Fishy story

As far as fishing stories go, this one was about the worst we've ever heard. Like golfers, fishermen are prone to embellish their tales of lures, secret bait, honey holes and -- of course -- length and weight of all the fish that got away.

Telling tall tales is part of the culture of most sports. But cheating to make those tales come true is more than real sportsmen can accept. Ask any bass fisherman who competes for prizes at any of the fishing tournaments that are so popular in these parts.

A Poplar Bluff, Mo., man was arrested recently right after collecting second place in a bass-fishing tournament at Lake Wappapello. He faces a felony count of theft by deception. Officials allege the fisherman tied a couple of live fish to a duck blind in the lake the day before the tournament. The fish were marked by conservation agents who found them after the official weigh-in.

The wheels of justice will grind toward a legal decision at some point on the man's guilt or innocence. But in the minds of fishermen throughout Southeast Missouri, there is nothing lower than a fisherman who cheats. Many of them were on hand for the accused cheater's arrest at the end of the tournament. They applauded.

Tell all the fishing stories you want. But when it comes to the weigh-in, you better be telling the truth.