Pro Bass Fisherman and YouTuber Arrested After Fishing without a License

In what YouTuber Ben Milliken is calling a ‘massive misunderstanding,’ the Bassmaster Elite angler has found himself in a bit of hot water after being charged with fishing tournament fraud. Stemming from a hog of a 13-pound largemouth bass he caught in February, Milliken turned himself in to Texas law enforcement last Thursday according to officials.

The allegations of fraud followed Milliken’s submission form for the Toyota ShareLunker program, which recognizes anglers that reel in 13-plus-pound largemouth bass in the first quarter of each year. On that submitted form in question was Milliken’s 13.18-pound largemouth that he pulled in off of Lake Naconiche in west Texas.

“I noticed the big ones were really starting to raise up out of the brush on the bottom of the lake,” Milliken told TPWD in February. “I was using a little 6th Sense juggle minnow on a 1/16-ounce jig head and dropped it down and led her by a long ways. Lucky enough, she came right up to it and ate it while I was twitching it in, so it was pretty awesome. I caught her using a spinning rod with a six-pound braid and six-pound fluoro leader, so it was a really light line. I fought it forever, but she came right up to the surface, and when I saw her, I knew it was a giant one so I took my time and got her in. It was pretty exciting!”

But it wasn’t until officials took a closer look at the details surrounding the YouTuber’s catch that they noticed a few discrepancies.

“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,” TPWD wrote in a statement. “In addition to the charge for fraud in a fishing tournament, Milliken was disqualified from the Texas ShareLunker Program and cited for fishing without a valid license.”

As a result of the allegations, his catch was immediately disqualified and was removed from the Texas ShareLunker list.

According to reports, the 35-year-old was held for all but 30 minutes after turning himself in to authorities. And while it does look like this incident is an honest mistake, someone who calls themselves a professional and broadcasts their videos to over 570,000 viewers does have a certain level of responsibility when it comes to ensuring that the proper licenses are in place.

The fact that just days before his arrest, Milliken was appointed to the Bassmaster Elite Angler Advisory Board, drives the aforementioned point home even further. 

At this time, he has acknowledged his wrong doing on his channel and on Instagram, but has yet to tell his side of the story considering he’s in the middle of an on-going investigation.

“I can’t make any statements or comments about [the arrest] because it is an ongoing investigation,” Milliken said. “But I didn’t want to leave you guys in the dark or make you think I was trying to hide something. The good thing is, eventually, I’m going to be able to share a video once this is all figured out explaining what exactly has happened in what I feel is a massive misunderstanding. I don’t know if that will be cleared up and figured out in the next week or if it will take five or six months.”