Whoops…
Anyone who knows bass fishing knows Ben Milliken. A Bassmaster Elite Series pro and super popular YouTuber, Ben is a popular man in the bass industry.
He was just named (voted by peers) to the Bassmaster Elite Angler Board of Professionals (ABP) which was been created by B.A.S.S. in an effort to “provide a more direct and efficient way of discussing any current challenges and future opportunities” within the professional angling industry.
In his rookie year in the Elite Series, the Texas native finished 28th, with two Top-10 finishes this season. I’ve personally watched a ton of his videos and learned a lot from him, not only in regards to techniques and tips for landing big fish, but industry insight and politics as well. If you want to get into bass fishing and don’t know where to start, I’d give him a follow and check out his YouTube channel.
And well… Ben found himself in some trouble with the ol’ Texas Fish & Game folks.
According to The Daily Sentinel, Ben was arrested earlier this week in Nacogdoches County and charged with freshwater fishing tournament fraud as well as fishing without a license. Ben caught a 13+ pound tank of a largemouth back in February and submitted it to Texas Park and Wildlife’s ShareLunker Program, which takes some of the state’s largest fish for a breeding program to help keep the state’s lakes full of big ol’ bucketmouths.
And according to Texas wildlife officials, Ben didn’t have a valid fishing license when he caught it.
“During the due diligence process this fall, prior to distributing program prizes at the Toyota ShareLunker Banquet, it was discovered that Milliken did not have a valid fishing license at the time the fish was caught and knowingly falsified the contest/tournament entry form.”
He was kicked out of the ShareLunker program, and cited for fishing without a license, but let’s not get it twisted, this isn’t really a tournament… it’s more like a leaderboard with some prizes. Yes… people who submit fish are eligible to win some cash prizes, but anglers are encouraged to submit their fish for conservation purposes… not because you have a chance of winning some prize money in a raffle. That’s kind of just a bonus for participating. An incentive.
And like I said earlier, Ben is a professional angler. He is required to be licensed in every state that he fishes a tournament in. And some tournaments that have waterbodies in multiple states require a license in both. Texas is also where he lives and fishes very regularly so one would think he’d have a license there but it’s not entirely difficult to get things mixed up when you’re fishing all over the country, holding tons of different licenses for different states.
I suppose it becomes slightly more egregious if Ben didn’t have a license, knew it, went and got one, and then submitted the fish afterwards, but at the same time… the program is about conservation… Ben didn’t collect any money on this. It just seems silly to me…
And here’s the real kicker… Ben has probably brought a TON of money to the state of Texas with his YouTube channel. You know how many people see him hauling in these monsters and make a trip out to the Lone Star state? A lot. Maybe they buy tackle at a local shop, hire a local guide, buy a license, support the local economy with hotels, gas, food, etc… I don’t know Ben personally at all, but like I said, this all seems pretty silly to me.
Ben released a quick statement calling the whole debacle a complete misunderstanding:
“By now, some of you have heard of recent legal issue I’m facing for an incident last February. This issue is due to a complete misunderstanding and unrelated to any Elite Series or local fishing tournament I’ve participated in.
In fact, the incident arose while I was recreationally fishing. And not in a tournament at all. I very much look forward to creating a video(s) explaining this entire situation. But due to ongoing investigation, it’s best I wait.
In the meantime, I’m going to continue working seven days a week to film and produce the best fishing content possible to help spread my love of the outdoors and promote the sport of fishing to as many people as possible. Thank you all for your patience and understanding.”
This is perhaps the fish in question… and even in his caption he says he had caught a bunch recently and this was the first one he submitted… which would lead a reasonable person to believe that it wasn’t about the money:
“Snatched up a 13 pound GINA on the 6th Sense Fishing Juggle Minnow. This was ShareLunker #5 in the last 18 months so I finally decided to turn one in. Been a fun few weeks! Need to sit down and cut through some of this cool content at some point… meh I’d rather go fishing.”
Fun fact: I love those little Juggle Minnows…
The fact that Ben already made his mugshot his Instagram profile picture is glorious… when do the T-shirts come out? #FreeBen
