Even honest anglers feel pressure from polygraphs

At the end of a fishing tournament, Mike Standing is always confident he hasn't broken the rules.

But each time he has to sit down in front of a polygraph machine, he gets nervous.

"It's so unsettling... it's awful," said Standing, a Virginia Beach charter captain and tournament organizer. "I've had to do it about 10 times and it never gets easier.

"You know you've played by the rules, but you even start to doubt yourself. It's just weird."

David Goldberg, a certified Virginia private investigator who owns Executive Protection Group Polygraph Service, will be working this week's Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament, and also works Standing's Mid-Atlantic Rockfish Shootout.

"Bass fishing tournaments didn't used to use them and there was cheating all the time," Goldberg said. "These big billfish tournaments have to use them."

When a team wins a tournament, one of the members - usually the captain, mate or an angler - is given a polygraph. The tester goes through a series of questions before strapping on the equipment.

"You usually can tell right away if they're going to pass or not," Goldberg said.

The electrodes measure blood pressure/heart rate, breathing and sweat gland function.

Some of the initial questions are unrelated to the tournament - name, where you live, whether you're married or single.

Then they get specific:

-- "Did you adhere to all rules set forth by the VBBT, the IGFA (International Game Fish Association) and National Marine Fisheries Service?"

-- "Did anyone on your boat set any lines or teasers before the official starting time or after?"

-- "Did you properly release all fish?"

-- "Did you properly identify all fish?"

-- "Did you follow all federal regulations regarding the use of natural bait and the use of circle hooks?"

-- "Did you fish outside of tournament-set boundaries?"

And the kicker:

-- "Did you lie about any of the fish caught by your team?"

Try to fib about any of the questions, and Goldberg promises you will be caught.

"Beating a lie detector test is a myth," he said.