bass tournament polygraph test

[bassangler1979]

My name is Jared Parmer.  I hope that someone can explain to me what I can do about this situation.  Today I fished in a bass tournament, with my fishing partner.  We had more weight than any other team in the tournament, and I then went to take the polygraph test, which is required to get the check.  I failed the test.  When the man giving the test told me I failed, I was totally in shock, and I wasa at a loss for words.  I even asked him if he was joking with me.  They went out and brought back my partner.  They brought him in the room while I was still confronting the tester.  He then failed the test.  I am positive he was very nervous before he even took the test, because he watched me argue with the tester.  Something seems very crooked about the whole situation, because I have won a lot of tournaments on West Point Lake in the past.  I did not cheat in this tournament, and have never cheated in any other tournament.  We did not get the $2500 check.  I have been totally cheated out of the money, and now everyone will think I am a cheater.   I want my name cleared.  It is not about the money, it is about my reputation as an angler.

[George W. Maschke]

Jared,

Sadly, there is no way to prove that you, your partner, or any other angler who participated in that tournament didn't cheat. You can't prove a negative. All that can be done is to look to whether there is any real evidence that anyone actually cheated. And polygraph results are no evidence at all.

Polygraph "testing" has no scientific basis. Not surprisingly, it has not been proven to reliably differentiate truth-tellers from deceivers at better-than-chance levels under field conditions.

On the one hand, polygraphy is inherently biased against the truthful, because the more candidly one answers the so-called "control" questions, and as a consequence exhibits less anxiety when answering them, the more likely one is to wrongly "fail." On the other hand, liars can easily beat the polygraph using simple countermeasures that polygraph operators have no demonstrated ability to detect. For a thorough exposé of polygraphy, see The Lie Behind the Lie Detector.

Please feel free to refer your fellow anglers, and the tournament's organizers, to this website. You might also consider naming and shaming the polygraph operator who falsely accused you, as a warning to others.

Like astrological chart readings, polygraph chart readings are evidence of nothing, except perhaps the foolishness of those who believe in them.

PS: See also this post from another fisherman who was falsely accused of deception by a polygraph operator.

[1904]

My name is Jared Parmer.  I hope that someone can explain to me what I can do about this situation.  Today I fished in a bass tournament, with my fishing partner.  We had more weight than any other team in the tournament, and I then went to take the polygraph test, which is required to get the check.  I failed the test.  When the man giving the test told me I failed, I was totally in shock, and I wasa at a loss for words.  I even asked him if he was joking with me.  They went out and brought back my partner.  They brought him in the room while I was still confronting the tester.  He then failed the test.  I am positive he was very nervous before he even took the test, because he watched me argue with the tester.  Something seems very crooked about the whole situation, because I have won a lot of tournaments on West Point Lake in the past.  I did not cheat in this tournament, and have never cheated in any other tournament.  We did not get the $2500 check.  I have been totally cheated out of the money, and now everyone will think I am a cheater.   I want my name cleared.  It is not about the money, it is about my reputation as an angler.

Your story is incomplete...surely your catch was weighed independently, or did you catch and release?
What were the Relevant questions - plse tell us - then someone may be able to help you.
In the meantime - K-Mart is selling live bass at $0.50 / lb