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Reel outrage is rocking the competitive fishing world after the winners of a major Ohio tournament allegedly stuffed their fish with extra fillet and lead weights to score the cash prize.
The team of two competitors in the Lake Erie Walleye Trail contest were set to take home nearly $30,000 in winnings Friday when the tournament’s director, Jason Fischer, said he smelled something fishy.
The contest’s alleged shady participants, Jacob Runyan and Chase Cominsky, weighed in their five walleyes at a collective 34 pounds — when usually each fish weighs closer to 4 pounds, for an expected total catch of around 20 pounds.
Fischer cut open one fish’s stomach and found an extra fillet of walleye and lead balls had been apparently stuffed down its throat, he said. Then he found the same in the other fish, Fischer said.
“We got weights in fish!” Fischer screamed, according to video that captured the tense moment.
