Local fishing tournament updates rules after NBC CT Responds report

A local fishing tournament now has new rules for lie detector tests and even new fishing boundaries after an NBC CT Responds investigation.

Fishermen Tim Vallee and Benny Sheen are adamant that they reeled in an award-winning fish at last summer’s “Greatest Bluefish Tournament on Earth,” a popular tournament in the Long Island Sound.

They shared their story with NBC CT Responds.

But they lost their first- and second-place titles after failing the contest’s mandated polygraph test.

More than $40,000 worth of prizes are up for grabs during the tournament.

The participant with the heaviest catch wins $25,000.

“Who wants to be called a liar when you know, we're doing the right thing, you know?,” said Sheen, of Long Island.

“What do my children think? Think I was lying? What does my family think? You know? I think it casts doubt on my integrity,” said Vallee, of Terryville.

“The problem with that kind of a test is that you have lots of chances to look guilty when you're not,” said Charles Morgan, a University of New Haven national security expert.

While Morgan, a former CIA intelligence officer, told NBC CT Responds polygraph tests are not scientifically reliable, the tournament will continue what it describes as its “well-established tradition” of polygraphing top potential winners.”

But it has made other rule changes, some of which reflect concerns raised in our NBC CT Responds report.

Participants who think they reeled in a potential winner will now need to provide proof of their catch by snapping a photo with the fish, their rod, and reel, and then sending it to tournament organizers with the location of the catch as soon as possible.

This was something Zac Aur,  the captain of the boat Sheen was competing on during the tournament, brought up during our investigation.

“We have it on video. The pictures, everything he did. He gets disqualified,” said Aur, when we spoke with him last year.

The well-known fishing spot called “The Race” is now listed as out-of-bounds and boundary coordinates have been added to this year’s rules.

And, after last year’s polygraph examiner told us scheduling was disorganized and only Sheen was given the opportunity to retest, there’s already a polygraph date scheduled for potential winners and a note that there will be no opportunities for retesting.

Kristin Okesson, the general manager of Connoisseur Media’s radio group, which runs the tournament, told us in January, “Over the 41 years of the tournament's existence, the clarity of our rules [has] contributed to very few issues.”

But when NBC CT Responds reached out about this year’s revised rules we were told, “We are constantly striving to make The Greatest Bluefish Tournament on Earth even greater.”

This summer’s “Greatest Bluefish Tournament on Earth” takes place this weekend, Aug. 24 and 25.