Fishermen Caught Cheating In $29K Prize Tournament In Ohio By Stuffing Fish With Weights

Two professional fishermen were disqualified from a Cleveland fishing tournament on Friday for stuffing the fish they caught with weights and fish filets

The tampered fish were entered by team members Jacob Runyan and Chase Cominsky. They wrapped weights in the filets and inserted them inside the fish. Both were arrested at the scene.

The Lake Erie Walleye Trail tournament involves catching the heaviest walleye. The competition has been around for over 20 years. The prize money for the winner is $28,760.

The disqualified fishermen’s fish weighed in at about 7 pounds. The tournament’s director was immediately suspicious and inspected the fish.

“I thought, there’s just no way. I could also hear the crowd grumbling, like ‘no way, there’s no way,'” the director of the tournament Jason Fischer told CNN on Monday.

“I physically felt the fish, I could feel hard objects inside the fish,” Fischer added.

Videos have now gone viral of the moment Fischer pulled the weights out of the fish.

“We got weights in fish,” Fischer said as he pulled 10 weights in total from the five fish, which had an extra eight pounds.

Runyan is seen standing next to Fischer as he pulled them out with a completely straight face.

Runyan and Cominsky had initially been ruled the winners before the inspection. This led to a debate and eventually to the fish being cut open.

Runyan and Cominsky had won several fishing tournaments amid suspicions of cheating. They could face lawsuits from their sponsors.

The incident was also reported to the Cleveland Metroparks for animal cruelty.

“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’m still at loss for words and for that I apologize … All LEWT anglers deserve better, I will take time and figure out how I can solidify the integrity of our sport here on Erie,” Fischer said in a statement on Facebook Saturday.