The initial winners of a fishing competition on Lake Erie were implicated in a cheating scandal.
Chase Cominsky and Jake Runyan were declared the champions of the Lake Erie Walleye Trail (LEWT) fishing competition in Ohio on Friday after weigh-in. However, in a video that was uploaded to the competition’s Facebook page, one of the competitors can be seen questioning the outcomes live on stage before the clip ends.
Another widely circulated internet video shows commotion breaking out when one of the winners’ fish is cut open and discovered to be loaded with lead weights and more fish filets [Warning: the attached video includes explicit language]. The other fish caught by the participants are gutted one at a time, revealing that each one had been filled with objects to make the captures seem heavier.
We got weights in the fish, the guy who sliced the fish open can be heard yelling. and screaming “Get out of here!” at one of the two suspected cheats.
The dramatic video showed a mob of angry spectators forming around the competitors, accusing them of cheating in earlier competitions as well and threatening to contact the police, claiming that the two guys had practically stolen thousands of dollars from other participants.
After Cominsky and Runyan were eliminated, the tournament’s director Jason Fischer posted the real victors on Facebook and apologized for the cheating incident.
Disgusted “men and girls,” I’m sorry for letting you down for so long, and I’m delighted I discovered infidelity in YOUR LEWT at the same time, he said in the article.
“Now that you’ve read this, I hope you understand my meaning when I say, “You constructed this LEWT, and I will protect its integrity at all costs.” All of you deserve to succeed “Fisher tacked on.