The Operation North Coast investigation also uncovered a scam perpetrated by two local individuals during a contest in the spring of 2016 sponsored by the Maumee Tackle bait shop. The rules required that all fish entered in the contest must be caught in the Maumee River, between Orleans Park and Jerome Road, with cash prizes going to the teams weighing in the heaviest five-fish catches.
In the course of the Operation North Coast investigation, wildlife officers found that Matthew Langlois of Waterville and Lawrence Turner of Toledo took fish they had caught in Lake Erie and entered them in the Maumee Tackle contest, and claimed one of the top prizes in the event. They were charged with theft by deception, but pleaded no contest to a reduced charge and were found guilty.
The pair were ordered to pay back the $375 in prize money they had fraudulently claimed, and fined $250 each plus court costs. They were also forbidden from entering any tournaments on the river for a period of three years, and ordered not to have any contact with Maumee Tackle for that same time frame. They had 30-day jail sentences suspended and will serve probation for the next three years.
So a little side story to this. Matt Langlois and his partner actually won the Tourny the year before I believe, maybe 2 years prior. So they didn't even get busted for the year that they won a couple grand, and I'm positive they cheated. Anyway, I had fished next to Matt a bunch of times up there for years, and I told everybody I knew he cheated. I knew he wasn't that caliber of a fisherman up there to be outfishing people by a couple pounds for several years. If anything, Matt always fished in the same spots I did, so I knew his abilities. Come Tournament days, nobody would never see him anywhere on the river. I was pissed because my buddy and I finished fourth in this tourny and did it the right way.
