An angler was arrested Sunday during a bass tournament in Texas and charged with violating tournament fishing rules. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department officials said they arrested Curtis Lee Daniels after they found multiple weights inside a bass he caught during a tournament.
Daniels was booked into the Wood County Jail on Sunday and charged with violating fishing tournament rules, according to county records. Because the event offers a cash prize of $10,000 or more, the charge is a third-degree felony. Records show Daniels was released Monday on $20,000 bail.
Game wardens cut open the bass and found three heavy objects in its stomach. Photo by Texas Game Warden/via Instagram
In an official statement shared with outdoor livingTPWD officials said tournament organizers contacted them Sunday to investigate a bass brought in by Daniels to be weighed. Tournament officials used a metal detector wand on the fish, alerting them to the “possible presence of foreign objects,” and subsequently tagged the bass. This raised concerns that Daniels had tampered with the fish before bringing it to the weighing station.
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“After confirming the alert, wardens performed a necropsy on the fish and found three weights in its stomach with no signs of corrosion,” TPWD’s statement read. “Watchmen also located weights of the same style and size on the angler’s boat.”
The arrest occurred on the second and final day of the Lake Fork Bait Company Tournament, which is held on Lake Fork and presented by Sealy Outdoors. Daniels, of Willow Park, was one of 564 anglers competing in the local tournament for a cash prize of up to $11,500. (The total prize for the largest fish caught at the event is $10,000, but there are additional cash prizes.) A representative for Sealy Outdoors said they could not comment on Daniels’ arrest when contacted. outdoor living on Monday.
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Daniels works as a guide on Lake Fork and regularly participates in bass tournaments, he told us outdoor living He would not comment on his arrest until he spoke with an attorney.
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A criminal records search showed Daniels was convicted of a misdemeanor in Wood County in 2019 for possession of tiger limit bass. In January 2019, Daniels was found guilty by a jury and forced to pay $519. It’s unclear if Daniels has been charged with any other wildlife crimes in other Texas counties.
