Overview

2022 Fishing Cheating Scandal refers to a revelation that the fishing team of Jacob Runyan and Chase Cominsky had cheated by stuffing weights and fish filets into fish they had caught in a competition in order to secure the prize for the heaviest fish caught. The scandal became a national story in late September 2022, and several joked about how it came on the heels of other high-profile cheating scandals in chess and poker.

Background

On September 30th, 2022, the Lake Erie Walleye Trail fishing tournament ended in chaos when it was discovered the would-be winning team of Jacob Runyan and Chase Cominsky had stuffed their fish with weights and fish filets in order to win the $30,000 first prize. According to an article by the Washington Post,^[1] tournament organizer Jason Fischer realized something was amiss when he weighed the competitors' fish. The five Walleye they'd caught would have to weigh over 16-pounds total for the pair to win. Fischer grew suspicious when their fish weighed 34 pounds. He examined their fish and touched something unnaturally hard. He cut the fish open and found weights inside.

The resulting fracas was filmed and posted to Twitter on October 1st, 2022, by user @Billyhottakes, gaining over 12 million views in two days (shown below). In the video, fellow competitors are angry while Fischer takes weights and filets out of Runyan and Cominsky's fish, with some calling for police involvement. The situation gets tense and potentially violent as Fischer attempts to quiet the crowd and tell Runyan to leave.

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

Developments

According to a blog by @billyhottakes on Barstool Sports^[2] on October 1st, 2022, it appears likely the two have been running the scheme for some time. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has opened an investigation into Runyan and Comisky, which they told the Post^[1] is "open" so they could not comment on it.

Major drama in the pro fishing tournament world where multiple time winners were caught stuffing their keepers with lead weighs and other fish filets @StoolOutdoors pic.twitter.com/2cTxKQJwya

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) October 1, 2022

Many outside the fishing world found the story amusing and fascinating. For example, on October 1st, Twitter user @BryanTylerCohen^[3] tweeted simply, "I cannot get enough of the lead weight fish scandal," gaining over 160 retweets and 3,900 likes in two days (shown below, left). On October 3rd, Twitter user @Kelsaywhat^[4] was one of several to make a joke about how the scandal came so close to other cheating scandals like the ones in chess and poker, as well as the infidelity scandals of Adam Levine and Ned Fulmer that occurred around the same timeframe in late 2022 (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References