Elite 50 in Paducah

I feel a little better about my fishing after seeing the results of the Elite
50 in Paducah. Some of those guys had a real tough time, too.

Most interesting story was Mark Menendez to me. He is a local guy and I met
him at our registration - he was representing Skeeter and Yamah. He also spoke
at our banquet - very nice guy.

He qualified for final six on the last day of the Elite 50. At some point
during the day he removed his life jacket in a prohibited area - the dam below
Barkley or KY Lake - can't remember which - has signs saying Life Jackets
Required. He must have pulled into that area to fish and took his off - dumb
mistake. We discussed that rule at the Southern Regional because several
members of the GA team were fishing there and we agreed they would have to wear
the life jackets.

Anyway, Menendez realized his mistake and called the BASS tournament director,
and was disqualified. He said he had the winning weight in the boat, too.

Could you be that honest? Don't know if his observer noticed, or would have
reported him. He said it was bad enough being disqualified, but would be worse
to win then be DQed.

Interesting how this played out as opposed to the Classic where Iaconelli was
supposedly shown on TV not zipping up his life jacket while running the gas
motor. Wonder how that was different - other than he did not report himself if
it happened.

I am not sure dumb safety mistakes like that should result in the death penalty
- some penalty is deserved, but not sure about disqualification. Cheating
should result in a lifetime ban, but making a dumb mistake?

I know I worried at the Southern Regional because I often slip on my
lifejacket, crank the motor and let it idle while I zip up. That would be a
disqualification if I did it in a BASS tournament.
Ronnie

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