A Chiefland man faces numerous charges in connection with alleged cheating at weekly bass tournaments in Dixie County on the Suwannee River.

Cedric Jerome Perry, who was arrested Monday night, reportedly confessed to catching fish in other lakes and then bringing them to the weigh-in at the Joe Anderson Boat Ramp in Old Town, according to reports released Wednesday by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Perry, 31, is charged with fraud, grand theft, fishing license and bag-limit violations. Authorities reportedly had Perry under surveillance for close to a month.

Perry received more than $1,000 as winner of the 2010 Columbia High Quarterback Club Open Bass Tournament.

Tournament officials declined comment on Perry’s arrest and FWC officials did not indicate whether foul play was suspected in Perry’s June 19 tournament win.

According to FWC reports, officer Sam Dishman received information about the possibility of cheating occurring at the weekly tournaments and suspicions arose when Perry began winning numerous tournaments and catching fish when no one else was catching quality stringers.

Perry was under surveillance at another tournament on Aug. 10.

“These tournaments generally start at 5:30 p.m. and last until around 8:30 p.m. We watched him the entire time and didn’t see him catch much,” said FWC investigator Larry Ayers in a prepared statement.

At the weigh-in Perry had five fish, including an 8- and 9-pound bass.

“We never saw him catch either of these fish,” Ayers said. “Perry also won this tournament.”

Perry participated in another tournament on Aug. 17, and FWC officers continued their surveillance of his activities.

While other officers watched Perry, Ayers and another FWC officer checked his vehicle at the public boat ramp by looking through the window, where they saw a cooler on the passenger floor board and reported hearing an aerator running in the truck.

After discovering the aerator, officers switched the focus of their investigation and began watching Perry’s vehicle.

“When he got to the truck, he removed the cooler and put it in his boat,” Ayers said. “There were fish in the cooler. He put them with the other fish he caught during the tournament.”

Perry won the tournament.

After the weigh-in, officers approached him and interviewed him about the fish.

“He explained he caught those fish that morning at Clay Landing,” Ayers said. “He also said he had caught the two fish he won the Aug. 10 tournament with at Orange Lake.”

During their investigation, officers also discovered that Perry didn’t’ have a valid fishing license and there were additional fish on his boat, putting him over the bag limit.

“I joined the PAA at the first of this year and seriously considered fishing the Tournament Series this season,” Karnes said. “When the Bassmaster Women’s Tour shut down I was hoping the women would go with the PAA, but they decided to form another circuit. That wasn’t the direction I wanted to go.

“I started fishing the Bassmaster Open tournaments and thoroughly loved it. The men have treated me with a ton of respect and encouragement, and it’s been great. I met (PAA Board member) Dave Mansue and he encouraged me to join the PAA and fish, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

The tournament begins next Thursday at West Tawakoni City Park, where the daily launches and first two weigh-ins will be held at 3 p.m. The final weigh-in featuring the Top 30 pros will be held at Bass Pro Shops in Garland beginning at 4:30 p.m.

Karnes is a certified Realtor and owner of Hands On Realty in Livingston. She and her husband, Sam, also own a boat dealership through www.niceboats.com. They live on Lake Livingston and fish regularly on it and other area lakes.

“I told him I was considering retiring this year, but as things went on I decided to stick around for another year,” Karnes said. “I’ve been fishing professionally for more than 10 years, but I’ve fished my whole life. It’s the typical story everyone says … I started fishing with my parents and grandparents. Those were our weekend adventures, at the lake, and when we had the opportunity to buy property we wanted to be on the water.”

Karnes enjoys the Texas lakes, but also likes visiting new lakes. During the WBT seasons she fell in love with Guntersville Lake in northeast Alabama, which offers anglers a diversity of tactics and strategies. She finished 10th in the WBT tournament at Guntersville in 2007.

“I told my husband I was ready to pack up and move there because it’s such a beautiful area and great lake,” she said. “But we’d be too far away from our grandchildren.”

Karnes has been spending time studying maps of Tawakoni and Google Earth images of the lake. Although a shallow bite is expected, there are some deep-water possibilities as well. She’s going in with an open mind for the three-day practice period that begins Monday.

“I’ve never been there before so I don’t know what to expect, but I have a few places I’ll take a look at when I get there,” she said. “I take my fishing very seriously but also enjoy it very much. I have so much support from all kinds of people … here in our community, our local bank sponsors me, people call and email to ask how tournament fishing is going. It’s just been really great and I’m looking forward to next week.”

Tournament facts – The tournament is the third of four in the 2010 PAA Bass Pro Shops Tournament Series presented by Carrot Stix. The winner will earn a prize package worth $45,000 including cash and a new Phoenix 719 Pro XP boat powered by a Mercury Optimax 225hp engine and outfitted with a T-H Marine Atlas Jackplate. Eligible anglers also may benefit from the Bass Pro Shops Tournament Rewards and Phoenix Boats First Flight bonus payout programs.

Daily launches and the first two days’ weigh-ins will be at West Tawakoni City Park. Saturday’s final weigh-in featuring the top 30 pros will be held at the Bass Pro Shops in Garland. All launches and weigh-ins are free and open to the public. Free seminars will be held at Bass Pro Shops beginning at 12:30 p.m. prior to the Saturday weigh-in.

Free seminars featuring Bradley Hallman, Pete Ponds, Edwin Evers and Jason Quinn will be held at Bass Pro Shops on Sept. 8. The seminars begin at 5:30 p.m.

About the PAA – The Professional Anglers Association is a non-profit organization that gives professional anglers a unified voice in order to aid in the growth of the sport of professional bass fishing. The PAA also aims to administer educational programs to the average angler, to increase enjoyment of the sport, and to embrace sound conservation practices to further the future of the sport. Web: www.FishPAA.com

PAA Associate Sponsors – The PAA Tournament Series is sponsored by Bass Pro Shops, E21 Carrot Stix, Lazer Trokar, Markel Insurance, Phoenix Boats, Nitro Boats, T-H Marine, Fishouflage, SolarBat, U.S. Reel, Sign Designs, BoatU.S. Foundation, Mercury Marine and Jasper Engines and Transmissions.

PAA Hosts – The City of Garland, Texas

American Bass Anglers is bringing duel events to Bainbridge, Georgia and Lake Seminole: the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series Regional Championship and is the fourth stop in the ABA barbecue cook-off. The bass tournament is the Regional Championship for anglers from Alabama, Florida, Georgia Mississippi and South Carolina. The anglers will begin their day launching out of the Earle May Boat Basin. Weigh in will be on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 16 & 17 at 3:00pm each day. The public is invited to this FREE event.

“These ABA barbecue events are a lot of fun”, said Kevin Rake, Early Times Pro, “and if you haven’t yet been to one, you just simply don’t know what you are missing. They combine the Weekend Series bass tournament and the barbecue event, which is like a festival, and allows us anglers to weigh in front of a lot of bass fishing fans,” concluded Rake.

“Bringing both a barbecue cook-off festival and the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series tournament to a location like Bainbridge will give a lot of exposure for two sports on the same weekend,” said David Hagood, ABA vice president. “The Weekend Series anglers will be put on stage in front of a larger audience than they have experienced in the past, and the same is true for the barbecue teams.

The barbecue cook-off is a growing sport and melds extremely well with ABA bass tournaments. The teams are mobile and set up outside to create an instant festival for the community. Bainbridge is rolling out the red carpet for the event, which both the barbecue teams, bass anglers and the community will enjoy.”

“The barbecue cook-off features the best barbecue competition teams from across the country,” said Debra Talley, ABA national marketing director. “Barbecue teams will arrive in Bainbridge on Thursday and Friday, October 14 and 15, to prepare for the big day on Saturday, October 16. The pro-barbecue teams compete in four meat categories: Chicken, Ribs, Pork and Brisket. ABA also offers a Backyard Team category and those teams compete in only two meat categories — Chicken and Ribs. All teams can also compete in the Sauce and Dessert categories.

“We are excited that the event in Bainbridge has been chosen as the Georgia State Barbecue Championship, as proclaimed by Gov. Sonny Perdue,” Talley said. “For competitors, it means they are offered a birth into the Kansas City Royal Championship.”

Admission to the event is free and the public is invited to enjoy the festivities of the day and meet the barbecue teams and bass anglers. Vendors of all types will be showing their products — from outdoor furniture to arts and crafts — and of course there will be food vendors. The Battle of the Bands will kick off at 10 a.m. and motorcycle enthusiasts are invited to take part in the Legion Riders to raise funds for the Legacy Foundation – funding college tuition for children of fallen soldiers. The Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series weigh-in will be at 3 p.m., as well as the barbecue awards presentation which are taking place on 2 separate stages. Closing out the day will be the Battle of the Bands, with the winner being announced around 8 p.m.

Barbecue information: For more information about competing as a professional barbecue or a backyard team visit www.ababbq.com

Bassmaster Weekend Series information: For more information about the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series visit www.weekendseries.com

For more information about Bainbridge, GA, Lake Seminole and the surrounding area, and all of the events for the BBQ Cook-off, visit the Bainbridge Convention & Visitors Bureau website at www.visitbainbridgega.com or call (229)-243-8555.

The five-city tour will end with the Championship in Guntersville, AL on Nov. 6.

In contrast, CRR requires that the Pro Anglers take digital photos on the official AIM Judge ruler. These photos are compared with the official scorecard record that each Pro Angler turns in daily. Every walleye is immediately released where it was caught. No fish are transported in “livewells”, in some cases for many miles from where they were caught.

At the same time, CRR eliminates the possibility that the anglers are subjected to “dead fish” penalties for fish deemed unreleasable. In many cases, a penalty of only one pound will alter the tournament results. (Several AIM tournaments have had first and second place separated by LESS than one pound!)

CRR also eliminates the decision process when local fishing regulations include a “slot”. In the case of Lake Winnibigoshish – the site of the AIM International Walleye Championship’ – the slot allows each angler to harvest only ONE walleye over 26 inches and NO walleyes between 17 and 26 inches.

In 2009, AIM Pro Angler Todd Riley won the Championship by weighing over 100 pounds of Lake Winnie walleyes. ALL of these walleyes were “slot fish”! Instead of tournaments being decided based on lucky decision making, all AIM tournaments are won by the Pro Angler who boats the biggest baskets of walleyes over three days.

When asked about the AIM Catch-Record-Release’ format, Riley was very enthused. “I once had the chance at a victory but lost it due to a dead fish penalty. That will never happen again with CRR.” he said. “I love this format. All you need to do is catch fish. There is no worry about what order you catch the fish, or which fish to keep and which ones to release. And when we can come to a fishery like Lake Winnie and showcase the quality of the walleyes it is a win-win for us and the local community. Plus, every walleye is right back where it was caught and anyone can go out there and try for it tomorrow!”

The Pros fishing the AIM tournament aren’t the only ones excited about the CRR format.

Gord Pyzer recently took part in the LUND Angler Young Angler (AYA) International Walleye Championships who have adopted the CRR format and had nothing but good things to say. Read about it in his blog.

The Diamond Jim component of the Fishing Challenge started June 1 and ends Labor Day, September 6. Throughout the summer, three batches of specially tagged striped bass – each including that month’s authentic Diamond Jim and as many as 200 imposters worth $500 – were released into the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. So far, anglers have caught three tagged imposters.

DNR Fisheries Service biologists certified Heisterhagan’s catch and confirmed that this could be the winning Diamond Jim. Heisterhagen will find out if he walks away with $25,000 when he opens a sealed envelope bearing the tag number of the fish he caught at the Maryland Fishing Challenge Finale at Sandy Point State Park on September 11.

“Fishing is something I’ve enjoyed since I was young,” said Heisterhagen. “My father passed away a few years ago and we enjoyed fresh-water fishing together. It’s a great pastime; it’s a great leisure time. It’s what I do to get away from the office.”

The Maryland Fishing Challenge, featuring Diamond Jim is a free, year-round tournament sponsored by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Service, 27 recreational fishing organizations and generous sponsors across the State. The purpose of the event is to promote Maryland’s excellent fishing opportunities and the importance of exposing children to nature as an essential key to future environmental stewardship.

The 2010 Maryland Fishing Challenge ends at midnight on Labor Day with an awards celebration at Sandy Point State Park the following weekend. The Fishing Challenge Finale will be held at the 43rd Annual Maryland Seafood Festival on September 11, 2010. Qualified anglers are eligible for grand prizes including a Tracker boat package from Bass Pro Shops Arundel Mills and a 7-day dream excursion to the island of Tobago courtesy of the World Fishing Network. Other prizes include thousands of dollars in fishing gear, merchandise from Under Armor and kayaks from Kent Island Kayaks and Bass Pro Shops Arundel Mills.

Through the citation component, more than 60 species of fish are eligible for the grand prizes, including large and smallmouth bass, trout, walleye, musky and panfish in the freshwaters of Maryland; rockfish (striped bass), bluefish, drum, sea trout and perch in the Chesapeake Bay; and tuna, marlin, flounder, kingfish and sea bass caught in Maryland waters off the Atlantic Coast.

Anglers under age 16 who take part in any of the 50 fishing rodeos across the state and win their event are invited to the finale and guaranteed a “fishing trip of a lifetime,” sponsored by supporting Fishing Challenge partners and sponsors.

“Catch a fish” is one of the Maryland Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights, issued by Governor Martin O’Malley in April 2009. The bill is part of the Maryland Partnership for Children in Nature, an initiative to ensure all Maryland young people have the opportunity to connect with their natural world and grow to become informed and responsible stewards.