The accused Curtis Lee Daniels | Wood County Jail
In yet another blow to the integrity of competitive bass fishing, a Texas angler was arrested over the weekend after tournament officials and game wardens discovered a little extra weight inside a largemouth bass he submitted for weigh-in.
Curtis Lee Daniels, 45, of Willow Park, Texas, was taken into custody on Sunday during the second and final day of the Lake Fork Lure Co. Tournament on legendary Lake Fork. The event drew 564 competitors vying for a prize purse of up to $11,500 overall, with $10,000 of that on the line for the biggest bass.
Tournament staff, employing standard anti-cheating protocols, scanned Daniels' fish with a metal-detecting wand at the weigh-in station. After the device pinged to the presence of a foreign object, our friends from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department stepped in to have a closer look.
A necropsy of the bass quickly revealed three uneroded three-quarter-ounce fishing weights lodged in the fish's stomach, giving wardens clear evidence of tampering, as the weights showed no signs of natural ingestion or digestion. Wardens then moved on to Daniels' boat where they were able to uncover matching weights of the same style and size, further linking him to the alteration.
The weighed-down lunker | Texas Game Wardens
Daniels was arrested on the spot and booked into the Wood County Jail on a charge of violating Texas fishing tournament law. Given that the event offered prizes exceeding $10,000, the offense is classified as a third-degree felony under state statutes. Penalties for conviction could include up to 10 years in prison, fines up to $10,000, revocation of fishing licenses, and potential civil restitution.
Daniels posted a $20,000 bond and was released Monday morning, all while declining to comment to reporters beyond stating he would not discuss the matter until consulting his attorney.
This case echoes infamous past scandals in the angling world, most notably the 2022 Ohio walleye tournament where competitors were caught stuffing lead weights and fish fillets into their catches—a fiasco that spawned the viral meme "WEIGHTS IN FISH!" and later led to felony convictions.
@brutamerica Fishermen caught stuffing their fish with weights during the Lake Erie Walleye Trail Fishing Tournament in Ohio. #fish #ohio #news #fyp
As a result of these asinine cheating attempts, bass fishing tournaments have been forced to implement polygraph tests, X-rays, and metal-detecting wands—measures that can make airport security, by comparison, feel like a walk in the park.
Lake Fork remains one of North America's premier trophy bass fisheries, making fair play especially critical in high-stakes events like this one. TPWD emphasized the importance of the aforementioned safeguards in maintaining trust among honest competitors.
As of now, the case remains under investigation, with no trial date set.
