SouthWestern Outdoorsman
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Cheating Scandal Rocks Walleye Fishing Competition
A scandal is rocking the competitive fishing world. Chase Cominsky and Jake Runyonangler are accused of illegally putting weights in the fish they caught. During the Lake Erie Walleye Trail Championship event.
Multiple media outlets, have reported that Chase Cominsky and Jake Runyon, of Cleveland, had been the event’s apparent winners. Until a tournament official cut open one of the fish they caught, as seen in a YouTube video (WARNING: The video contains explicit language), and produced weights, which would have increased the poundage of their catch.
Before the scandal, Cominsky and Runyon were winning the season standings for the professional fishing team of the year.
“Disgusted guys and gals, I’m sorry for letting you down for so long and I’m glad I caught cheating taking place in YOUR LEWT at the same time,” Fischer wrote. “I hope you know now that when I say ‘you built this LEWT and I will defend its integrity at all costs,’ I mean it. You all deserve the best.”
Lake Erie Walleye Trail director Jason Fischer posted a Facebook statement through the circuit’s page apologizing to fans and competitors of the event.
This isn’t the first time the duo has been accused of cheating. Cominsky and Runyan were both disqualified from the Fall Brawl fishing event one of them had failed a polygraph test following their apparent victory.
They won several high-paying LEWT events in 2021, with internet sleuths unearthing images of the pair holding large cheques.
Those accolades are now understandably being questioned, with calls for Cominsky and Runyon to return the prizemoney.