Cheating exists in all walks of life. Unfortunately, some forms of it, such as “fudging” on personal income taxes, is so common that it’s seen as routine. Of course, cheating in sports is nothing new — remember the Houston Astros with the garbage cans?
The stories of cheating in fishing tournaments date back many decades, and while event organizers do their best, some participants will break rules in an attempt to win cash, boats and trophies. Case in point: the two cheaters, Jacob Runyan and Chase Cominsky (fishing as a team), who were caught stuffing 8 pounds of lead sinkers in five walleyes during the recent Lake Erie Walleye Trail event on Sept. 30, 202
2 (photo above).
This walleye tournament cheating scandal has even captured the attention of the national media. Click here to read about it in The Washington Post. Even TMZ covered it; click here to see their take. Note: This tournament is not a little local derby for bragging rights and $100; first place in this event was nearly $29,000, and the two anglers have won more than $300,000 during the previous couple years at Lake Erie walleye tournaments. Several of their fellow competitors have suspected them of cheating in the past, and last year the two-man team failed a polygraph test after winning an event, which meant they didn’t get paid.
The video below (one of many you can watch on YouTube) shows some of the scene when weights are discovered in the walleyes. I think it’s surprising that the angry crowd didn't attack the cheaters. Kudos to them for their self-restraint.
