(Yahoo) A duo that had been declared winners of a fishing tournament series event were caught in a cheating scandal after a tournament official discovered weights stuffed inside their fish.
Videos from the Lake Erie Walleye Trail Championship event show teammates Chase Cominsky, of Hermitage, Pennsylvania, and Jake Runyon, of Cleveland posing for a photo with fish just minutes before an official discovers something inside the animals. The two were the season’s leaders for “team of the year,” according to The Herald, a newspaper in Western Pennsylvania.
The official, who cuts open the fish, shouts, “We got weights in fish,” a revelation that is met with angry yelling from fellow competitors.
You can watch the winners’ initial celebration and the aftermath of the official’s remarks below.
Another video circulating online shows one man asking to “call the cops” as the official tells Runyon to “leave.”
“How many fucking tournaments have you done this in?” one man yells.
The official later cuts open more fish and scoops out weights and what appear to be fish filets from inside the fish.
“Do you have anything to say, Jake?” one man asks as Runyon silently looks at the fish.
“Take pictures, I need pictures,” the official tells onlookers.
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
Lake Erie Walleye Trail director Jason Fischer wrote on Facebook that he was disgusted and is glad he caught the cheating happening at the event.
