparate contentions of the parties involved. Over the past week, several sources BassFan spoke with – including pros, fans, and industry folks – raised the following points.

  • Why did FLW Outdoors not speak with all the witnesses involved? Pugh and his co-angler were questioned, as was pro Keith Pace, who brought the matter to the attention of officials. But Pace's co-angler was apparently never questioned. Nor was Scott Browning questioned, who was another pro in the vicinity, nor his co-angler.

  • Given that other witnesses were reportedly not questioned, does that signal a failure to enforce FLW Rule 1, which states in part: "Failure to report violations may be cause for disqualification"?

  • If sources are correct in stating that Pace was told by tournament director Bill Taylor that he did not need to sign a formal protest, will that discourage future written protests?

  • Given the fact that the public now has a vested claim in FLW Tour tournament results, via the FLW Outdoors Fantasy Fishing game and its millions of dollars in payouts, does the public deserve clarification of rulings that affect tournament outcomes and fantasy prizes?

  • Could the lack of clarity in rulings create at least some perception of an environment where potential rules violations might not be investigated to the fullest extent possible?

    Although what exactly happened during those final minutes of day 2 at Norman will never be known, the fact is that Greg Pugh said he passed two polygraphs and as a result, was not DQd.

    But again, that stands alongside pro murmurings about whether the entire situation was handled correctly.

    To help gauge the effect of the incident, BassFan contacted several pros and asked their opinion on the events in question. Responses from those who agreed to speak on the record appear below.

    Terry Bolton
    "It's too hard to comment when you didn't see any of it, but I will say that I came real close to doing it the first day. Had I not been paying attention, I could have easily (fished in the off-limits) not meaning to. Last year, you could fish in that area. But like I said, I didn't see it and I don't know all the facts."

    Andy Morgan
    "Under these circumstances, I'm disappointed that it was not brought out into the open more and investigated to the fullest extent possible. I don't fault Greg Pugh – he didn't intentionally go in there – but I'd like to know what happened in the investigation. I think I probably speak for 199 other guys in saying we just want to know what happened and was there a full investigation? Honest mistakes happen, but they have to be dealt with in a professional manner."

    Scott Browning
    "I saw Greg go into the off-limits area and I was never questioned, so I question the handling of the whole situation and whether it was thoroughly investigated. I also wonder whether this will discourage anglers from making protests in the future when they see somebody breaking the rule."

    Scott Suggs
    "I'm not up on all the facts, but I can say that anytime you have an issue and problem like this, it ought to be the main topic in the next tournament meeting. It should be brought up to us and they should explain what happened."

    Matt Herren
    "First and foremost, I don't think Greg Pugh's the kind of angler that intentionally broke a rule. But we're a publicly watched sport, no different from golf or NASCAR or Major League Baseball, so I think it's important to tell the anglers what's going on. In NASCAR, if there's a rule infraction, you know it. In BASS, if there's a rule infraction, you know it. I just don't understand the secretive nature in which everything is held.

    "Fishermen talk. Word gets through the weigh-in line fast that something's going on. You'd think it would be in the best interest of everyone involved to swiftly make a ruling on it, notify everyone about what's happened – what the action or non-action will be – and be done with it, instead of listening to constant rumors and innuendos."

    Andre Moore
    "That they didn't do anything with a protest doesn't surprise me. FLW doesn't want to DQ anybody for anything. I did a protest last year at the first National Guard (Western FLW Series) at Havasu. My co-angler took his third-day pro partner into my hole. I called (tournament director) Chris Jones from the water I was so POed. I actually heard my co-angler from (day 2) and his partner, the night before, talking about where I fished.

    "I had a written protest, witnesses, and they didn't do anything about it, and they let that SOB win the tournament on the co-angler side. Chris Jones told me it was pretty cut-and-dried – they'd have to DQ the guy – then 10 minutes later I hear them announce that he won. They didn't even give me a ruling. I was so mad. I never went back and asked for an explanation. Heck, there's a lawsuit right now, by Perry Johnston, against FLW for not enforcing their rules in kingfish."

    David Walker
    "If he's in the off-limits and didn't fish at all, I don't have a problem with it. He was just wasting part of his day. It happened to me once in a Bassmaster tournament. I ended up fishing a creek, not realizing it was off-limits because of the hole-course. That was during practice, and I was DQd for the whole event. My point is, you don't expect the tournament director to actually catch you doing it. How would he? At some point you have to be your own police – know what the rules are and just stick with them. And I wish we knew what the penalties were for infractions. It could be more black and white, because now there's a lot of gray."

    David Dudley
    "I don't think it matters if you pick up a rod to go fishing or not. Fishing's about so many things. It's not always about having a lure in the water. Fishing's one big, huge puzzle and you're putting the pieces together all the time. I don't think Greg went in there intentionally, but let me ask you this: If you're walking through the woods with a shotgun and a bird dog, but you haven't pulled the trigger yet, does that mean you're not hunting?"

    Luke Clausen
    "I think it would save a lot of problems if we had an open answer to what happened. Some type of statement would really help a lot of guys so there isn't all this question about what happened. That's what fires up the rumor mill. Bass fishermen are like a bunch of sorority girls – they like rumors, and they keep escalating.

    "Again, nobody really knows the truth here, and I think there should be a statement on any protest. In my opinion, that would solve a lot of these issues. There's always a lot of scuttlebutt about what really took place – how so-and-so's getting unfair treatment. A simple little statement would go a long ways."

    Notable

    > The read BassFan's original reporting on the off-limits incident, click here.

    > For Greg Pugh's description of the events, click here.