GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) – Two anglers are busted for cheating during a fishing tournament late last week on Lake Erie in Ohio. Video of the incident has gone viral, and a Green Bay fishing guide is hoping it will raise awareness.
“I’m invested in it just because I like the walleye fishing industry and this in a way puts a black eye on the tournament fishing series, but at the same time it draws attention to fishing tournaments too which will hopefully improve,” Tony Krause, a guide for Walleye Mafia in Green Bay, said.
Video circulating on social media shows the winning moment where the five fish caught weighed in at more than 33 pounds. The problem is, the tournament’s organizer felt the fish “looked smaller” than what they weighed.
In the sport of competitive fishing, this video is nothing less than scandalous. Five fish, caught by two anglers, are sliced open after winning the tournament to look for any signs of cheating.
“This is a fish filet!” one of the organizers exclaims. “A walleye filet.” Inside the fish were filets from other fish and several lead weights.
“There’s always been stories about dishonesty in competition, but I personally have never seen anything quite like this, in competitive fishing that is,” said Jason Fischer of Lake Erie Walleye Trail, which put on the tournament. “The individuals here appear to have put greed and ego above everything else, forever tainting our sport.”
Article continues below the video
The fishing guide we spoke to from Walleye Mafia shared the video and never expected such an uproar.
“It’s spread worldwide. I’ve seen comments from as far away as New Zealand saying it was on the news in New Zealand. So this is kind of a message I guess for people who do cheat, would cheat: If you get caught it could be worldwide, your whole career is going to be shot.”
The anglers responsible have been identified as Chase Cominsky and Jake Runyan, who have previously won other fishing tournaments.
How to safeguard against this again is now a concern among organizers across the country.
“I can tell you as tournament director, this type of behavior will not be tolerated. I will figure out a way to make this right for my anglers. I hope we can learn from this and make some changes in tournament fishing that protect the integrity of all circuits,” Fischer said.
We’re told tens of thousands of dollars in prizes were up for grabs in this tournament.
The incident is being investigated by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and our sister station WOIO reports a prosecutor is looking into the findings.
