Fishing Tournament Cheating Scandal

[petro]

But to cheat...........................at FISHING!!!!

There is no such thing as a honest fisherman.

The fish get bigger everytime the story of the big catch gets told.

 

[odanny]

 

[candycorn]

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.

My fishing trophy was taken away because I was using PEDs...this seems worse somehow.

 

[Yarddog]

How can people think of that? I mean WOW.....that is really going to extremes, don't you think?

To fill a fish with weights????? LOL too much!

Hel with weights those fools! I would have stuffed them with refrigerator magnets!

 

[rightwinger]

I can’t understand how they got away with it for so long.

You would think someone who weighs in fish all day would be able to look at a fish and guess it’s weight within a few ounces.

But when all your fish weigh a pound and a half more than they look, how could you not check them out?

 

[Vastator]

I can't even imagine how pathetic you have to be to cheat at FISHING!!!!

If there's money on the line, someone will be tempted to cheat.

 

[petro]

Older story in MN.

Felony conviction in Minnesota fish contest case - Outdoornews

It isn’t often Brian Lutes prosecutes someone charged with cheating at fishing contests, but the odd case that wrapped up at last week’s sentencing will be memorable

www.outdoornews.com

 

[strollingbones]

they have long been suspected of cheating....one of them failed a polygraph after the fall brawl and was dq ed. now they will be using metal scanner (hand held) to check fish....they stood to win 45 k in the walleye tournament

 

[petro]

2018.
Pretty common around here during ice fishing.
Multiple contests all around the state...

Brainerd ice fishing contest winners investigated on suspicion of cheating

BRAINERD, Minn. — Brainerd Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza organizers are investigating possible cheating by the winners of this year’s $150,000 Ice Fishing Extravaganza on Jan. 27 on Gull L…

www.twincities.com

 

[Rocko]

Fishing tournament? Interesting, I wonder how much money that reels in

 

[Natural Citizen]

Fishing tournament? Interesting, I wonder how much money that reels in

There's some clever one-liners in the comments section of this blog on the topic...

VIDEO: HUGE FISHING COMPETITION SCANDAL

A huge controversy in competitive Walleye fishing. I have been gathering the facts from various sources but this is what has been the general consensus: So this has blown up on social media, Chase Com...

www.barstoolsports.com

 

[rightwinger]

With that much money on the line, I am surprised cheating is not more rampant.

Stuffing weights in your fish seems so low tech

 

[Natural Citizen]

We sure as hell are. I and most everyone I know enter both those tournaments. Walleye fishing is a way of life around here. Tournaments and charters is how we pay our bills. Mainly charters as there are not many big Tournaments. Not like bass fishing anyway. But a nice Hughscraft can make you 1000 dollars per day through out a season. Ya, I would be nervous to show my face around here if I were them.

Yeah, apparently they've been on a roll over recent years, winning boats, trucks, thousands of dollars and, of course, enjoyed a false status of accomplishment forwarded to them by their peers.

I was looking at a bunch of photos, which were taken of them celebrating their wins over the years. Gosh. They had no shame in those photos whatsoever. None visible anyway. They were all shits n giggles.

 

[Natural Citizen]

Ruh roh...

 

[evenflow1969]

Yeah, apparently they've been on a roll over recent years, winning boats, trucks, thousands of dollars and, of course, enjoyed a false status of accomplishment forwarded to them by their peers.

I was looking at a bunch of photos, which were taken of them celebrating their wins over the years. Gosh. Thed had no shame in those photos whatsoever. None visible anyway. They were all shits n giggles.

It's horse shot. Is what it is. Many many good people spend their time and money entering. It does not just cost the entry fee. I have thousands upon thousands sunk in tackle. Thousands upon thousands sunk in the boats. Easy to spend hundreds on fuel. At least the good news is that the time I have sunk in those tournaments was time spent doing my favorite thing. The records need to be looked at. The prizes taken away and given to who ever was next up in the prize list. Right now is the time to sign up for Fall brawl. I am debating whether to do it or not.

 

[rightwinger]

Ruh roh...

Lock them up for Grand Theft

 

[Natural Citizen]

Lock them up for Grand Theft

Probably gonna go that route, I imagine.

I'm sure their sponsors, will sue them, too.

I stumbled over some relevant reading from previous tournaments involving them in earlier years...

“Our reputation means the world to us and we would never cheat.”


This is a long snip from a lengthy(ish) article discussing a disqualification from a previous tournament they'd won, after failing a polygraph test afterward. Apparently, they do that after wins....


CLEVELAND, Ohio -- There has been a lot of interest in the Lake Erie walleye fishing derbies this year, in part because there were extremely rich prizes in both the 11-year-old Fall Brawl and the first-year Walleye Slam.

Each started on Oct. 15 and ended on Nov. 28, and a disqualification has created a lot of turmoil. It is all about the polygraph tests the big winners are required to take.

Disqualifications are not uncommon in the Fall Brawl. One winner was disqualified for not having his boat registered with the Ohio Division of Parks and Watercraft. Others have failed the lie detector test over the years.

For Clevelander Jake Runyan and his Pennsylvania walleye tournament partner Chase Cominsky, who treasure their reputation as honest anglers, disqualification was not an option. After one of them flunked the Fall Brawl lie-detector test, Runyan said they are consulting with an attorney.

That’s because, like a majority of walleye anglers in this year’s derbies, they entered both events. Runyan’s 12.770-pound walleye that was at the top of the Fall Brawl list on closing day was also the winner in the Walleye Slam, hosted by the Cabala’s store in Avon.

Fall Brawl creator and 11-year director Frank Murphy was the first to have the tests administered, and disqualified Runyan and Comisky. Murphy awarded an expensive Ranger Boat to second-place Ronald Masal and his 12.65-pound walleye.

When host Erie Outfitters of the Walleye Slam had a polygraph test given to Runyan and Comisky at a Toledo site, both passed.

“I knew we would pass the Walleye Slam test,” said Runyan. “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.”

The young pair had teamed up for 2021, agreeing to share everything from prize monies to fishing expenses.

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

Continued - Walleye derby disqualification disturbing: Northeast Ohio fishing report

 

[Natural Citizen]

It's horse shot. Is what it is. Many many good people spend their time and money entering. It does not just cost the entry fee. I have thousands upon thousands sunk in tackle. Thousands upon thousands sunk in the boats. Easy to spend hundreds on fuel. At least the good news is that the time I have sunk in those tournaments was time spent doing my favorite thing. The records need to be looked at. The prizes taken away and given to who ever was next up in the prize list. Right now is the time to sign up for Fall brawl. I am debating whether to do it or not.

Biggest bass I ever hooked was on a mini marshmallow at night time.

But, yeah, your points are certainly valid.

 

[strollingbones]

since they were dq before they received the check...no crime

 

[evenflow1969]

Biggest bass I ever hooked was on a mini marshmallow at night time.

But, yeah, your points are certainly valid.

If I enter fall brawl most my fishing will be at night. They go shallow at night. I save on fuel. Good strategy till duck trips start. Then I have to get up at three in the morning. Hard to fish at night when you go to bed at 7pm.