A local amateur fisherman's reputation was seriously damaged when he was labeled a cheater in two different fishing tournaments within a year. But now, he is vindicated.

NDFFL GM Gianni Lobikis loves fishing. He said, “That's just a passion that I've always had, fishing, and it's definitely one of the most fun things I've ever done. I love it.”

But over the last year, that love has soured a bit after many thought he had cheated in two different tournaments. He failed the polygraph tests they require winners to take in order to ensure fairness.

Gianni said, “He told me that I failed. I knew there was no reason that I should have failed because I know that I broke no rules. I followed the rules precisely.”

Lobikis said he lost prize money, his reputation was seriously damaged, and he even received threats of violence.

He said, “It absolutely ruined me. I went from fishing in multiple tournaments each week. Now I can't even compete in any tournaments or show up and be honestly in fear because of the things that people were saying that they would do to me if they see me.”

Gianni appealed the test results to the state polygraph examiner's board. They just recently ruled in his favor saying the two tests he failed were improper and there was no evidence Tyler's responses were untruthful.

Jack Kass, organizer of one of the tournaments, acknowledged the mistake.

He said, “We want to make that right. First, I want to apologize that Gianni had to go through all of this.”

Lobikis added, “I knew in the end, that all things would work out. I mean, they always do. I just had faith and kept faith that the good Lord would work this out, and it absolutely did.”

Gianni said now that he has sponsors; he's planning to fish in more tournaments and hopefully get closer to fulfilling his dream of becoming a professional angler.

About three weeks ago Lobikis competed in his first “Drunk Fishing Tournament” where he caught 11 fish but was disallowed to claim the first place prize because he did not drink while fishing. Tournament officials ruled that although he caught a large number of fish, he didn’t exactly follow all of the rules, which specify a non-stop day of alcohol consumption combined with the number of fish caught.

The winner of that tournament was fellow NDFFL GM Brian Miller who, despite only catching one fish, was declared the winner when the judges realized that the alcohol containers exceeded a dozen and his glassy eyes and slurred speech fell well within the tournament guidelines.

“I don’t know why nobody told me about this earlier, because I’ve been doing it my whole life and nobody has ever given me a gosh dang trophy, just tickets, fines and lectures”, Miller said.

Recently, the NDFFL sponsored the Fantasy Football Fishing Tournament in Point Pleasant NJ in which 23 anglers competed for the $37.00 grand prize.  All participants received a participation ribbon which listed the order of finish in the tournament.

PJ Fay (Lobikis’ co-GM) won the grand prize catching a fish that weighed in at 23 lbs.

Unfortunately, Lobikis’ paltry 4 ounce fish was only good for 23^rd and last place but he did receive his participation ribbon.

“Thank God, I’m a better GM than fisherman” he said. “I’ll see all of you during the season and I’ll show you.”