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Dual Threat Bass Fishing Tournament Scam
Posted on 2/23/26 at 8:03 pm
Posted on 2/23/26 at 8:03 pm
How many of you have been keeping up with this abortion? Another absolute mess with competitive fishing.
For those that are not familiar with it, it was a big promised trail for touring pros basically. It started with entry fees, then the entry fees got dropped to get more participation and promised a 1.5 million dollar payback.
The short of it, after the event, the checks bounced. Entry fees were "refunded" but even those checks bounced. Now the guy running the event has hit the road and cant be found. What a absolute shite show
Needless to say, the guy involved are understandably not happy about it. I am not familiar with the exact details but that is the jest of it.
Mash
For those that are not familiar with it, it was a big promised trail for touring pros basically. It started with entry fees, then the entry fees got dropped to get more participation and promised a 1.5 million dollar payback.
The short of it, after the event, the checks bounced. Entry fees were "refunded" but even those checks bounced. Now the guy running the event has hit the road and cant be found. What a absolute shite show
Needless to say, the guy involved are understandably not happy about it. I am not familiar with the exact details but that is the jest of it.
Mash
quote:
A new bass tournament league that billed itself as the highest-paying team trail in the country is now being blasted as the biggest scam in the sport’s history. The anglers who helped promote Dual Threat Fishing and competed in the league’s first (and only) two tournaments are now saying they were ripped off by DTF. None of the winning anglers have been paid and some of them are still owed deposits. DTF’s owner has also disappeared from contact, and some involved are now contending he was using a fake identity.
Some of the allegations surrounding the owner, known as Ethan Phillips, remain unsubstantiated. The organization’s official website appears to have been taken down, and messages from Outdoor Life to its social media accounts have gone unanswered. But a handful of anglers, influencers, and content creators have gone public about their own experiences with DTF over the last week, and the supposed scam league is now dominating most corners of the online fishing space.
This post was edited on 2/23/26 at 8:04 pm
7
Posted on 2/23/26 at 8:07 pm to LanierSpots
quote:
then the entry fees got dropped and promised a 1.5 million dollar payback.
I have some ocean front property for sale for these entrants
Posted on 2/23/26 at 8:11 pm to Jack Daniel
quote:
I have some ocean front property for sale for these entrants
As crazy as that sounds, it is not totally unheard of in the Bass Fishing world.
But it is however odd for a brand new trail. He sold them that sponsor money had come through and it was enough to pay the purse
This post was edited on 2/23/26 at 8:12 pm
Posted on 2/23/26 at 8:16 pm to LanierSpots
I don't see how more big dollar tournaments can work. Was looking at Matt Stefan's stats the other day. I watch his YT videos and he has fished the BASS Opens for several years. Goal is to make the elites. He has been in the money only two times with just over 6 grand in earnings. Who in their right mind can continue to fish with those stats? He drove all the way to Sam Rayburn from Wisconsin to not do squat. And nowadays, it's the really young guys who are competitive. They know how to use LiveScope and jig head minnows and they have the juice to put in the work.
Yeah I did hear about that Dual Threat stuff. For the fishermen it was too good to be true.
Yeah I did hear about that Dual Threat stuff. For the fishermen it was too good to be true.
Posted on 2/23/26 at 8:18 pm to LanierSpots
It’s a lot like Stanford Fraud Case. Anyone guaranteeing you 10% return or 100K w no entry fee……. They must’ve thought they were special. Bad for the sport. Suckers born every minute.
Posted on 2/23/26 at 8:21 pm to LanierSpots
Just about every youtube fisherman has posted about it. Seems like the POS scammer tried to get everyone with a smartphone/camera to fish it, most of whom he offered free entry fees to if they had a decent following.
I never saw figures on how many guys paid the $30k entry fees upfront but supposedly it was a dozen or so at the least.
I never saw figures on how many guys paid the $30k entry fees upfront but supposedly it was a dozen or so at the least.
Posted on 2/23/26 at 8:21 pm to aTmTexas Dillo
quote:
I don't see how more big dollar tournaments can work.
Which is why I guided and did not tour. When I won the BASS at Lanier, everyone thought I was going on the trail. Like you, when I put the calculator to it, there was no way I was going to take that chance. That prize money would have been gone in not time.
On the other hand, I was back to guiding every day on Monday after the tournament and making a decent daily salary
These guys are all hoping for one big win to get them started but in the end, it is not enough. A while ago, sponsor money was enough to keep lots of guys going. That vein had dried up now and its getting harder and harder to make a living doing it.
In the end, it is a terrible way to try and make a living which is why most of the Open guys have a full time job and fish the opens on the side
Elite guys were a little different when the payout was better but them not wanting entry fees have dropped the payout and its going to get harder and harder to make it on there as well
The sponsor money is just not out there like it was. The fishing industry is hurting right now and companies just dont have the funds to dish out to those guys like they once did. A tough way to go at it on your own unless you are independently wealthy
Posted on 2/23/26 at 8:23 pm to John_V
quote:
I never saw figures on how many guys paid the $30k entry fees upfront but supposedly it was a dozen or so at the least.
I think it was 5K, But I could be wrong. You you are correct, I think 10-15 teams paid it. He also took some sponsorship money and advertising money that he got up front.
Now they are saying that the identity he was using may not even be him. LOL. Dude better be living in the Bahamas by now. If they find him, they will kill him
This post was edited on 2/23/26 at 8:24 pm
Posted on 2/23/26 at 8:56 pm to LanierSpots
I think it was $5k per tournament with 6 tournaments on the schedule. Idk how working class guys can afford that even if it wasn't a scam tournament trail but those fees seem to be the norm.
Posted on 2/23/26 at 10:08 pm to aTmTexas Dillo
I grew up on the MS gulf coast and always salt water fished. When I moved to NW Arkansas I had no desire to fish freshwater until a guy I worked with took me bass fishing and in my young mind I thought there isn’t a thing you can show me about fishing that I already don’t know…how wrong I was. I got hooked on smallmouth and the first time I won $10k in a big bass tournament at Table Rock Lake I was hooked for life…you can’t find peace and adrenaline like that in a bottle or a pill!! When it gets ahold of you it just does and I haven’t found anything that can break that addiction.
Posted on 2/24/26 at 5:35 am to LanierSpots
quote:
That prize money would have been gone in not time.
I've heard Swindle and a few other state that their social media platform is the most important part now, if you don't have one you will fail..
Posted on 2/24/26 at 2:31 pm to LanierSpots
That's some bizarre shite that sounded pretty shady from the get go. How some of these top pro bass guys got sucked in and duped is puzzling. Guess it's kind of like free pussy...free entry fee bass tournament and $100k to winner...count me the frick in 
Posted on 2/24/26 at 2:43 pm to LanierSpots
I absolute love bass fishing but even I got to the point where it just wasn't worth the money to keep up.
I sold my bass boat and might buy another boat down the road but it will not be an expensive bass rig with all the newest electronics more back to basics.
I sold my bass boat and might buy another boat down the road but it will not be an expensive bass rig with all the newest electronics more back to basics.
Posted on 2/24/26 at 4:23 pm to Doc Shakalu
I dont know. I like yo smoke a joint in my kayak them hook a smallmouth. Calamity ensues
Posted on 2/25/26 at 12:02 am to LanierSpots
I was there at St. John River, and it’s been a complete shite show. Dude supposedly went to Aruba. Several guys I know made the cut and are owed money. They feel lucky to only be out what it took to fish two of those things.
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