I was discussing this with a friend and one of the things mentioned that makes a lot of sense was: If a guy nets a state record walleye, a typical first reaction would be celebration and maybe some Top Gun high fives. After that you would remove the hook and weigh. I know my first reaction wouldn’t be removing the jig from its position as soon as it is netted. I am no detective, but I have the Columbo box set. They have at least some ground to ask for “one more thing”.
I had a somewhat similar conversation and thought when I first saw the video. First thing is the video I saw is short and doesn't capture the actual net job or where the net guy is walking in relation to the guy who caught it. So with just that short clip it is hard to draw a full conclusion. A guy really needs to see the entire sequence.
If the fish was netted downstream of the angler and the clip is immediately after the netting and the guy is walking toward the angler who is back up stream, there seems to be no reason at all that someone would remove the jig from the fish (or net) at that point in mid stride. Just doesn't seem natural and adds suspicion.
Now if the fish was laying or thrashing in the net for awhile, or already handled sometime before the clip, or even the angler's position might have been causing the net guy to trip over the line or something like that I could see wanting to remove the hook.
Its even difficult to conclude this is the exact fish. I have heard of many other 10lb# and over fish being caught in the same hole.
