One of the more surprising names near the bottom of today's Kentucky Lake FLW Tour standings is that of Mike Hawkes. The Sabinal, Texas pro limped in with three fish for 5 1/2 pounds and sits in 140th.
Turns out his light day was partly the result of a penalty handed down by FLW Outdoors tournament director Bill Taylor. The decision, rendered yesterday, forced him to fish only Lake Barkley today.
Sean Hoernke was assessed the same penalty and likewise relegated to Barkley, but fared better with 15-05 and is two spots in back of a check.
Here's what happened.
The Violation
The first day of practice for the Kentucky Lake FLW Tour (Saturday, June 6) was also the final day of competition for the Kentucky Lake Bassmaster Elite Series.
The Elite Series launched on the south end of the lake – about an hour from where the FLW Tour launched today. But the south end is by far the hottest area right now, and Bobby Lane won the Elite Series there with nearly 100 pounds over 4 days.
According to Hawkes, he and running buddy Hoernke (along with several other FLW Tour pros) ran to the south end on Saturday to practice.
"We went down to the New Johnsonville area where I planned on fishing in the tournament," Hawkes said. "I wasn't going to fish around those Bassmaster guys – that wouldn't be fair to them. So I just rode around and watched and basically wasted a practice day. But I learned something. I watched how they were fishing the grass, how they positioned the boat, and obviously, there were boats everywhere.
"I bounced around, but actually did follow Byron Velvick two different times. According to FLW (Tour) rules, that's illegal. I didn't know that at the time – that you can't follow a non-competitor's boat. You can sit and watch them fish, but you can't follow them. It was my mistake."
The action was a violation of FLW Tour Rule 4, the applicable part of which states: "Beginning with practice and extending through competition, pros may not obtain fishing patterns or locations from co-anglers or fishing information from noncompetitors or follow a noncompetitor's boat or participate in the practice of "hole sitting" or the placing of markers by anyone."
Hawkes said the matter was brought to his attention yesterday (Wednesday), after which he immediately called Taylor and responded truthfully to Taylor's question about following a non-competitor.
Taylor penalized the two by confining their fishing to only Lake Barkley for the event, Hawkes said, so they couldn't gain any advantage from the rules infraction. Barkley's a connected lake that neither had practiced on.
Hawkes added that he's upset with himself for screwing up and not knowing the rules.
"I don't have a problem with (the ruling)," he said. "I think they did the right thing. If we don't enforce the rules, we don't have a sport. I'm just mad at myself for not knowing the rules upfront. And I'm a little bit miffed that the other 30 guys doing it didn't get blasted like I did."
When asked about "the other 30 guys," Hawkes confirmed that yes, he witnessed other FLW Tour pros following BASS pros, but was not asked about it by Taylor and wasn't "going to throw 30 guys under the bus. It didn't help them or give them a competitive advantage."
It must be noted, however, that FLW Tour Rule 1 states, in part: "Each competitor agrees to report any rule violation to the tournament director immediately upon discovery of the violation. Failure to report violations may be cause for disqualification."
Sean Hoernke also agrees with the ruling handed down by FLW Outdoors, but declined to name another pro whom he said was protested for a like infraction.
Hoernke Elaborates
Hoernke largely corroborated Hawkes' details about the event, but further explained the rationale Taylor used in delivering the ruling.
Hoernke noted that he and Hawkes planned to fish the New Johnsonville area in the tournament, so yes, they ran there on the first day of practice.
"I stopped and watched for one reason – to see if how they were catching them was how I thought they'd be catching them," Hoernke said. "I knew those spots wouldn't be any good because they'd get hammered by locals. And I basically viewed it as a public-information deal. But the mistake I made was when I followed (a BASS pro) to his next spot and watched him. At the time I didn't think there was an issue at all. It was a madhouse up there and 30 or 40 boats were following each guy. I didn't even think twice about it."
Hoernke confirmed that both he and Hawkes called Taylor of their own accord when they learned there might be a rules infraction. Hoernke also said it's his understanding that he wouldn't have been in violation if he'd fished "for a little while" after the pro left, then ran up the river to watch him again.
"The fact that I pulled up and ran from one area to the next was where the infraction came about," Hoernke said.
"I think FLW was more than courteous with what they did," he added. "Their decision was basically to not allow us to make a cast into Kentucky Lake. I broke a rule and I believe wholeheartedly in the rules and I should be penalized."
Lastly, Hoernke noted that it's his belief that in addition to Hawkes, one other pro was protested, although Hoernke declined to elaborate. Also, Hoernke said he believes he did see other FLW Tour pros following BASS pros, but would not definitively be able to identify them.
Notable
> The same rule about following non-competitors during practice applies to FLW Series events, but not Stren or BFL events, where following a non-competitor is only illegal during competition.
