One in every of many prime fishing YouTubers and Bassmaster Elite angler Ben Milliken was arrested last week in Nacogdoches County, Texas, and charged with freshwater fishing occasion fraud over a 13-pound largemouth he caught in February.
Milliken, 35, of New Caney, Texas, turned himself in to laws enforcement at 9:27 a.m. Thursday, based mostly on an emailed assertion from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Division. Nacogdoches County Sheriff’s Office information level out he was launched inside half-hour. Milliken allegedly falsified data on a submission kind for the Toyota ShareLunker program Legacy Class, which acknowledges anglers inside the Lone Star State who catch largemouth bass that weigh a minimal of 13 kilos between January and March yearly.
In February, Milliken caught a 13.18-pound largemouth at Lake Naconiche, a 693-acre lake in west Texas, which he entered inside the TPWD Toyota ShareLunker Program.
“I seen the large ones have been really starting to raise up out of the comb on the underside of the lake,” Milliken knowledgeable TPWD in February. “I was using a bit of bit sixth Sense juggle minnow on a 1/16-ounce jig head and dropped it down and led her by a protracted strategies. Lucky enough, she bought right here correct as a lot because it and ate it whereas I was twitching it in, so it was pretty superior. I caught her using a spinning rod with a six-pound braid and six-pound fluoro chief, so it was a extraordinarily mild line. I fought it perpetually, nonetheless she bought right here correct as a lot as the ground, and after I observed her, I knew it was a big one so I took my time and purchased her in. It was pretty thrilling!”
When officers reviewed the small print of Milliken’s catch, they discovered some discrepancies.
“By means of the due diligence course of this fall, earlier to distributing program prizes on the Toyota ShareLunker Banquet, it was discovered that Milliken did not have a legit fishing license on the time the fish was caught and knowingly falsified the competitors/occasion entry kind,” TPWD wrote in an announcement. “Together with the associated fee for fraud in a fishing occasion, Milliken was disqualified from the Texas ShareLunker Program and cited for fishing with no legit license.”
Milliken’s catch has since been far from the Texas ShareLunker archives guidelines.
Beneath the ShareLunker Program, anglers who land qualifying largemouths over 13 kilos can mortgage the fish, which qualify as “Legacy Class,” to TPWD for selective breeding and stocking. Anglers ought to weigh Legacy Class catches on a certified scale. To be accepted into the spawning program, the fish ought to even be alive and in good properly being.
Anglers who catch and mortgage a Legacy Class bass receive a prize bundle consisting of decals, a replica mount of the fish, and a “swag bundle” from Bass Faculty. Qualifying anglers are moreover entered into two separate drawings, each with a grand prize of a $5,000 buying spree from Bass Skilled Shops.
TPWD spokesperson Maggie Berger could not verify if Milliken’s big largemouth was used inside the selective breeding or stocking program on the time of publication.
Milliken did not land his 13-pound bass by the course of a Bassmasters Elite occasion. In response to Texas statute 66.119, however, a fishing occasion is any contest “throughout which a prize is to be awarded to a variety of people inside the contest based on weight, dimension, amount, or sort of fish caught.”
In Texas, freshwater fishing occasion fraud is a class A and B misdemeanor. Residents can purchase a $30 license to fish legally inside the state.
“I can’t make any statements or suggestions about [the arrest] on account of it is an ongoing investigation,” Milliken said in a YouTube video. “Nonetheless I didn’t want to go away you guys at midnight or make you suppose I was making an attempt to cowl one factor. The good issue is, lastly, I’m going to have the flexibility to share a video as quickly as that’s all discovered explaining what exactly has occurred in what I actually really feel is a big misunderstanding. I don’t know if that shall be cleared up and discovered inside the subsequent week or if it ought to take 5 – 6 months.”
Making an Occasion of Milliken
Ben Milliken’s newest arrest has raised plenty of questions and sparked a great deal of controversy and rumors. On account of the associated fee was “occasion fraud” many wrongly assumed that Milliken was caught dishonest in knowledgeable occasion. Nonetheless, as a result of the mud settled over the weekend and some of the particulars emerged, it seems a whole lot of the controversy was blown out of proportion.
Milliken is no doubt one of the crucial well-known Bassmaster Elite Assortment anglers after just one yr on tour. This stems primarily from his YouTube fame which he constructed over time previous to creating the Elite’s. With larger than 572,000 subscribers, Milliken Fishing is no doubt one of many biggest bass fishing YouTube channels in the marketplace. All by his rise to fame, he’s on a regular basis been a bit polarizing and difficult throughout the sides. He begins his films with the slogan, “What’s up MFers.”
Nonetheless, his capability to catch large bass — and quite a lot of them — has led him to the place he is proper now.
Merely days earlier to his arrest, Milliken was appointed to the mannequin new Bassmaster Elite Angler Advisory Board, which was launched in “an effort to facilitate increased communication and collaboration with Elite Assortment anglers.”
Clearly, all anglers must be appropriately licensed sooner than hitting the water, however when the allegations are true, Milliken wouldn’t be the first expert angler to have forgotten to buy a license. It’s essential to remember the fact that this incident had nothing to do with occasion fishing. Milliken was reportedly fishing recreationally in his residence state on the time.
Whereas it’s not clear exactly what occurred, the muse of the charges deal with when, exactly, Milliken might have realized his alleged error. To be eligible for the ShareLunker program, people ought to have a gift fishing license and full all the required sorts. It’s unlikely a participant can be able to precisely fill out the paperwork with out realizing they didn’t have a gift fishing license.
Many anglers have argued that an arrest on this incident was overly aggressive. The actual fact is, within the occasion you make your dwelling from fishing, you will have to adjust to all the pointers or pay the worth. The whole thing Milliken does on the water is documented on video, and that comes with an extra diploma of public scrutiny.
The Milliken incident is solely the tip of the iceberg referring to YouTubers bending the ideas inside the determine of fishing content material materials. YouTubers have fished in private ponds so that they are going to film the native “Karens” shedding their minds, and some have even gone into restricted areas to permit them to catch fish on digital digital camera.
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It seems as if these small-time rule breakers rarely get caught; even as soon as they do, they’re not massive sufficient to make a splash. Sadly for Milliken, he’s an unlimited fish inside the YouTube pond and TPWD clearly chosen to make an occasion out of him. Milliken has already posted an announcement on Instagram acknowledging his run in with laws enforcement, though he didn’t current an proof for what he says occurred. Hopefully we get his aspect of the story and he owns any errors so as that we are going to all switch on in time for the Elite Assortment season to get underway in February.