An angler was arrested during a bass tournament in Texas on Sunday and charged with violating fishing tournament rules. Officials with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department say they arrested Curtis Lee Daniels after finding multiple weights inside a bass he’d caught during the competition.
Daniels was booked in the Wood County Jail Sunday, according to county records, and charged with violating fishing tournament rules. Because the tournament was offering a cash prize of $10,000 or more, the charge is a third-degree felony. Records show Daniels was released Monday on a $20,000 bond.
In an official statement shared with Outdoor Life, TPWD officials said they were contacted by tournament organizers Sunday to investigate a bass that Daniels had brought to the weigh in. Tournament staff had flagged the bass after using a metal detecting wand on the fish that alerted them to “the potential presence of a foreign object.” This raised concerns that Daniels had tampered with the fish before bringing it to the weigh-in station.
“After confirming the alert, wardens conducted a necropsy on the fish and discovered three weights in its stomach that showed no signs of erosion,” the TPWD statement reads. “Wardens also located weights of the same style and size in the angler’s boat.”
The arrest took place during the second and final day of the Lake Fork Lure Co. Tournament, which was held on Lake Fork and presented by Sealy Outdoors. Daniels, of Willow Park, was one of 564 anglers competing in the local tournament and vying for a cash prize of up to $11,500. (The overall prize for the biggest fish caught in the event was $10,000, but there were additional cash prizes as well.) A representative of Sealy Outdoors said they were unable to comment on Daniels’ arrest when reached by Outdoor Life Monday.
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Daniels, who works as a guide on Lake Fork and fishes bass tournaments regularly, tells Outdoor Life he will not comment on his arrest until he’s spoken with his attorney.
A criminal records search reveals that Daniels was convicted of a misdemeanor in Wood County in 2019 for possession of slot limit black bass. Daniels was found guilty by a jury in January 2019 and forced to pay $519. It is unclear if Daniels has been charged with any other wildlife crimes in other Texas counties.
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