Busted At Fishing Tournament

General Topic

Contributors to this thread:

JL 03-Oct-22

JusPassin 03-Oct-22

Pat Lefemine 03-Oct-22

Will 03-Oct-22

PECO2 03-Oct-22

Brotsky 03-Oct-22

Ucsdryder 03-Oct-22

DanaC 03-Oct-22

Grey Ghost 03-Oct-22

APauls 03-Oct-22

Glunt@work 03-Oct-22

Bowbender 03-Oct-22

Blood 03-Oct-22

Slate 03-Oct-22

M.Pauls 03-Oct-22

Michael 03-Oct-22

70lbDraw 03-Oct-22

jdbbowhunter 03-Oct-22

midwest 03-Oct-22

Fields 03-Oct-22

Zbone 03-Oct-22

Glunt@work 03-Oct-22

JohnMC 03-Oct-22

hawg 03-Oct-22

EmptyFreezer 03-Oct-22

Mike B 03-Oct-22

Fields 03-Oct-22

Catscratch 03-Oct-22

APauls 03-Oct-22

Zbone 03-Oct-22

Grey Ghost 03-Oct-22

Heat 03-Oct-22

Glunt@work 03-Oct-22

Bowfreak 03-Oct-22

Lewis 03-Oct-22

spike78 03-Oct-22

Will tell 03-Oct-22

Wv hillbilly 03-Oct-22

drycreek 03-Oct-22

Grey Ghost 03-Oct-22

Zbone 03-Oct-22

sitO 03-Oct-22

HDE 03-Oct-22

Boris 03-Oct-22

duvall 03-Oct-22

keepemsharp 03-Oct-22

Overland 03-Oct-22

spike78 03-Oct-22

APauls 03-Oct-22

HDE 03-Oct-22

Catscratch 03-Oct-22

Huntiam 03-Oct-22

spike78 03-Oct-22

Pat Lefemine 03-Oct-22

Woods Walker 03-Oct-22

Zbone 03-Oct-22

Grey Ghost 03-Oct-22

Paul@thefort 03-Oct-22

t-roy 03-Oct-22

Pat Lefemine 03-Oct-22

Red Sparky 03-Oct-22

Jeff Holchin 04-Oct-22

Zbone 04-Oct-22

PECO2 04-Oct-22

bigswivle 04-Oct-22

Grey Ghost 04-Oct-22

JL 04-Oct-22

Zbone 04-Oct-22

Ziek 04-Oct-22

ROUGHCOUNTRY 04-Oct-22

scentman 04-Oct-22

Michael 04-Oct-22

Patdel 04-Oct-22

Shawn 04-Oct-22

Zbone 05-Oct-22

spike78 05-Oct-22

Huntiam 05-Oct-22

PECO2 05-Oct-22

Grey Ghost 05-Oct-22

scentman 05-Oct-22

Missouribreaks 05-Oct-22

Patdel 05-Oct-22

Michael 05-Oct-22

Michael 06-Oct-22

RK 06-Oct-22

JL 06-Oct-22

APauls 07-Oct-22

spike78 07-Oct-22

bigswivle 07-Oct-22

Grey Ghost 07-Oct-22

t-roy 07-Oct-22

Grey Ghost 07-Oct-22

Zbone 08-Oct-22

From: JL

03-Oct-22

JL's Link

Been watching this cheating scandal at a walleye tournament the last couple of days. It got ugly when they got caught. They were lucky they got out of there alive.

Chase Cominsky & Jacob Runyan, Lake Erie Walleye Trail ‘Cheaters’: 5 Fast Facts

Chase Cominsky and Jacob Runyan are fishermen accused in a viral video of cheating during the Lake Erie Walleye Trail fishing tournament in Ohio after weights were found in fish. The pair, who appeared to have won the tournament before the discovery, was disqualified. The tournament was held Friday, September 30, 2022.

A post on the Lake Erie Walleye Trail’s Facebook page by director Jason Fischer on Friday said, “Disgusted guys and gals, I’m sorry for letting you down for so long and I’m glad I caught cheating taking place in YOUR LEWT at the same time. … I hope you know now that when I say ‘you built this LEWT and I will defend its integrity at all costs,’ I mean it. You all deserve the best.”

The cheating scandal is being investigated by authorities, Fischer said. Cominsky and Runyan could not be reached for comment by Heavy and haven’t spoken publicly about the controversy.

In a post on Saturday, he wrote, “All LEWT anglers deserve better, I will take time and figure out how I can solidify the integrity of our sport here on Erie. I appreciate all the support the last 24 hours and for the last 4 years. I truly love what WE have built and I will be back next season with some great new ideas. Schedule will be posted soon!”

Here’s what you need to know about accused Lake Erie Walleye Trail fishing tournament cheaters Chase Cominsky and Jacob Runyan:

1. Videos Showing the Fishing Scandal Went Viral on TikTok: ‘We’ve Got Weights in Fish!’

WALLEYE CHEATERS–BUSTED, WE GOT WEIGHTS IN FISH. LEWT 2022- ORIGINAL FULL VIDEO COMINSKY & RUNYONFishing Tournement in Cleveland,Ohio E.72nd Boat Docks.Guy get busted with weights in his fish. 8 lbs of weights & a pair of pliers.#walleye #Bustedcheating #Lewt #WalleyeTournament #WeGoWeightsInFish #8lbs lead #72ndCleveland #Ohio #Lewt2022 #© David Murphy 2022 Any illegal reproduction of this content will result in immediate legal action2022-09-30T23:46:13Z

The weigh-in for the fishing tournament was held at the Gordon Park in the Cleveland Metroparks on September 30. Video posted online quickly went viral, spreading on social media, including TikTok. There were 30 two-person teams competing in the Lake Erie Walleye Trail tournament championship in Clevbeland Harbor.

Fisher told Cleveland.com, “I knew right away that something was very wrong with those walleye.” A video shows Fischer and Cominsky being celebrated for their apparent win and for taking home “team of the year” honors as Fischer investigates the fish at the edge of the screen.

In the video, Fischer can then be seen cutting open one of the walleye. He yells out to the crowd, “We’ve got weights in fish!” Fischer then yells and pumps his fist toward Runyan, who was standing in front of him watching as the crowd erupts.

WALLEYE TOURNAMENT CHEATERS BUSTED!! (New Footage Update)Jake Runyan and Chase Cominsky were Caught stuffing over 8lbs of lead weights into their fish during the weigh in at the Lake Erie Walleye Trail Championship. They had been suspected of cheating of sometime now and finally got caught. #WalleyeCheater #Fishing #walleyefishing Cop some merch – 5050fishing.com/ Please Subscribe and Ring that Bell! Best…2022-10-02T00:47:00Z

In another video, Runyan can be seen watching the fish being cut open as Fischer tells the angler, “Jake, I want you to leave. I don’t want anybody to touch these guys.” Someone in the crowd yells at Runyan, “You should be in jail.” Someone else says, “You should call the cops,” and another says, “Don’t we need to file a police report?” 2. The Tournament’s Director, Who Is a Police Officer, Says Evidence Has Been Turned Over to Law Enforcement

Serious Controversy in Pro fishing tournament as multiple-time winners caught stuffing lead weights and other fish filets in their fish to have the heaviest catch to win hundreds of thousands in prizes. pic.twitter.com/Sxqeo2XC0K

— Billy (@Billyhottakes) October 1, 2022

The fishing tournament’s director, Fischer told The Sharon Herald, walleye typically caught in Lake Erie in late September weight 4 to 5 pounds. When the fish caught by Cominsky and Runyan weighed in at 7.9 pounds, Fischer told the newspaper, “I thought ‘ no way.'”

Fischer said he squeezed the fish and felt something hard inside, the newspaper reported. He then cut open the fish and found two 12-ounce metal balls inside, he told The Herald. Fischer said Cominsky and Runyan had been leading the Lake Erie Walleye Tour all season and needed to finish 10th or better to win the title.

Fischer, a police sergeant in Ohio, told The New York Times, “Everything was turned over to law enforcement.” The Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Cuyahoga County prosecutor’s office are investigating, The Times reported. 3. Chase Cominsky & Jacob Runyan Were Disqualified in 2021 After One of the Anglers Failed a Post-Event Polygraph Test

Cominsky and Runyan were disqualified from The Fall Brawl fishing tournament in 2021 after one of the anglers failed a polygraph test, The Toledo Blade reported. That disqualification cost them a $100,000 prize. The newspaper reported that both men passed polygraph exams after later events. A Facebook post shows they won a cash prize and a boat at the Walleye Slam in 2021.

Cleveland.com wrote, “It didn’t take much to fire up the weigh-in crowd, many who had suspected Cominsky and Runyan had been cheating regularly to consistently win expensive fishing boats in the Fall Brawl and Walleye Slam fishing derbies in 2021, and tens of thousands of dollars in walleye tournaments. The two had slipped the heavy 12-ounce egg sinkers in their walleye, and padded them with filleted walleye flesh so that the sinkers wouldn’t bump each other and make noise.”

The newspaper reported that Fischer asked Runyan to leave, as he was facing threats from the crowd, and Cominsky had already locked himself in his truck in the parking lot, Cleveland.com wrote. 4. Cominsky Is From Hermitage, Pennsylvania

The WALLEYE CHEATERS ARRESTED! (Jake Runyan and Chase Cominsky)Jake Runyan and Chase Cominsky were Caught stuffing over 8lbs of lead weights into their fish during the weigh in at the Lake Erie Walleye Trail Championship. They had been suspected of cheating of sometime now and finally got caught. #WalleyeCheater #Fishing #walleyefishing Cop some merch – 5050fishing.com/ Please Subscribe and Ring that Bell! Best…2022-10-02T17:41:36Z

Cominsky, 35, is from Hermitage, Pennsylvania. According to Cleveland.com, he and Runyan have won more than $306,000 during their run of victories in Ohio area fishing tournaments.

Runyan told Cleveland.com after a tournament win in December 2021, “Chase and I sat down before the tournaments and derbies this year and agreed to fish as a team, and split the winnings. And also the costs, of course, that ranged from entry fees and fuel to boat insurance for Chase’s Ranger boat.”

He posted on WalleyeCentral.com in 2021, “Thank you guys for the support. This is Jake Runyan. Huge win. We have had an amazing year. Chase and I post plenty of info on our Facebook. Yes the taxes aren’t cheap. We are partners and we treat it as such. Again thanks for the support!”

Their Facebook pages appear to have been taken down amid the cheating scandal. When asked if they planned to sell the boat they won, Runyan wrote, “We are still working out details yet but Chase is very versed in selling boats. Everyone does this a little different each year I’m sure.”

Kenny Morris told WKYC, “I’m angered about it, I’m sad about it. I’ve known Chase and I’ve known Jake, and I’m no longer speaking with them. They’re blocked from me. If you’re taking a fish that’s going to make you some money, you’re going to need to cut the fish open.” 5. Jake Runyan Lives in Cleveland

Y’all know I like fishing, well…this pisses me off!

Meet Jake Runyan and Chase Cominsky, AKA big cheaters.

They recently were caught cheating in the last tournament of the year of a major walleye fishing tournament trail.

They were even going to be crowned team of the year. pic.twitter.com/Bw7hf96q4z

— DannyBTalks (Daniel Baldwin) (@DannyBTalks) October 1, 2022

Jake Runyan, 41, is from Cleveland. After the Walleye Slam win, Runyan told Cleveland.com, “I knew we would pass the Walleye Slam test. And I knew we had to get legal counsel and fight our disqualification in the Fall Brawl. Our reputation means the world to us and we would never cheat.”

Runyan added, “It wasn’t just the loss of a very expensive boat we had rightfully won. It was having our names drug through the mud, and smeared on social media and among walleye fishermen around the area.”

He told The Toledo Blade after he was disqualified from the Fall Brawl in 2021, “He showed us the report — it was literally flat lines. In his professional opinion, he didn’t see anything that was out of order. But we were not surprised; we knew we would pass. We are going to move forward with legal challenges with the Brawl. My name has been dragged through the mud for too long already.”

lake erie walleye cheaters getting caught red handed!2022-10-01T02:24:38Z

Fellow angler Adam VanHo, an attorney, told WKYC, “It’s one thing when you’re sitting at a bar and the fish you say is this big is actually this big. That’s one thing, but these competitions bring people in from all around the country.”

He said with the value of the prizes offered at the tournaments, including boats and thousands of dollars in cash, it can be a crime to cheat. “We call it theft by deception, which essentially is you tried to steal something by making what you’re turning over different,” VanHo told the news station.

From: JusPassin

03-Oct-22

This is precisely why fishing and hunting activities should never be turned into competitive "sporting" events. It totally demeans the act. If you can't enjoy hunting or fishing without making it competitive you ought to just quit.

From: Pat Lefemine

03-Oct-22

I always wonder how many of these fishing, coyote, carp, etc contests are truly won fair and square. Some of these things have crazy prize money and that will always tempt people already inclined to cheat. I've been to one coyote contest and they had polygraph testing there and a system of playing cards that had to be placed in the mouth of your kills. Still, I imagined many ways to beat that and win the 5k.

From: Will

03-Oct-22

It's funny... I never thought of someone doing something like this in a fishing tournament, but now that I've read it, I cant help but wonder how often it happens.

I mean, in some pro bass tourneys there are camera guys on the boats so the angler seems unable to cheat even if they wanted too...

But, how about regional or local tourney's where one can make some $, maybe get the name out there and capture some sponsors and or get to a higher level of competition where big money is on the table? Seems entirely possible those dudes could do this.

CRAZY!

From: PECO2

03-Oct-22

I'm happy those punks are finished.

From: Brotsky

03-Oct-22

Fishermen lying? Who would have guessed :)

From: Ucsdryder

03-Oct-22

Watch the video. They’re lucky they made it out of there!!!

From: DanaC

03-Oct-22

JusPassin nailed it in one.

From: Grey Ghost

03-Oct-22

X2 on what JusPassin said. When money, greed, and egos get involved, it ruins just about anything.

I was involved in a tarpon fishing tournament once. There was a heathy purse and serious bragging rights involved. The pressure of the competition took away all the reasons I fish, which are to relax, have fun, and enjoy the outdoors. I know it’s different for some guys, and that’s fine, but I’ll never participate in a fishing or hunting competition again.

Matt

From: APauls

03-Oct-22

Was waiting for this thread to come up. Pretty interesting thing to watch this weekend. Reminds me of media hunters that get caught poaching. At some point they went wayward and just went deeper and deeper.

I've fished a few tournaments and I actually love it. It makes you a way better fisherman. Of course I don't make a living on it, but it is really, really fun. But I go into it with a "fun" mindset. My fishing has gotten 5x better since I started tournaments. Makes you concentrate on catching fish every minute. Everything is about planning, efficiency and execution. It's a ton of fun. The added nerves when you hook up to something big....it's great!

From: Glunt@work

03-Oct-22

We ran into this at a coyote contest. Same guys were winning each year and lots of little things added up to folks thinking they were cheating. It was decided that past winners would need to have a non-bias observer go with them. After day one, everyone had a slow day and they only killed 3-4. The observer said everything was by the rules, all called in, no baits, stayed together, etc. It was decided it was not necessary for him to go with them on day 2.

On day 2, without the observer, they killed double digits and won again :^)

From: Bowbender

03-Oct-22

Not sure why it's a big surprise...... Look at all the effort some go to keep "my deer" on "my property". Fish weigh ins, the chase for antlers, inches, and age class... egos and pursuit of likes and followers will be our ruination.

From: Blood

03-Oct-22

I fished a shark tourney out in Montauk in the late 80’s. We didn’t enter any of the calcuttas as we were new to the whole tourney game. We were a small boat, 3 man crew. We ended up getting a 268lb (I think) blue shark on the last day. Another boat was waiting to weigh in and they had a big blue shark as well.

They weighed in right after us. A nice hole was in their shark’s side. When they lifted it out of the boat, water poured out of it and the belly was full of water. They weighed in a few lbs more than us. We put up a huge stink…..so the director ordered both sharks to be cut open and weighed again. Ours lost 4-5lbs and theirs lost like 25lbs. Lol. We won $5k for biggest blue shark.

Thai happens all the time. Old fish, fish from draggers, fish not from even around the area. There’s so much money in the calcuttas…..that people do what they need to do to win.

From: Slate

03-Oct-22

Unreal

From: M.Pauls

03-Oct-22

I’ve always thought that even with spotters in the boats guys could cheat. With the amount of money on the line, I can’t see why guys don’t prefish and have cages loaded with big fish under water with a guy with scuba equipment hooking it up for him. Of course that would be pretty hilarious if the spotter notices a scuba dude on DI sonar when they troll over!

Pretty funny how cocky these guys got with how excessive they got with their weights. This’ll make for some great memes

From: Michael

03-Oct-22

I don’t think it’s good for the fishery to move fish around large distances to have a weigh in.

Now the cheating side of it. That is why I like the AIM walleye series. All fish are photographed and measured. The weight is determined by what the chart says for that length. Looking over the rules for the tourney trail I don’t see how anyone could cheat.

The other way is the Major league system. Every boat has an official in it and he or her weighs every fish as it’s caught and then the fish is released. All weigh masters have a tablet that tracks all weights.

A walleye being 24” long and weighing 7 lbs should be a major red flag. I can’t see that fish being much over 5 lbs in the spring when it’s full of eggs. These guys are scum of the earth but even worse they are idiots thinking that they wouldn’t get caught.

From: 70lbDraw

03-Oct-22

Commonplace these days. Honesty and integrity are no longer considered to be on the higher end of the important human traits.

From: jdbbowhunter

03-Oct-22

Anywhere there is money involved , there is cheating n corruption!

From: midwest

03-Oct-22

Hope they get some jail time and get the crap fined out of them.

From: Fields

03-Oct-22

dumb asses. They must have been good fisherman too.. reports say they would have won without adding weights, but they most likely added weight the previous days..... whatever punishment will still be a slap on the wrist ...

From: Zbone

03-Oct-22

Have never heard of a coyote contest, how does that work, total weight of coyotes killed, the biggest coyote, the number of coyotes killed? And what's up with playing card in the mouth, how's that work, what's that prove?

Guess I sooo live under a rock....

From: Glunt@work

03-Oct-22

There are different sets of rules. The coyote contest I was referring to is 2 days, all have to be called in, 2 man teams, have to stay together. Upon kill you zip tie a small board in their mouth with the time of kill and let the coyote rigor lock it in.

Most coyotes wins, prizes for heaviest, lightest etc. Not legal in some states anymore.

From: JohnMC

03-Oct-22

I use to hunt a coyote contest each year out of Rawlins. the way that work is each two man team got 'blocks' it was a 1''x1'' and probably about 6'' long with holes drilled in each end with a zip tie through it. When you killed 1st a coyote you put block #1 in mouth and zip it over muzzle. Then #2 and so forth before rigor mortis set in. They would insert a temp probe make sure temp was in range it should be.

Main winner was the most dogs in the two days. They also had prices for big dog and small dog. Decent price money and even bigger money if you won the calcutta.

From: hawg

03-Oct-22

M.Pauls..."This’ll make for some great memes"

They're already coming in.

From: EmptyFreezer

03-Oct-22

I fish alot of Bass Tournaments in So Cal and cheaters eventually get caught. Its a damn shame whenever money is involved it brings out the worst. We have small tourneys with 20 to 30 boats, if somebody cheats they disappear.. :) (i wish)

From: Mike B

03-Oct-22

Zbone..they've been around for a long time, especially in the western US.

I was a member of the Calif. State Varmint Callers for several years (back in the 80's), and competed in dozens of competitions. Basically, points are awarded for each critter based on species. Let's say a coyote was worth 5pts., a fox worth 7 pts., bobcat worth 10pts...etc. Weight was not relevant. Looking back, I can hardly believe the amount of critter lives and fur that was just wasted..all in the name of winning.

Would I do it again today? Not a chance in the world.

From: Fields

03-Oct-22

From: Catscratch

03-Oct-22

Lots of yote contests in KS. It's a way of population control, and for some it's quite enjoyable. Some people even make trips and travel here just to kill coyotes.

From: APauls

03-Oct-22

The arrogance is what got me. There was a guy videoing him in the pre-fish and I'm paraphrasing but basically he was saying he only needed to get top 6 to win team of the year. But in the end he's like "But we'll prob win. Because that's what winners do."

In the biggest walleye tournaments like the National Walleye Tour they randomly pair up an amateur with each pro. That by itself will cut out 99% of cheating. I think it would be rare that a guy would cheat with someone he just met as the guy hopped in his boat. To think that you could add 24oz to every single fish....guys know what a fish weighs. They've weighed thousands. When you have a bag that you think should weigh 20 and it comes out at 34...sheesh

From: Zbone

03-Oct-22

Thanks guys for the insight on coyote contests...

Going back to these fish cheaters and the kind of money am hearing involved, yeah there is likely criminal charges coming, and if the ODNR/Ohio Division of Wildlife are involved, yeah likely fines and penalties are coming for they are well known for prosecuting high profile cases which this one seems to have went viral...

From: Grey Ghost

03-Oct-22

I'm not sure about the coyote competitions, but here's how the tarpon tournament I competed in worked.

The winner was the team/boat that landed the most tarpon over 36". A leader touch was considered a landed fish, since it's illegal to pull tarpon out of the water, and they have to be released. Each team member on every boat (max 4 members) was issued a wrist band that was unique to that team/boat. The teams had to video each landed fish (leader grab) with the wrist band clearly shown in the video, then immediately send the video to a panel of judges who would determine whether it was a score-able catch.

Several of the teams who didn't win disputed the results because the winning team's videos appeared to show the same fish getting landed more than once, with a different team member grabbing the leader each time. The winning team consisted of 4 guides who were also renowned for chumming tarpon with live bait for their clients, which was against the rules of the tournament, but virtually impossible to enforce. No cheating was ever proven, so the results stood, but seeing grown men almost come to fisticuffs over a silly fishing tournament further convinced me to never participate again.

Matt

From: Heat

03-Oct-22

This reminds me of Blake Owens who lied on his Pope and Young paperwork and was later convicted of poaching.

From: Glunt@work

03-Oct-22

At the coyote contests I did, a fur buyer was there. It obviously has a temporary effect on populations but next year numbers were always about the same. Coyotes are experts at quickly filling in any open spots created in decent habitat.

From: Bowfreak

03-Oct-22

Things that men see as unthinkable can easily be rationalized as acceptable when either women, ego or money is involve.

From: Lewis

03-Oct-22

GG back in the day I fished several tarpon tournaments and they were kill tournaments it was what it was we pushed back then to go to strictly release tournaments. I saw first hand a lot of cheating particularly on fly tournaments where a lot of leaders were a lot longer than igfa rules.Some people just can’t stand it.Good luck Lewis

From: spike78

03-Oct-22

Fished a bunch of bass tournaments but like GG I found it not that relaxing and I had to fish lakes I didn’t really care for. I don’t think it made me a better fisherman and I find it amusing when I can catch 10-15 bass easy but at a tournament 5 is a chore.

From: Will tell

03-Oct-22

Those are some big split shots.

From: Will tell

03-Oct-22

Here is a oh Sh// photo of the fisherman. Cominsky is from Hermitage, I know some Cominski’s but not this character. : )

From: Will tell

03-Oct-22

Here is the two showing off their Walleys

From: Wv hillbilly

03-Oct-22

Yep

From: drycreek

03-Oct-22

I used to fish an oilfield related bass tournament for several years. The Southest Texas Oilman’s tournament I believe it was. It was held on Toledo Bend which straddles the TX/LA line. The same pair of guys were always either winners or in the top five. I looked at their fish once and I could see scars on them which to me indicated that they had been caught pre-tournament and held in a live box. There was no lie detector provision at that time as I recall. The crap people do to feed their egos !

From: Grey Ghost

03-Oct-22

That fish fry meme is hilarious.

Matt

From: Zbone

03-Oct-22

Dang, this thing went national to the public, I see NY Times and Washing Post have articles about it and if anybody's interested, here's a linky to a podcast of the tournament director speaking:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk4Q4TwKhLY

From: sitO

03-Oct-22

Here's the video, lots of cussing, I think they're both KU graduates...cheaters gonna cheat

From: HDE

03-Oct-22

And yet a politician can get away with way worse...

From: Boris

03-Oct-22

Well guys it does not surprise me. This is taking place in my neighborhood. Been watching on tv. Lake Erie has the best fishing going. Its nothing to average walleye in the 7-9 pond range. The best place to catch walleye in June is in the western end of Lake Erie. After that straight out of Erie, Pa. Lake run salmon, Lake Trout, Steelhead. The creeks from New York west to Ohio has been listed as some of the best in the world. People from everywhere come here to fish. In these tournaments, your bound to get some cheating. As we all know, it only takes a few to screw up a good thing. A few years ago, I went with a friend of mine on his boat. Between 6 of use we got 36 walleye. Average weight, 8 pounds. I, caught 6 that went from 8-11.4 pounds. The ones they showed, nowhere near that size. But, stop an look how many of these big name hunters that do stuff like this.

From: duvall

03-Oct-22

They may get a slap on the wrist but they are young and are going to live with this the rest of their lives. Imagine everyone you know finding out about this and your reputation is gone forever. I hope they are never allowed to.compete again...but just think about the embarrassment of everyone you know finding out...the guys you work with, the whole town...yikes

From: keepemsharp

03-Oct-22

Why even participate? Hoping for an ego trip? It's supposed to huntin or fishin!!!!. If folks quite participating this crap would die.

From: Overland

03-Oct-22

Why participate? Because they won/stole hundreds of thousands of dollars. This was their career. One change that would fix this problem would be to have the results be based on length, not weight.

From: spike78

03-Oct-22

How did they get caught? Did one spit a weight up or did they cut one open?

From: APauls

03-Oct-22

From: HDE

03-Oct-22

Can't base it on length. Two fish of the same length can easily be 1/2 lb in weight apart - the difference between winning and coming in 2nd place.

What these guys did was committ outright fraud.

From: Catscratch

03-Oct-22

I don't fish tournaments but I used to do a lot of demolition derbies and figure-8 races. Pretty standard for guys to go through inspection several times having to torch their car between each inspection. Cheaters just shrugged it off. "If you aren't cheating you aren't trying". Honestly most of those guys didn't really care what other people thought of them or if anyone thought they were honorable. Certainly zero embarrassment for getting caught. Just not how they see the world. I picture these guys a lot like that.

From: Huntiam

03-Oct-22

Anytime they is money involved someone is going to cheat or attempt to cheat !

From: spike78

03-Oct-22

Catscratch oh yeah he was embarrassed an article shows his face red as can be lol. Good thing the director knew what the fish should have weighed. I’m blown away by the big gamble they took using 8 pounds of weights wow that’s ballsy!

From: Pat Lefemine

03-Oct-22

Zbone, every coyote team is given a custom deck of playing cards. After you kill a coyote you place the playing card in the dog’s mouth and zip tie the jaws shut. It locks that playing card in and helps assure fairness that the coyotes were killed during the contest period.

From: Woods Walker

03-Oct-22

It's just an aquatic form or "antler-itus".

From: Zbone

03-Oct-22

After reading some of these articles, didn't realize that kind of money was involved in so called "professional" fishing... Buddy and I won local bass tournament when we were teenagers, (we may have been the only participants in it) but I think we only won like a rod and reel...8^) Heck, if I'd have known it grow into such a big industry may have stayed in the business...8^)

Speaking of Lake Erie fishing, charter fishing on Lake Erie (mainly walleye) is big business and highly regulated... Ya just can't buy a boat and head to the lake and charge clientele to fish... Probably 10 - 15 years ago, a coworker friend from Elyria OH area retired early to charter captain full time on Lake Erie... I remember being a big deal passing his charter captain's test and shorty after retiring from telecommunications... BTW, he still owes me a free charter after I'd wrote a local newspaper article and referenced him and got him some great clients... Unfortunately haven't kept in contact with him but kinda wonder what he thinks of this... From what I'm reading, its gonna rock the whole tournament industry...

From: Zbone

03-Oct-22

Pat - Just now read your post on the playing cards.... I understand it now, thank you sir...

From: Grey Ghost

03-Oct-22

Imagine if your daughter was married to one of these POSs. Unbelievable.

Matt

From: Paul@thefort

03-Oct-22

Speaking of Ohio and other cheating. The annual Soap Box Derby years back when a father helped his son build his car but placed large magnets in the front to get a better quicker start.. I guess anything is possible when money and ego is involved.

From: t-roy

03-Oct-22

I remember that too, Paul.

I used to use a taxidermist in the Kansas City area, that fished in local bass tournaments in the area. I was at his shop one day, and another guy that he fished against in those tournaments, brought in a huge whitetail rack to be mounted. It was a super clean typical 10 point, that grossed a shade over 200” and netted right at 193”. Biggest typical rack I’d ever seen. This guy claimed he bowkilled it. Anyways, after he left, my taxidermist told me about this guy getting caught cheating at one of the tournaments, by stashing several bass in a submerged cage, then retrieving them before weigh-in. He came really close to getting his ass whipped and got banned as well. The taxidermist was almost certain that the buck had been poached, but couldn’t prove anything. Amazing what people will do in the right (or wrong) situation.

From: Pat Lefemine

03-Oct-22

From: Red Sparky

03-Oct-22

That is why I live by the motto "Don't do anything you don't want to see on the front page of a newspaper".

From: Jeff Holchin

04-Oct-22

Zbone, heck some colleges even have bass fishing teams! My son fishes with a college kid that has won several bass boats!

I lost a recent chess tournament and really didn’t like the way my opponent was squirming before she made ever move!!!??

From: Zbone

04-Oct-22

Jeff - Are you implying there are bass fishing college courses?

This story is everywhere, now on the local new here in NE Ohio and just watched NBC's Today show had a whole thing on it... Showed them cutting open the fish and pulling out big weights....

Said the ODNR are involved and talking to prosecutors...

Also said felony charges are possible....

From: PECO2

04-Oct-22

"Can't base it on length. Two fish of the same length can easily be 1/2 lb in weight apart - the difference between winning and coming in 2nd place." Lots of tournaments are based on length. Maybe not the big money ones though?

From: bigswivle

04-Oct-22

Here’s a tournament I fished a couple weeks ago. They provide board and the little card has to be in the picture. Tie breaker goes to first boat that turned in board.

From: Grey Ghost

04-Oct-22

Nice fat red, Conner. They're such a fun fish to catch.

Matt

From: JL

04-Oct-22

Aside from the money.....there has to be some level of attention-getting desire on the part of the individual(s) who do these high profile cheating scandals. One thing I associate that with is the Ohio Booners fraud on Archery Talk. The person rides high for a bit then falls off the face of the earth when they get caught. You won't ever get your good reputation back. These two guys rep's are toast. If they have wives and kids...I feel bad for them.

From: Zbone

04-Oct-22

Just seen on another Cleveland TV station showed an interview with one of the cheaters in a boat on water, and was this guy ever so cocky and arrogant... His last quote - "Winners, win" he gave with a smirky smile... This dude was full of himself...

From: Ziek

04-Oct-22

" "Winners, win" he gave with a smirky smile... This dude was full of himself..."

If I had started reading this thread from here, I'ld have thought you were talking about different POS.

From: ROUGHCOUNTRY

04-Oct-22

The "conversion chart" measuring length only eliminates the possibility of stuffing the fish to add weight. The downside is absolutely some fish are built differently. A long skinny spawned out fish will typically be awarded extra weight with the conversion chart...........but it seems to work pretty well in Montana walleye circuit.

From: scentman

04-Oct-22

Two suckers tried to get away with something, but someone smelled something fishy... these bottom feeders gonna get schooled, or fileted... now they have to deal with the scales of justice.

From: Michael

04-Oct-22

The AIM walleye series is based on length converted to lbs. That is a big series with big payouts. So yes tourneys can be based on length.

Minnesota bass season to keep fish doesn’t open till memorial weekend. Catch and release of bass opens on the 2nd Saturday in may. There are lots of length tournaments during the catch and release portion of the season based on length converted to lbs.

If 2 teams are tied in the length conversion system or a true weigh system. The team with the largest fish gets the spot.

NWT tournaments are all pro am tournaments. You never have a pro partnered with an amateur two days in a row. They are 8 fish limit but only 5 are weighed in and only 2 can be over 21”.

From: Patdel

04-Oct-22

From: Shawn

04-Oct-22

I used to enter a striper contest evry year on the Hudson River, the fish were to be caught from the Troy Dam in the River down alomost to where the river runs into NYC. The fish were weighed in Catskill NY and my wife one year was leading the contest with a 47# fish caught near Albany NY. She eneded up not even being in the top 5. We later learned people were catching stripers from the Ocean both near NYC or over off of Cape Cod and than being driven to Catskill for the weigh in. !st place was over 5 grand and they finally had to stop the contest because of al the cheating. Money makes peopel do stupid shit!! Shawn

From: Zbone

05-Oct-22

Zbone's Link

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/cheating-fishermen-face-prison-time-after-wild-scandal/ar-AA12AnPr?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=c482f94dc0134a10960f3580797eb978

"Cheating fishermen face prison time after wild scandal"

"Felony theft is a crime in Ohio punishable by six to 12 months in prison and a fine of up to $2,500"

From: spike78

05-Oct-22

Fine of up to $2500? Gee I can steal 100,000 and pay a fine of $2500 that’s a good deal.

From: Huntiam

05-Oct-22

Shud of just yelled about the weights and walked away..let them have a little boat ramp justice from their “friends”

From: PECO2

05-Oct-22

Notice his shirt.

From: Grey Ghost

05-Oct-22

Stuffing weights into fish, in a tournament that's based on weight, seems like such an obvious and easily checked way of cheating. It sounds like this wasn't the first time these d-bags have done this. How is it that this is the first time they've been caught?

Matt

From: scentman

05-Oct-22

The look on his face be like that airline commercial... " feel like getting away?" "winners win", yea right.

From: Missouribreaks

05-Oct-22

I am never keen on hunting and fishing contests, cheating has always been rampant.

From: Patdel

05-Oct-22

He gonna have to buy his own boat too. I think ranger usually gives them a new boat. At the end of the year they sell it and give ranger the money. Then the process repeats.

I doubt ranger will be giving these two a new ride again.

From: Michael

05-Oct-22

Patdel,

Yes sponsored pros get new boats every year. Yes the money goes to the boat company. But if they don’t sell the boat they then have to eat it the cost. When I say they I am talking the sponsored pro.

At least that was how it was explained to me when I talked to a few pros about buying their boats at the end of the season.

I would never buy a pro boat now days. Those guys beat the hell out of their boats.

From: Michael

06-Oct-22

From: RK

06-Oct-22

They will be banned for life on the tournament circuit

They will have some legal issues with this tournament but hard to prove cheating in past tournaments. Like prove in a courtroom. Evidence is long gone. Which is sad

Bet they get some felony charges. Which they should

From: JL

06-Oct-22

JL's Link

Playing armchair prosecutor.....these guys will need some good lawyers.

From: APauls

07-Oct-22

From: spike78

07-Oct-22

Lol now that’s funny!

From: bigswivle

07-Oct-22

Gillty………….

Get it?

From: Grey Ghost

07-Oct-22

LOL!! It doesn't take long for the meme crowd to jump on a story.

Matt

From: t-roy

07-Oct-22

These guys are fin ished

From: Grey Ghost

07-Oct-22

They have the weight of the world on their shoulders. ;-)

From: Zbone

08-Oct-22

Wondered how they got those big weights down inside out of view from an open mouth and was talking to a bud the other day and he'd heard (don't know where he'd heard or how true), but said they used an air pump from the mouth in order to expand the innards....

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