Originally Posted by
Colin4
Here's what the link says.
Hey Guys,
Now that everyone has speculated for a week, let me set the record straight...
The following was posted on THT yesterday by username "Aftco"
"I know all of the guys personally that fished with Billy and Billy himself. First off, Billy is a straight shooter along with the captain. To clear someone of the hearsay, Billy has spent 15 years building an honest brand and seems to now carry a black eye because of an ignorant mistake by 1. In no way shape or form does Billy condone cheating, tolerate or allow it. Unfortunately at this point, they all are guilty by association. Now to carry the facts, a mate and only 1 mate did in fact ingest water (roughly 3 gallons of fresh water) into the marlin during the nearly 4 hour ride in. They are fishing on a 63ft Weaver owned by Billy Freeman. Why fresh water, the boat does not have a raw water wash down. It is fact, that Billy and captain where totally unaware of what happened. Why you say, when you have a potential $750k fish on the deck, you begin to celebrate and attention while running 30knots for 4 hours is not on the fish 100% of the time. Guys where in the salon watching tv, listening to music and celebrating. Not going to elaborate more on that but you get the point. The guys pull into the weight station and weigh the fish, but more importantly the stomach fell out of the fishes mouth as they pull away which red flagged the whole ordeal. Concern on the dock ensues and the scientist began his investigation. Due to the ingest and amount, the fish was DQ’d. The tournament director quickly addressed the boat owner and captain privately and confirmed the DQ’d fish. From that point, Billy and captain began questioning crew and 1 mate came forward and confessed what happened. Billy is now in a tight spot, trying to due what any honest sportsman would due he fires said mate. I can’t imagine the feeling and not passing judgement either way, just simply stating the facts. Billy has now a bigger challenge ahead. Unfortunate event that ruins it for everybody."
Aftco (not to be confused with the apparel company) wrote a mostly accurate response yesterday that has been passed around the internet, but there were a few details that weren't quite on point.
My full-time mate for the summer was not fired nor sent home. However, the 2 others that were involved were indeed sent home and won't be allowed back on any boat belonging to me. No names will be mentioned, but I can assure you they are feeling the wrath of this whole ordeal... much the same way me, my family, my friends and crew are feeling the wrath of 2 people's ABSOLUTELY DUMBASS mistake. Lots of emotions, tears and "what the hell were they thinking" has been going on.
I want to move on from this and continue running a successful boat building program and continue fishing with and against some of the best fishermen in the world.
I have received support from people that know me and from people that don't know me. However, there will be those that want to point fingers at why someone has been successful ..."must have been cheating". I have never cheated and never will cheat. My 17-year-old son is a MAJOR reason for the success of Mas Pescado, our king fishing team, and he is well on his way to being a force to reckon with in the blue water realm.... Why would I jeopardize that? I have spent 15 years building my business and what I feel is a solid reputation... Lying, cheating and stealing is a quick path to failure in my book.
Thank you for your time and I wish everyone the best...
Sincerely
Billy Freeman
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