Fishing tournament hit by huge scandal after entrants allegedly stuffed catch with weights
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A fishing tournament descended into chaos over the weekend after a competitor appeared to have stuffed his catches with weights in a bid to get away the prize money. Take a look:
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First the whole chess player anal beads scandal and now this? Who new these seemingly peaceful fringe sports could be the subject of such scandal.
In this instance, the controversy unfolded at Lake Erie Walleye Trail (LEWT) fishing tournament in Ohio on Friday (30 September).
Initially Chase Cominsky and Jake Runyan took home the gold following the weigh-in - but behind-the-scenes a shocking discovery was about to be exposed.
In a live-stream of the event, there appears to be some confusion on stage as the winner is questioned by someone off-stage.
But the most telling footage of all came after the show as one of the winner's fish is sliced open by none other than LEWT tournament director Jason Fischer (what a name), who also moonlights as a police officer.
Lo and behold, he finds a number of small weights inside, as well as other fish fillets.
The other contestants can be heard raging in the background, with some demanding that they file a police report.
The camera then turns to Runyan, who looks well and truly ashamed. When asked if he had anything to say, he simply keeps his head down and his mouth shut.
Earlier on in the clip, Fischer - I'm really not joking with that name - tells the cheats that he 'wants them to leave', adding: "I don't want anybody to touch these guys."
Probably a good idea considering how many people sounded like they wanted to get violent revenge.
Now, at this point in the story, you might be wondering why? Why would two people go to such lengths to win a fishing contest of all things?
Well, you might be surprised to know that these tournaments pay pretty tidy sums to the winners. For LEWT, the prize pot was listed as $5,000.
On Facebook, Lake Erie Walleye Trail said: "Anglers, I'm still at loss for words and for that I apologize."
After congratulating the legitimate winners of the competition, the post continued: "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!"
