Kevin Langill, a fourth-year pro from North Carolina, lost a Top-50 finish and a paycheck worth at least $9,506 when his day-2 weight was disqualified for violation of sportsmanship standards at the Guntersville Bassmaster Elite Series in Alabama.
The issue stemmed from a dispute with former Bassmaster Classic champion Boyd Duckett. At the heart is a small grass bed that Duckett camped on for all of day 1 and started on again on day 2. He said he eventually abandoned it to avoid further escalation of the matter.
Duckett described the size of the specific area he was fishing, which sits right off the main Tennessee River channel, as about the equivalent of a big-rig trailer. Langill said the spot in question is about 100 yards long.
Duckett said Langill pulled up next to him and caught a couple of fish on day 1. He said he filed a protest against Langill at the conclusion of the day, and that other anglers who'd been in the vicinity had also brought the encroachment issue to tournament director Trip Weldon's attention.
The Carryover Effect
Tensions resumed when Langill arrived at the spot on day 2. Duckett, whose boat was the third to leave the launch, had driven straight to it with the intention of spending the entire day there again.
"The whole issue was he was still mad from (day 1)," Duckett said. "He came flying in on pad and almost hit me coming off plane. He came ready to fight.
"I protested him again, and I was a little (more adamant) about it this time. I've tournament-fished since 1977 and I've never been treated that way. The previous day I'd spent 9 hours on one cast, and he can't come in on day 2 and bump me off that cast. He knows better and he got a good lesson today in how things work. If he stays a pro, it'll help him down the line."
Langill, who was in line to cash his first check of the year and just his 11th in 38 Elite Series events, said that his boat and Duckett's made contact, but that took place long after he'd come down off pad and it was caused by the wind blowing Duckett's rig into his.
"We never even exchanged cuss words," he said. "I told him that if he was going to let his boat blow back into mine and push me off the hole, then I was going to go around up in front of him.
"I had two waypoints there that were 20 yards apart and I never cast over his line or anything. There was no grounds for a complaint."
Marshal Testimony Key
According to a BASS communications official, tournament director Trip Weldon made the DQ decision this afternoon after speaking with all of the marshals who've ridden with the two anglers over the first 2 days, as well as at least two other Elite competitors who fished in the same vicinity, along with their marshals.
"The marshals are really the eyes and ears we use in those instances," the official said. "Based on those (interviews) that involved a number of people, the decision was made from there."
Duckett said he provided no testimony as to what occurred today, but instead asked Weldon to poll everyone else who'd been on the scene.
"I didn't want it to come down to an argument between two anglers and have it be my story against his," he said. "There were four other Elite anglers and all of their marshals there.
"I certainly don't think I'm powerful enough within the BASS organization that I can get a guy DQd for getting on my fish."
Langill said he would appeal the ruling and had already contacted an attorney.
"I'm losing my whole career," he said. "Here's my first check of the year, and I lose it because of Boyd Duckett whining about somebody fishing beside him."
Langill supplied BassFan with the names and phone numbers of both marshals who've ridden with him at the event, and both said they'd support him.
Boyd Duckett said the incident with Langill cost him a realistic shot at making the Top 12.
"I think he was railroaded and he doesn't deserve to be DQd," said Mike Youtsey of Columbus, Ga., who was onboard Langill's boat for day 2. "(Duckett and Langill) were standing there talking and Boyd's boat just drifted into Kevin's – it wasn't an intentional deal. I'm disappointed in the way it's been handled."
Said Jim Beach of Ponchatoula, La., who was Langill's day-1 marshal: "I can only recount what happened on day 1, and they were fishing, I'd say, within two long casts of each other, and they fished like that for a good while. They were never close enough where I felt it could be considered unsportsmanlike. A lot of times you see guys almost touching each other."
Goes Back to Practice
Langill claimed that he found the grass bed in practice and Duckett moved in when he saw Langill hooked up.
"He's riding by and sees me catching fish, and he pulls right up there," Langill said. "That's not a big deal – people are on the bent-rod pattern a lot."
Duckett, an Alabamian with extensive experience on Guntersville, said that claim is nonsense. He's fished the spot for years and didn't visit it at all during practice because he wanted to avoid drawing attention to it.
"I never practice on the good stuff I know I'm going to fish in the tournament when there are other boats around," he said. "There were five or six guys fishing that shoal (on day 1 of competition), but I went straight to my sweet spot and I never moved."
Notable
> Langill caught 20-15 today and would've been in 49th place with a chance to move up tomorrow if not for the DQ.
> Duckett said the incident and his decision to abandon the spot today out of frustration likely cost him a shot at a Top 12 (he was in 11th place after day 1, but fell to 38th today after weighing just 17-12. "I don't think I can make that up. You can catch 25 pounds there, but it's not a 30-pound hole."
